On Top of Old Smoky

Work is progressing quickly. This past week the men completed a sewer line from a house straight down (literally) a hill. There are now 3 new lights around the chapel. Building no. 1 is now demolished and the second building is now almost down. One group of ladies is still cleaning chairs. They have figured there are over 700 chairs in the chapel---they have a few to go. Sharon and another lady are still working on the walls and painting the room for the cleaning ladies’ office etc.

On Tuesday night, our group made a large campfire (yes, it was needed!) and got the hot dogs and all the fixings out. Delicious. On Friday night the director of the camp invited the group to his home for a spaghetti supper.

One of the highlights of the week was our tour of Bush Brothers factory nearby where the Bush Beans are canned. In fact, Ball Brothers has a can factory right out the back door that sends the cans to Bush Brothers. It was very interesting hearing the story of this family. Included was a tour of the family home that was built a hundred years ago but had been totally renovated. The company is still family owned. Jed Bush is a fourth generation member. Duke (in all their ads) is now the fourth one being used and is the first male Duke. Yes, we did bring home beans and some chili!

The leaves are getting more and more color to them daily. Today, the everything is crystal clear. Gaylene Holloway and I had been looking at the mountain behind our RVs since we have been here. This afternoon we climbed it! It took a little bit of time since it was a steep grade. There is a rustic camp at the top that goes with Carson Springs. It was more than worth the trip the climb.

It seems almost impossible that we are moving deep into October. Please continue to remember us in prayer.

PS from UP of Michigan

We recently received a picture of Piatt Lake in the UP of Michigan where we served in September from (believe it or not) from a friend from Upland, IN. If you look on the right hand side of the lake there is a beach. Our RVs sat not too far from that location. Isn't it beautiful in the fall? At the top of the picture is Lake Superior and, if you look closely, Canada can be seen at the very top just under the clouds.

Week #1 Carson Springs

As we finish week #1 at the Carson Spring Baptist Conference Center, we have finished one of our most physical week’s worth of work on a RVICS project. They have a long list of things that they would like to have done during our stay here.

The men have been working in 2 groups of 3 each. Don and his team have been digging holes and filling them with cement for new lights along a driveway. Digging a hole here is not that simple because it is mainly rock. They have custom made new window sills for the chapel. As preliminary work for next week, they have drawn up plans for a new sewer from one of the lodges. The other group of 3 men have been demolishing a building (keeping most of it for another building project). Prayers were with them on Thursday. As they had a lift removing the trusses, the rafters gave way and the WHOLE thing fell to the floor where the men were standing. It all happened in a matter of 2-3 seconds. After the dust cleared the men were all standing together OUTSIDE unharmed. It was a miracle. The day before they had been standing on them but didn’t realize that there was rot on one end of a couple of them that came loose and brought the whole thing down as dominos.

The ladies have been working in groups of 3 also. One group have been working on cleaning over 700 chairs in the chapel. Yes, it is more than a weeks worth of work! Sharon and that group have been patching holes in poured cement walls in a large room in the basement of the conference center that is being made for an office for housekeeping. The holes are patched. We are now coating all the walls with the same material. This is something new for me to add to my “resume”. Next week, the painting begins.

Yes, the truck was repaired as of yesterday. The “damage” could have been worse but they still had to take the whole transmission out. It is good to have transportation again. However, we haven’t lacked for rides.

This is a great group of people and we are enjoying our time with them. We are thoroughly enjoying one lady in particular that heads up the housekeeping staff. She is instructing us in the culture of the east Tennessee people. What a delight she is.

Thank you once again for your prayers. As you can see, they are being felt.

Another Project!!

Yes, we are at our new project sight after spending 5 days at home. That seemed like a whirlwind but we were once again anxious to begin this project at Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center. After driving all day yesterday we arrived last evening and before long all 6 of the couples for this project were getting set up for the month. Hopefully, in the near future I can get pictures of the RV Park on the blog. We are literally sitting on the side of a “hill”. There are no level spots here! In fact, we think that the truck didn’t like the idea because it started leaking transmission fluid as we were backing into the spot. Fortunately, it didn’t happen until we were at the end of our journey and at a place where friends could help us. Plus, we found a Ford dealership down (literally) the road! The middle of next week we will take it in for the verdict.

