Camp Alandale Prayer Update

Session 1 Summer Camp Update June 20-24, 2011

Dear Prayer Family,

    Greetings to you from your friends at Camp Alandale! We are writing to share about the blessed week that we had at camp. It was a great kick-off to the summer as the 4th through 6th graders heard about the love of Jesus and learned about the Armor of God.

    For many returning campers, we were blessed to see God's hand in growing and softening their hearts. Moses, for example, was a previous camper who was known to cause trouble and pick fights with other campers and was often defiant to his counselors. However, this week Moses was more respectful to the campers and counselors. He participated in the Bible studies and worship with a joy which was absent in the past. It was clear that God had softened his heart. On Thursday night, Moses broke down in tears during the Pinecone Ceremony where he asked God to take an area of pain in his life. Pray that God would continue to draw Moses unto himself and fill him with the love of Jesus.

    Crystal was another returning camper who had gained much growth in Jesus since her first visit to Camp Alandale. Throughout this week, she was more compliant and demonstrated self-control compared to her previous two years at camp. At first she would alienate certain campers from her team, but as the week went on, we saw her heart began to soften towards others in a way only Jesus can do. Crystal really began opening up when she and I just gazed at the stars and she realized how big God really is. She started letting down her defenses toward everyone and was a little bit calmer at the end of the week. Pray for Crystal to let go of past hurts, and for God to soften her wounded heart. 

    We also had the privilege of welcoming new children to Camp Alandale.  Angel was one of those. He is the oldest boy in his family and since his father is in prison he feels responsible for his family. It was amazing to see him open up as the week progressed. During one-on-one time he confided to me that his father will be in prison for fourteen more years and when he gets out Angel will be twenty-six. He told me that once his father gets out of prison he will make him go wherever he goes and he will make sure that he never gets into trouble again. Angel never goes to church and he has only learned a little about the Bible from his mom. It was a blessing to see his knowledge of God greatly increase as the week progressed. He was sad to leave camp and told me he can't wait to come back next year.

    Camp Alandale was a new experience for Nicole as well. Her actions and demeanor reflected a child who was filled with fear and insecurity. She would express feelings of fear in many of the camp activities such as the ropes course and hikes. However, God had given her the perfect counselor. Leah pushed and encouraged Nicole to conquer her fears during the week. Her encouragement helped Nicole to participate in nearly every camp activity despite her fear and apprehension. She even was one of the few campers that shared her testimony during campfire. On the last night of camp, she accepted Jesus into her heart with her counselor Leah. In an effort to make sure that Nicole knew what she was doing Leah had her draw out what she had just done. She really did get it, below is the drawing.  God truly does amazing things in the lives of these campers at camp. Praise God!

Thank you for your prayers and support,

Counselors: Zach, Brian, and Kayla

Summer Staff Training Week

    This week at Camp Alandale (6/13-6/17), we were introduced to our summer staff. These people are those who are going to be staying up at camp for the entire summer, with one week off for vacation. It was an amazing adventure and as the staff got to know each other, bonded, ate lots of food, and focused on learning the duties they were to perform this summer. There was much to learn, and much work to be done. In between the work and the learning, there were also many moments where God's hand was seen working and shaping the summer staff for His will this summer.

    The summer staff was directed this week by both Robin and Karen Wood, and Mike and Lisa Towler. We received mountains of paperwork and a lot of good information on how to do the specific jobs we will be doing this summer. All of it helps camp run smoothly. Some of the tasks include leading kitchen craft, helping with hikes, teaching craft, and preparing meals for the campers to cook. There were ten summer staff people in all, with five of them being veterans, and the other five being brand new to staff. It was fun to see how the new people interacted with the older ones and how the veterans stepped right up to help guide the newer staff members. Throughout the weekend there was a pervading sense of unity, even from the first day.

