Wow…6 months have passed

Well, almost six months have passed since I last blogged.  I don’t even have a good excuse.

So, you might ask, what have we been doing for the past six months?  The answer is lots of things. Here’s a brief rundown:

Spring: Camp Gilead hosted many retreats this past spring–men’s groups, women’s conferences, youth retreats, church picnics, scrapbooking clubs, and much more. In May, Ben and I traveled with the senior class at Lakeland Christian to a camp in Stanwood, Washington, for their class missions trip. We spent several days working for the camp and seeing the sights in Seattle.  Ben was busy gearing up for summer camps.

Summer: The summer was an exciting one at Camp Gilead. We hosted more than 600 kids in 6 weeks. We had about 50 kids make the decision to accept Christ as their Savior! The theme of camp this year was Operation:Recon(ciliation) and used 2 Corinthians 5 to teach kids about the need to be reconciled to God and to be ambassadors for him.  After summer camps were finished, we had several retreat groups host their own camps on our property.

In August, Ben and I had the opportunity to spend a week vacationing at the beach. It was so relaxing and refreshing to get away for a while. Right before our vacation, my sister Syndi and her husband Josh had their first baby, a son named Caleb. As soon as our beach vacation was over, I re-packed my bag and flew to Virginia to see them. It was a short trip, but great to see family.

Fall: Although fall hasn’t officially started, school has, and so I consider this the fall. Activity around the camp has slowed down some, although we do have a few retreats and mini-camps lined up in the next few weeks. Ben and I traveled to Indiana for Labor Day weekend to see my family.  Ben is still doing some wrap-up work from this past summer, and I spend my time working at Lakeland Christian School.

Well, that is the brief version of our life in the past 6 months. It was a great spring and summer, and we’re looking forward to the next few months. Here are a few prayer requests and praises:

Praises:

• A great summer of camp, with app. 50 salvation decisions
• A relaxing and much-needed vacation
• Sandy’s new nephew, Caleb Joshua, born July 30.
• Opportunities to see family over the last few months

Prayer Requests:

• That Camp Gilead can schedule more retreats
• For new supporters to come along side us as ministry partners
• Wisdom in making decisions

Camp’s 70th Anniversary

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and there have been a number of things going on around Camp Gilead.

The biggest thing that has happened in the last month here at camp was our 70th anniversary celebration. We had an open house on February 21 and welcomed nearly 250 guests to the camp that afternoon. We had former campers and counselors, former winter volunteers, friends of the camp and people from the community. It was a neat time for people to reflect on the role that Camp Gilead played in their life. 

Our church’s missions conference was held the same weekend as the anniversary open house, so it was a busy weekend for Ben and me. We had the opportunity to present our ministry to the church in several ways–through casual in-home fellowships, with a display set up for the Sunday church service, and in two different Sunday school classes on Sunday night. On Monday, we had a day to relax and fellowship with the other missionaries that were participating in the conference. We spent the morning and afternoon at a nearby ranch where we fished, rode four-wheelers, rode horses, had lunch, went on a hay ride and could skeet shoot if we wanted to.  On Monday evening, a banquet wrapped-up the event.  In the next couple of months, we will be commissioned as missionaries from HBC.

Now that spring is here, retreat season is picking back up. Two weeks, we had the opportunity to host a student group from Cedarville University during their spring break. Ben and I both graduated from Cedarville in 2003 and enjoyed having the kids here. The group put on an Orlando chapter alumni event at the camp on a Thursday night that brought in about 50 people affiliated with CU. 

February was a good month for us personally as we got to spend time with a lot of family. My sister Susan and her family came to visit for two weeks and shortly after she left, my sister Syndi visited for the weekend. Since my parents are wintering in Florida, I got to see them a few times as well. 

Here are a few praises and prayer requests we have right now.

Praises:

• Time spent with family in February
• A good missions conference at HBC
• That more retreats have booked which have helped the finances of the camp
• a successful 70th anniversary event
• lots of work done by the winter volunteers

Prayer requests:

• New monthly supporters to join our ministry team
• For Ben as summer camps quickly approach – he needs to hire a good staff of summer workers and get all of the many details figured out
• Safety for the remaining volunteers as they prepare to travel home

We hope you are all doing well and enjoying your spring. We would love to hear from you!

