Here it is the end of March. Retreats start this coming weekend. The summer camping season will be in full swing in 2 months. Shewwwww!!! The flurry of activity that will go on before then.
The middle of this month Second Baptist Church from Clinton, TN, held their first family mission trip here at Bancroft. They were able to get much accomplished. The last 2 rooms of Grace basement are now tiled. We plan to move the camp store to the middle of that basement - that is where the craft room was located during the days of Aunt Velma's plaster of paris, macaroni, & decoupage from old church bulletins crafts. Cumberland Area Pulpit Supply plans to move their pastor resource library to the other area. Second Baptist was also able to create an amphitheater behind Joy Cabin. We plan to hold the campfires in that location now - weather permitting. The cabins were cleaned. Even the children got involved - moving sticks & twigs & also washing down the walls in the dining room. We praise the Lord for all that He allowed to happen & also a big thank you goes to Second Baptist Church.
We look forward to the New Milford group coming & also a group from MI. We know much more will be accomplished through these groups. Our Sunday School class is scheduled to come one Saturday in May & have a work/family conference day. They have been able to get much done before. We are already looking forward to all the cookies the ladies will be able to make & freeze for the summer. The campers love that dessert.
Teen retreat is scheduled for April 3-4, junior girls is April 17-18 & junior boys is April 27-28. Prayers are already being offered on behalf of the campers who will attend these retreats & also the summer camp weeks. We are also praying for the counselors the Lord will send our way. We pray they will have a heart for the Lord & the campers will be able to tell. We also pray that they will have a love for each camper - even the ones that are hard to love.
Our summer season starts Memorial Day week with counselor training. The first full week of June will be Teen overnight week. The next 8 weeks will be day camp weeks. Three of those weeks will also have an overnight camp alongside the day camp. The day camp director from last year was unable to return this summer. The Lord has provided another director for day camp. We pray he will have an enthusiasm that will last all summer & be an encouragement to the counselors & campers. The counselors' & campers' attitudes are so dependent on the director.
Bible club continues. It thrills us to see the girls so excited about Bible club. We pray they will grow to be ladies who bring honor & glory to His name. We also teach a kindergarten Sunday School class. It is exciting to see the boys' & girls' enthusiasm on hearing the Bible stories. It's also a little humbling to think that they sometimes get more excited to hear the Bible stories than I do.
On another note, discouragement has set in. Some days it takes everything in me to just continue on. The mornings that I wake up with a deeper sense of discouragement seem to be the days that everyone expects me to commit to just one more thing. I've cried myself to sleep several nights. Somedays I've awakened crying & have cried almost the whole day. Some days I have had such deep resentment & bitterness toward almost anyone who has talked to me. I'm praying this is kicked before the summer begins. Because we work so closely with such a small group of people it is hard to hide how we're feeling. And while I don't think we should always hide how we feel, I think "we are bigger than our emotions and should try to control them". But there is a fine line between letting our emotions be known & letting them control us.
Will you please pray with us? Pray for the Lord's provision for the summer camping season - for the campers, counselors, safety during activities, adequate sleep for all campers, counselors & staff? Also thank the Lord for what He is going to allow us to experience this summer - the good, the bad & the ugly. We look forward to becoming more like Him through all these experiences.
1 comment:
Wow! IT sounds like you all are going to be B-U-S-Y! We know, too, bc we got your lovely brochure in the mailbox on Friday. Abigail was thrilled. I can't wait for her to come to camp one year. I don't think this is our year. It might be...but she may still be too apprehensive about being away for that long. I don't know, we'll see. I'll be praying for you. Sorry we missed SS today. Abigail has been pretty sick this weekend. We are going to the dr in the a.m. She has a fever, sore throat...I'm thinking strep. :(
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