What a beautiful drive down with the sun shining most of the way and the leaves putting on their fall colors already. This conference center is a beautiful place too. Last evening when I walked to check e-mail etc I passed 9 turkeys. I am guessing that there is alot of wildlife around this location.

Of the five couples that are on this project, four of them are new to us. In just meeting them, it seems like it will be another fun group. Our friends from Hartford City were assigned with us. That is always special. The other couples are from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Montana and Florida. Yes, they are from all over again!

On a future blog, we will have to tell of our work and a little more about the conference center. We have not had an official meeting yet. Please pray that our time here will be well spent.

Near Completion

Two new boys’ bathrooms, 4 new wooden bunk beds, dozens of handyman jobs, mowed grass, cutting down of dozens of trees (diseased)---these are the completed or near completed jobs done by the men here at Hiawatha Youth Camp. The women have spent their time cleaning and painting. These jobs that we have done have all made the camp a little nicer for the campers that will come here next summer.

We are down to 2 ½ days of work and the time has flown by these past 3 weeks. Every project is different and with every project the skills of the volunteers very greatly. However, with every project, the volunteers seem to have just the skills required to do the work that needs to be done. That was true this time too.

It is about time to leave since the TV weatherman says that on Wednesday evening we might have snow/ice pellets. Winter is getting close in this far north part of the US. However, the scenery has been so spectacular this past week or so. The reds are unbelievable. All the fall colors are represented in their brilliance. Many evenings the group had made a campfire and spent their time with further fellowship. Last night the temperature was around 48 degrees when we finally called it a night. These make great memories.

Thursday at midday, we will hook the RV to the truck and head south. It is always hard to tell your new friends goodbye. Hopefully, we will cross paths with them again. After 4-5 days in Hartford City, we will once again leave for another project. This time it is in the south as we will be in Tennessee. We will then do this all over again as we meet new friends and greet fall one more time!!

Until we arrive at our new destination-----please keep us in your prayers.

Work?

The blog a week ago was titled Work & Play. That is very true of this past week, also. During our work hours, the men began to re-build the boys' bathrooms, continued to do repairs to other cabins, and spraying preservative on the outside of the cabins. Even today, 2-3 of the men, cut down a couple of very dead trees here in the RV encampment. The women painted and cleaned cabins and finished some of the work that they had been doing in the kitchen.

Play consisted of fun social when the RVICS group was invited to enjoy a pot luck social with the "community" that surrounds the lake. For Bible study we were invited into the home of a couple that lives on the lake and he led the study. He is a retired school principle and they make their home here 5 months of the year. For our Friday tour, we traveled to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, for a tour of the locks. It was another picture perfect day and freightors were in abundance! They are fun to watch when you are from a land locked area. Since we are "camping" one night we brought out the hot dogs, chips, marshmellows, and had a real for sure cook out. It was pretty cool but the fire did keep us warm.

As we close week number 2 here at Hiawatha Youth Camp, we are feeling very much at home and are meeting the members of the community that lives here that I referenced above. Hiawatha Youth Camp is a part of the Piatt Lake Bible Conference Association. Piatt Lake is surrounded by cottages that are built on leased land from the Association. They have to be Christians to live here (and prove it) as they want the atmosphere here to be different than the world. They are a great group of people. We have started riding our bicycles around the lake (4 miles) and some now call us by name and all wave. Also, we are definitely "out in the middle of no where" BUT there is one family from Upland that we know and visited with this week plus there is a connection to 2 other people that we know from Hartford City/Upland!! Most are not natives of this area and do go south in the winter time.

We are having a great time here---can you tell. We feel that we are benefiting the camp with our work and are having a good time doing it. By the way, the leaves are showing more and more color daily.

Work & Play

This has been a good and fruitful week here at Hiawatha Youth Camp. We hit the rode running and haven't let up yet. As the title says, work and play.