God’s Provision

Maybe I’m the only person that feels this way, but I’m always glad to see January go.  Christmas is over. I’ve been with family and had to leave them again. It’s a busy month at Lakeland Christian with two of my least favorite projects of the year. This year, it’s been especially cold in Florida. So, like I said, I’m glad that January is over.

However, the last day of January was a great day and a great reminder of God’s provision and faithfulness. In my last post, I asked everyone to pray about the LCS auction.  I (Sandy) am in charge of the Senior Auction at LCS. This is the biggest of several fundraisers that the senior class does to raise money for their missions trip in May.  It usually brings in between $12,000-$16,000. In looking at the senior class funds before the auction, I was worried.  Because of class size and flight costs, I was estimating about a $15,000 deficit even if the auction did well.  Many of the parents who passed through my office in January shared that the difficult economic times were prohibiting businesses from donating to our auction.  As auction items came in, I wondered if anyone would even show up to bid on the items.

On Friday afternoon, the day before the auction, two major things happened. First, someone donated two Superbowl tickets to auction off. This was huge, since the Superbowl was the next day in Tampa.  Second, our travel agent called to let us know that he found two different flights for our group that would save us about $13,000.  All of a sudden, our flight costs, with 8 more people than last year, were even cheaper than last year!   I was starting to feel better about the class funds, but I was still concerned about the auction.

On Saturday morning (Jan. 31), the seniors helped set up almost 100 silent auction baskets and more than 150 live auction items. By the afternoon, all there was left to do was wait to see if people showed up. At 5:15 PM, the cafeteria started filling up. I’ve never seen so many people show up for the LCS auction.  Four hours later, we wrapped up a record-setting auction, having raised $26,500!  

God tell us not to worry. He promises that he will provide for us. He tells us to trust him. He tell us not to try to do everything on our own.  I worried about the economy. I worried about the generosity of people. I worried that we wouldn’t be able to go on the trip because of the finances. In just 2 days, God reminded me that all of my worry and efforts won’t get me anywhere. I just have to trust that God is in control and that he will provide.

The single most difficult thing about being at Camp Gilead is trusting that God will provide for us financially.  Going from two full-time paychecks to one part-time paycheck has been a challenge.  Asking people to support us is even more of a challenge.  We’ve been challenged, but we’ve also been amazed by the generosity of people.

I think that God’s provision is one of the hardest promises to hold on to.  There are months when we look at the balance of our checking account and wonder how we’re going to make it to the next payday. But God always provides. Sometimes it comes in the form of an anonymous cash gift in the mail. Sometimes it comes through a new monthly or one-time supporter. Other times, it comes as the opportunity to do some “freelance” work such as a one-time athletic training job for Ben or a design project for me.  There have been months of abundance and months when we’ve worried, but God has always provided for us.

 

OK…on to other lighter subjects.   My sister Susan, her husband, and their 5 kids are visiting Florida for the next couple of weeks. They arrived at my parents’ house on Saturday morning and will say there until Wednesday when they come to stay with us for the next week. I’m excited to see them! They’re going to stay at our house, but will spend most of their time at the various attractions in the Orlando area. They will be at our house for a week before going back to my parents’ house for the last couple days of their vacation.  The week after they leave, my sister Syndi is coming to visit. I can’t wait!  I love having family come visit.

Here are a few prayer requests and praises:

Praises:

• That Susan and family made it to FL safely.
• That the senior auction was a huge success!
• For God’s provision

Prayer Requests:

• For Ben and I as we prepare for our upcoming missions conference at church. We will present our ministry so that we can receive support from the church.
• That we will continue to trust God in regards to our finances instead of trying to do everything on our own.
• For the camp, as we prepare for our 70th anniversary celebration in two weeks and for the finances of the camp.

More of the Same

As expected, January has been a busy month. Christmas and our Indiana vacation seem like distant memories. It has been a long month, and it’s not even over yet.  We had some record low temperatures last week, and while it did make me want to stay in my warm house, it didn’t stop the winter volunteers from working. There is new landscaping going in around the chapel and office buildings, picnic tables and benches are being painted, the carpet ball tables are getting a spruce up and the ropes course is getting re-done. 