    We did a lot of work projects around camp also to get it ready for the upcoming campers. These included helping to design and to paint the theme for this summer; The Chronicles of Victory - The Armor of God, on the murals in the amphitheater. One of the afternoons, a staff member, Dave spent all afternoon working on painting the face of a Aslan the lion on the side of the amphitheater. It looks absolutely amazing, and we know that with the counselors and our help, the campers will get to see that lion as a representation of Jesus. We also helped to move some unneeded equipment out of the dining room in the house, and worked to finish the skit sets in the amphitheater. Brian and Stephanie, a brother and sister, worked hard to come up with costumes and fun ideas for the skits in the summer. Many other jobs were done that all helped camp be as ready as it could be for summer.

    One awesome thing we did was a Prayer Walk. On the last day, we as a staff went around to specific places all over camp and prayed for each activity that was going to happen there. We prayed for strength, endurance, for healing, and for love for all who came onto the camp. We left the camp that weekend knowing without a doubt that God was going to move and He was going to do amazing things this summer.

    We really want to thank you for the many prayers that you sent up for us before and during the staff training week. We send you this encouragement to not stop praying, because God is a great God and has already started doing His heavenly will here at camp. Thank you so much for the prayer.

Summer Staff 2011

Lacey, Jonathon, Stephanie, Brian, Zach, Barry, Hannah, Abby, Dave, and Kayla

Prayer Update

JC Training Camp, 2011

Hello everyone! Hopefully everything is going well with you. Things went great here at camp during junior counselor training! God worked in so many amazing ways and His light shinned through each person this weekend. We had about twenty-five junior counselor's show up for the training, some veterans, but some who also were brand new. It was exciting to be able to see the reactions from the new people and their anticipation to begin working at camp. A vital part of the junior counselor's entrance into the camp is to give their testimonies. The purpose for this is not only so that the junior counselors can bond with each other, but also so that they can be prepared to give their stories to the campers.

    All of the junior counselors gave their testimonies and they all spoke to the testament of God's power in their lives. It was more difficult for some of the individuals than others to speak in front of the crowd, but in the end, God's hand and His peace helped them all to tell their stories. The training was not only a place to speak about their stories, but also a time to get to know each other, get to know the camp, and to bond as a family. This occurred all thought out the week; from everyone pitching in to help with dishes, to playing great games of foosball together. We also did a lot of work during the weekend, helping to build up camp to get ready for the campers to come.

    Some work projects that we did were cleaning out the sugar shack, where the men on staff all summer will stay. We also painted the benches and the shelves for the campers. We worked on the set in the amphitheater to make it ready for the theme this year: The Chronicles of Victory! Many more projects were started or completed with the help of the junior counselors. There was other work that we engaged in that wasn't physical; but rather spiritual. We dove into the passage in Ephesians 6 which talks about the whole armor of God and how to put it on and use it. We had bible studies and skits performed to be able to understand the armor and how we will be teaching it to the kids.

    Although the weekend went amazing, there was some times where the devil attempted to worm his way into the weekend. We had planned to go to church together and most of the people were in the camp bus, but others went in a few cars. Once the cars reached the church and realized that after about twenty minutes that the bus was not coming. We all drove back to camp to find out that the bus had broken down. This sparked a lot of fear about whether or not we would be able to get back down the mountain. However, God was once again provincial and the bus did get fixed in time to head home. God worked mightily this weekend and I know that this summer there will be fantastic junior counselors. Thank you for your prayers and we ask that you continue as camp starts. God is going to do an amazing work this summer at camp!

 

Hannah Gaston, Summer Staff 2011

    

Welcome!

Welcome Camp Alandale Friends and Prayer Partners.  I started this blog to help keep all of you in the know.  We are so greatful for all the prayer support and would love to inform you as much as we can about what is going on during the weeks you are praying for.  Each week of the summer and winter I will be posting prayer updates from our summer staff and full time staff.  During the Fall and Spring Seasons I will be posting but maybe not as frequently.  I hope you enjoy hearing the praise reports and the fruit of the answered prayers you offer up.  God is good, and I hope this blog will encourage you by giving you real time updates of what's going on.  I can't say again how blessed and honored we are to have you praying for us.  May God bless the work He does at Camp Alandale.

In Christ,  Mike Towler, OC Camp Director