On Monday morning the men tore out a couple of the boys' bathrooms, as well as, tearing out much of the laundry room. By the end of the week, the ladies were once again able to use the laundry room. It is much improved! The boys' bathrooms will be re-built this coming week. Don spend much of his week in a set of 4 cabins being handy man---fixing and repairing. The ladies cleaned and sorted items in the kitchen making it ready for the winter when the entire camp is closed and shut down. A nursery room is, also, ready for babies next summer. Monday, I believe the women will be painting and painting and more painting.

This trip we brought our bicycles and everyone that has one is putting them to good use. The men drove their truck (tools) to the work location and parked them there. They have then been riding their bikes back and forth and to get needed supplies. The area is conducive to riding and we have taken rides for pleasure too.

The camp personal set up a "fire pit" in the center of our RV parking. We are enjoying it to the fullest and light a fire in the afternoons and evenings whenever it isn't raining. It makes for great fellowship.

On Friday (tour day for RVICS everywhere) we drove to the Tahquanenon Falls State Park. It was a postcard perfect day. I have spent 2 days before writing this blog trying to download pictures but the computer didn't cooperate. This is an enjoyable part of the projects and we get to see and visit places we might not ordinarily get to see.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support of notes etc. Monday will find us back at work.

Away Up North!!

Hiawatha Youth Camp will be our RVICS home for the next month. We haven't learned much of the history of the camp yet but we do know the location (I think). It is 50 miles from anything! Actually, we might not know where it is located because a local person in a car drove up to our window on a dirt road and asked if we knew where to go. "No" was the answer. He kindly drove in front of us to the campground! Lake Superior is just north of us and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is to the northeast.

It is a very nice camp located on Piatt Lake. Because of its location, the camp is only open 2-3 months in the summer. I believe that the ladies will be "closing" the buildings down for winter by storing supplies and cleaning. For one of the men's projects, they will be renovating the laundry building.

Our RVICS group for the month is made of 5 couples from Virginia to California. One couple is very near their home in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. This is the first time that we have worked with any of them. We have one of the men in the group to thank for our internet connection. I don't understand it but he took one of the couple's internet service and made it so we those with wifi can connect to it. We are thankful for that!!

Our RVs'are in the woods. We look out the windows and see nothing but trees. We are wondering how many animals we might spot. We have been told a bear occasionally shows up.

We are excited to be here and to begin work next week. One the drive up, we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and ran into another RVICS couple that we have never worked with that were heading for a project at Miracle Camp. It is a small world.

Thanks for remembering us as we work. We will give updates whenever we can.

What a Trip!!

We have now landed in Hartford City. It feels like we have lived forever in the van and now need to get our "land legs". What a trip it was and one that we are very glad that we had the opportunity to do. We saw a good cross section of the USA.

Since we are a detailed family---

6500 miles (approximately)
12 different states of the US
2 Canadian provinces
Time with all the family

It is good to get home and now for the work. Time to get ready for another trip RVICS in September.

Merrily We Roll Along

Yes, we are still heading east. Today, we finished off Idaho, hit the corner of Utah and ended up this evening in Green River, Wyoming. We did a side trip while in Twin Falls, Idaho. They have very scenic canyons with the Snake River at the bottom. Plus, they have a waterfall that is taller (so the literature says) than Niagra Falls. While driving east of Salt Lake City we attempted to take pictures of the pink rock mountains with the green grass on the sides but couldn't get it to work that looked anything like we were seeing. It is a beautiful country out in the middle of places that are very barren.

Do they have tornadoes in Wyoming? We didn't think so but they issued a warning for the county that we are in this evening. It did get dark, very cool and the wind blew hard. Interestingly enough, we turned on the TV to see where it was exactly BUT they only mentioned the tornado (no specific location at all). They went on for a minute or so about watching out for the lightning. We saw NO lightning. Weather is definitely different in this part of the world.

Tomorrow morning, we will continue east and see lots more of Wyoming.

Land of Contrasts

We have seen many contrasts in our travels the last 2 days. Let me back up and explain.