Last week was a good week. Ben and I enjoyed a day off last Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We had our friends Darren and Jen, along with their two boys(Brock and Brady), over for a cookout at our house. Ben got a new grill for Christmas, and we wanted to try it out. It was a relaxing and fun day.  We ate lunch, walked around the camp, showed the boys the Creation Critters animals and played a little bit of putt-putt golf.  On Friday, we were able to meet up for supper with some college friends that we don’t see often.  We traveled to my parents’ winter home in the Ocala area on Saturday and spent the day golfing with them.

Sunday was a great time of worship at church with a study of Psalm 90 about how we use our time.  Pastor Boulet spoke about needing margin in our lives; we can’t allow ourselves to get too busy that we get stressed out or that we stop doing the important things in our lives. Managing time is a difficult discipline, but Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days so that we may get a heart of wisdom.”  We don’t want to waste our time on the insignificant things of life, but rather spend our time in a way that is pleasing to God.  We can never get time back. 

We have a busy few weeks coming up. This coming Saturday (the 31st), I am in charge of the LCS Senior Class Auction. This event typically raises between $12,000-$15,000 toward the senior missions trip in May.  It takes a lot of work, but it’s a really fun evening. It starts with a lasagna dinner and silent auction, followed immediately by a live auction.  

In early February, my sister Susan, her husband and their five kids will be visiting Florida for two weeks. They’ll spend some time with us at camp, and I’m excited to see them. They haven’t been down to visit us, so I’m excited to show them around.  About the time they’re leaving, camp is hosting a 70th anniversary homecoming on February 21 from 3-5 PM. There is a lot of planning and preparations that go into that event, and we’re excited to see all of the friends of Camp Gilead who will visit that day. The same weekend, Ben and I will be participating in the missions conference at our church. We’ve been in our ministry since last June, but haven’t yet formally announced it to the church. We’ll present our ministry at Camp Gilead – our calling, our roles and what the different ministries are at CG.  

Ben is also continuing his summer camp plans. He’ll be recruiting his summer staff in the next couple of months and lining up missionary and evening speakers. Thankfully, when Jaron (the previous camp director) announced he was leaving, he worked hard at having the curriculum ready for Ben before he moved to New Jersey. 

I hope everyone is doing well. Here are a few prayer requests and praises:

Prayer Requests

• That Ben and I will be wise stewards of our time and that we will give ourselves margins
• For safe travel for my sister and her family as they come vacation in Florida in a couple weeks
• For the winter volunteers as they continue to work hard each day
• For the LCS Senior Auction. The mission trip finances are a concern this year because of the economy, and we hope for a successful auction in spite of the economy.
• Plans for the 70th Anniversary
• For kids in the After School Bible Clubs – that they will continue to learn about Christ and make salvation decisions

Praises:

• For time spent with family and friends over the last couple of weeks
• For the opportunity to participate in our church missions conference next month

A New Routine

In my previous post from last week, I mentioned that the end of Christmas break meant that it was time to get “back into the routine of things.”  However, I’m quickly learning that winters at Camp Gilead involve an entirely new routine.  

Example #1:  Dinner Time.  

My previous routine of coming home from work at Lakeland Christian and making dinner for Ben and me has been replaced with a new and very welcome routine:  dinner waiting for me in the dining hall.  Every Monday through Thursday, dinner is prepared by and for  the winter volunteers and camp staff members in the dining hall. Dinner is served promptly at 5 PM, about the same time I’m pulling into my driveway.  This, like I said, has been a very welcome change to my schedule.

Example #2: Morning break. 

Previously, on Monday mornings, the camp staff met for approximately an hour for our weekly staff meeting.  Now that the winter volunteers are here, we have a daily morning break at 9:30 AM. This brief break from work includes a time of prayer requests, prayer, snacks and fellowship.  Staff meetings will be put on hold until later in the winter.

Example #3: Traffic!

Ok, not really “traffic,” but still several more cars, trucks and golf carts, bicycles and people on and around the camp properties.  There is definitely much more activity going on at camp this time of year.  More volunteers continue to arrive, many who will stay until March. I believe there are around 45-50 volunteers on campus right now. Some are staying in the lodge and apartments, others in empty houses, and still others stay in their personal RVs parked in different locations around the camp. 

In general, the whole camp is “buzzing” with activity throughout the week.  Current work going on right now includes office work, landscaping, painting, renovation of the gym’s weight room and other general maintenance projects.  Pray for the volunteers; many are elderly and the physical labor can be wearing on them. Their positive attitudes and spirit of service, however, are always an encouragement. 

 

Prayer Requests:

• For Sandy, as she organizes the Lakeland Christian senior auction on January 31.  This auction is the major fundraiser for the senior class mission trip to Washington State in May, and it involves a lot of organization and time. 
• For Ben, as he balances his time in the office and out working with the volunteers.  
• That Ben can recruit a great summer staff
• For both of us as we prepare to present a video of our ministry to our church in mid February.  This is a requirement to get the financial support of the church.

Praises:

• For the winter volunteers and all of their help to the camp.
• For managing to stay healthy so far this winter, despite the cold weather in Indiana.
• For unexpected financial gifts that have helped us when we were worried about finances.
• For God’s continued faithfulness as he guides us in our ministry. 

A New Year

Happy New Year from Camp Gilead in warm, sunny Florida!

Ben and I just returned home yesterday from our 2 weeks in Indiana, and it’s nice to be back where it’s warm.  We had a great time with family and friends over the holidays. We enjoyed three big family dinners (2 with my family and 1 with Ben’s relatives), we rested and relaxed, we ate out WAY too much and we spent more than 40 hours in a minivan with my parents and two dogs.  

As we drove north on December 21, we watched the temperature gauge in my parents’ van drop from 84 degrees in Lakeland to 1 degree in Indiana. We were fortunate and had good driving conditions, despite an ice storm that hit Indiana just a few days before we arrived. For the most part, the weather stayed in the 20-40 degree range and was not too unbearable. Porsche and Gus both adapted to the cold quickly, and it was fun to watch them slide around on the ice when we took them on short walks. They probably would have enjoyed longer walks, but Ben and I didn’t want to spend anymore time out in the cold than we had to!  

Here are a couple of photos from our trip:

We enjoyed a white Christmas in Indiana.

Ben didn’t grow up in the north, so he REALLY doesn’t like the cold weather.

Now it’s time to get back into the routine of things. As we drove back onto the camp property yesterday morning, we saw that many of the winter volunteers have arrived. Currently, there are about 30 retirees who will work on various projects around the camp. Last year, they renovated our old snack shop, counselor lounge and camp store into the amazing new Cafe Oasis. The cafe has been a central gathering places for groups to enjoy snacks, fellowship and games.   The volunteers also renovated the office from a dark, dingy and unwelcoming space into a bright, sunny and more functional office space. The new layout is much more welcoming to guests here at the camp, and it makes office work easier for the staff. The volunteers have also renovated cabins for the past few winters.  I was having a conversation with another full time staff person, and she made the comment that nearly every building has the fingerprints of our volunteers. They really are such a blessing to Camp Gilead, and they accomplish more than we could ever do without their help.

With the volunteers here, our camp routine changes for a couple of months. There are fewer retreat groups here during the winter, which allows more time for work on the property. Ben will spend much of his time preparing for summer camp, but he will also serve alongside the volunteers as they work on the grounds. Because I am only at camp on Mondays, I will continue to work in the office on newsletters, flyers and brochures, fundraising and other related duties.  

In the couple days before and after New Year’s Day, I spent some time reflecting on 2008. A lot of really good things happened in our lives last year, as well as a few challenges. When we began thinking about our transition out to camp, Ben and I adopted Psalm 37:23 as an important verse for our new ministry: “The steps of a man are established by God…”   Taking the step of faith to becoming support-based missionaries was not an easy one, but we know that God has directed our steps out here to Camp Gilead and we are confident that we are where He wants us for this time in our lives. We appreciate each one of you who has supported us through prayer and financial giving this past year.  

We hope that your new year is a great one. Ben and I love to hear from you, and we can be emailed at sandyjohnson@campgilead.com. Please let us know if you’d like to be added to our email and mailing list.

Here are a few prayer requests and praises:

Praises:

• For a wonderful time with family over the Christmas and New Years holidays
• For the news that Sandy’s sister and her husband (Syndi and Josh) are expecting their first child in August
• For the winter volunteers and their ministry at CG

Prayer Requests:

• For new financial partners to join our support team
• For the finances of Camp Gilead, as we deal with the effects of a difficult economy
• That we can book more retreats for the winter
• For balance in our lives:  between work and family, in our finances, for Sandy as she splits time between CG and LCS
• For Ben as he learns the ropes of being in charge of summer camp and as he recruits godly counselors and staff for the summer

Christmas Time and Candidate School

 

Hello everyone!

 

In just a little more than 2 weeks, it will be Christmas. It’s really hard to believe how quickly this past year passed by. One year ago this week, Ben and I interviewed with the Camp Gilead board of directors and received the invitation to join the CG staff as full time missionaries. They asked us to share our testimonies and what role we envisioned ourselves in here at CG.  Since that interview and our subsequent decision to join the CG staff, we have experienced some moments of great encouragement and a few discouragements. Through all of these experiences, God has remained faithful and has given us assurance that He has called us to this ministry.  Psalm 37:23 says that the steps of man are established by the Lord, and we know that God has directed our steps here.

Christmastime is relatively quiet at Camp Gilead. We are hosting some small retreat groups in December, but most of our time is spent catching up in the office and getting ready to organize and promote summer camps. The summer camp program director and his wife recently resigned from Camp Gilead in order to serve as a full-time youth pastor, and Ben has taken on the role of Summer Camp Director. He will recruit counselors and other leadership team members, organize and run the day-to-day camp activities, line up speakers and take care of the millions of tiny details that go along with summer camps. Please keep Ben in your prayers as he adjusts to this new position and all of the responsibilities that it entails.

Christmas also means time to spend with family. This year, Ben and I will be driving up with my parents to spend two weeks in Indiana. We leave on December 21 and will return around January 3 or 4. We would love the opportunity to see our Indiana friends and family during our trip north, so please contact me if you will be around.

Last week, Ben and I, along with 3 other couples, went through candidate school for Children’s Bible Ministries (CBM) which is the umbrella mission that Camp Gilead is part of.  For two days, we learned about the history of CBM, how to present our testimonies, how to work with children, how to keep track of our finances in an uncertain economy, the chain of command at Camp Gilead, interpersonal relationships, corresponding with our supporters, and many other things. It was an informative and encouraging time as we continue our transition to camp. There is a lot to learn about being in ministry, and specifically, being part of CBM.

 

The CG missionaries who completed candidate school.

 

We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas. Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support. 

Here are a few prayer requests:

• Safety in travel as we drive to Indiana and back to Florida
• For new ministry partners who will support us through prayer and finances
• Ben, as he takes over the summer camp program
• The winter volunteers of CG as they travel to Florida after the holidays
• That we can book more retreat groups in the winter months

Cold Days in Florida

Having been raised in Indiana, one would think that I could easily handle a couple of 40 degree days in Florida. But I’ve found that after just 4 1/2 years here, I’ve found that I don’t handle the cold nearly as well as I used to. I have two main excuses:  1.) Warm weather makes your blood thinner, so it’s not as easy to stay warm as when you live where it’s cold part of the year. I’m not sure if this theory is legitimate, but I’ve heard it a lot. 2.) Florida cold is a humid cold, and humid air feels colder than dry air. Again, I don’t know if this is true or not, but it makes sense to me.   This week has been a cooler week in Florida. By the afternoons, I appreciate the 60-70 degrees, but I don’t like walking out of my house in the morning when it’s only 40 degrees. 

With the cold weather come changes at camp. One change is the activity that goes on at the lake. One last retreat group braved the cold water in early November, and I think they must have been crazy!  Right after they left, Ben had the privilege of getting in the freezing cold lake last week to pull in the big floating trampoline and swim ropes. 

Another change is the arrival of the winter volunteers. Since the 1960s, a large group of retirees travel to Florida to spend time working on projects around the camp. Some stay for a couple of weeks and others stay for a couple of months. This vital group of volunteers work on projects that otherwise might not get done. Last winter, they renovated the snack shop, camp store and counselor’s lounge into one big cafe. They also helped update and renovate the camp offices and some of the cabins.

While the volunteers are here, we also have retreats lined up. Throughout the fall, there was a group at the camp nearly every weekend. It’s a little slower through the winter, but we will still be busy with retreat groups. 

On a personal note…

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and Ben and I are looking forward to a slower and relaxing week. I will have an entire week off from Lakeland Christian and will have the opportunity to be home. We will spend Thanksgiving with Ben’s family and some friends at Camp Gilead.  We also hope to use the time to catch up on some of the work that we’ve been putting off for so long. 

For Christmas, we plan on driving with my parents up to Indiana for a little less than 2 weeks. It’ll be nice to be home and to see family.  Hopefully we’ll have some uncharacteristically warm weather for our time in Indiana!

Thanks to all of you who continue to pray for and support us financially. The holidays can always been stressful on finances, and we are grateful for the continued generosity of our friends and family.

October is a busy month!

When talking about our roles at Camp Gilead, many people ask me what we do after the summer ends; many people have the perception that summer camps are our primary ministry. And it’s true, summer camps are a big part of our job. However, we are also a conference center and remain very busy throughout the year. Men’s groups, women’s retreats, youth groups, school retreats and church picnics are just a few of the different types of retreats that we host throughout the year. Just this past weekend, we hosted 30 women for “Camp Scrap” – a four-day scrapbooking retreat.  Now I (Sandy) personally can’t think of a more torturous way to spend my weekend, but these women wear their pajamas and play games and scrapbook until the wee hours of the morning…some even pull all nighters!

During retreats, our primary roles are to prepare the facilities, cook and serve meals, make sure that the needs of the group are met, drive the boats and lifeguard if needed and clean up after they leave. We work behind the scenes to serve our guests as they are refreshed and encouraged by their time here. 

In addition to summer camps and retreat groups, Camp Gilead runs after school Bible clubs on Monday afternoons. Kids from Polk City elementary come out to camp and have time to swim and play before hearing a Bible lesson.  The Bible club brings in almost 50 kids each week, many who don’t go to church and many who are from one-parent families. 

On a personal note, Ben and I are enjoying the cooler Florida weather. I remain busy as I split my time between Lakeland Christian and camp. It’s a challenge as I try to balance my workload, but I enjoy both so much. 

Two weeks ago, we hosted a “Ministry Fundraising Boot Camp” retreat and six of us attended this retreat as well. For 10 hours on a Monday and 10 hours on a Tuesday, we learned all about how to raise our personal support. It was so neat to sit with 40 other missionaries from different mission agencies and different ministry goals. Some of these missionaries were young singles and couples serving on college campuses. Some were older missionaries serving in inner city ministries. Many were preparing to be church planters in Hungary, Japan and Italy.  It was encouraging to study how support raising is a biblical privilege that Ben and I have as missionaries. We went through an intensive study on biblical fundraising using examples such as Paul, Nehemiah and Jesus. 

This past weekend, we had friends (Rob and Adriane Pounders and their daughters) from Indiana visit for a day on their way to a Disney vacation. It was fun to see them and spend some time with them at our house. They visited last summer as well and decided that October might be a more enjoyable time to spend a week in Florida because of the cooler weather. 

We hope all is going well for you and as always, we appreciate your prayers.

Welcome to our Blog

Dear family, friends and ministry supporters:

Welcome to our blog! It is our goal to use this blog as a way to keep you updated on our ministry at Camp Gilead, as well as with other things going on in our lives. 

This week, we’re hosting a group of high school students from Keswick Christian School and I (Sandy) am listening to their worship time going on in the chapel. My office walls are very thin, so I can hear everything going on in the chapel. Right now, they’re singing “Blessed Be Your Name,” one of my favorite worship songs. It’s a great reminder that God is in control through the good times and bad times, and how we are to praise God no matter what our circumstances. 

Last weekend, Ben and I were able to travel to Virginia for a long weekend with my sister, her husband and my parents. Mom, Syndi and I went to the Extraordinary Women conference at Liberty University, and it was a great, great conference. I got to hear from speakers such as Karen Kingsbury, Thelma Wells, Chonda Pierce, Angela Thomas and Carol Kent. Richie Macdonald (lead singer for Lone Star) and Mandisa (from American Idol) both performed concerts. It was a challenging and encouraging conference. Besides the conference, we got to spend time as a family which was wonderful. 

Here are just a couple of photos from the weekend:

Me with Karen Kingsbury

Mom, me and Syndi at the EWomen Conference