Yesterday morning we headed for the Oregon coast. The weather was very cool and we wore sweaters with the skies overcast all day long. The scenery is spectacular along the rocky shore line. We spent the day driving south along Highway 101 and stopping often. As evening approached and with no place to stay, we headed back east and stayed in Salem, Oregon, last night. However, we found an unexpected surprise in the drive along a state highway, a tunnel of trees totally blocking out the sky overhead. It was really neat.

This morning we headed back for the interstate and back east. After we got east of The Dalles in Oregon, the land became very arid again. Occasionally, we saw spots of green where it had been irrigated. Some places were garden like and others were very barren. Also, we didn't need the sweaters today. Ha!! The temps are up in the mid-90's again.

We are in Boise, Idaho, tonight and will continue our journey east tomorrow.

As We Travel Along---

We have traveled many miles the last couple of days and have seen much. However, a lot of the miles looked like the lower picture. This was taken in east-central Washington yesterday afternoon. It is the Columbia River. It is unbelievably large river in an area that is extremely arid. We drove this route so that we might once again see the difference water can make on the barren land. The Yakima Valley is a very green place that abounds with orchards and about every other green vegetable (maybe not green too) when it has been watered but the surrounding land is nothing but scrub trees or bare. Driving this route, we saw many grain fields being combined or, in some cases, still very green.

Today, we followed the Columbia River along the Washington-Oregon boundary. As we traveled east, it got a little green until just west of Portland we stopped and saw the Multanoma Falls. It is too tall to get it all in the camera. Well, actually I did but I was too far away and it didn't look right through the humidity. We tried to go visit Mt. St. Helen's but they were close to closing their doors. Maybe that will be another trip(?).

Tonight, we are staying just north of Portland on the Washington side of the Columbia River. We haven't seen the Pacific yet but are about 50 miles away. That is on the agenda for tomorrow as we drive south along the coast for a few miles. Soon, we will be heading the van back east again----

Day #2 of Wows!

Different friends that had visited Banff National Park in Canada had told us that it was a very beautiful place. They were not wrong! In many ways the Canadian Rocky's are different from the US Rocky Mountains but they are all WOW! We spent most of the day in the park enjoying the view. A special treat was taking the Gondola ride to high above the town of Banff. Yes, Don survived the ride!!

The crowds here were some of the largest that we have seen on our trip. It is very much a "United Nations" of people. However, this was a very friendly group of people. We visited with people from Oregon, Ontario, and Illinois. (K & J, they had a brother who had lived in Chilly.)

Tonight, we are staying at a small town just west of the park called Golden. After we stopped, we noticed that one of the back tires on the van wasn't looking so good. We found a tire store and bought 2 new ones. Tomorrow morning we will head south again toward the US border.

The Missed Pictures of Glacier

Now that I see them on the blog, I am not sure that these are the best pictures that we have to represent what we saw yesterday. One thing for sure the pictures don't do grander that we were able to see.

A Day of Wows!

When you think that it can't see anything more beautiful, you do. We had visited Glacier National Park many, many years ago when the girls were small. (It is so far back we can't even remember!) What we do remember is that we loved it, even though it was a cloudy day on that trip. Today, we saw the park with crystal, clear blue skies contrasting with the deep green vegetation and an abundance of waterfalls running. We walked a trail or 2 and pulled off when we could. (The park seemed extra full today.) There were mountain goats grazing too. One gentleman told us that down the mountain (before we got to that point) there was a grizzly bear near the highway. I attempted to download a picture or 2 but the computer said NO. Maybe another time.

After Glacier National Park, we headed north into Canada. We passed wide open spaces of nothing but cattle and grain fields. The grain is still green but was waving in the breezes.

Tonight, we are in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and will head into Banff National Park in the morning.

Our Day----

Yes, this is what we saw today. It was a perfecly clear day with blue skies and great temps. However, I have the sunburn to show that we are in Wyoming and not Indiana. The sun hits you hard and heavy out here!

After about a 3 hour morning drive we arrived at the Tetons. Jackson Hole was our next stop. We could have spent the day there but didn't. It is a great place to visit. Finally, we drove around Yellowstone. We have visited these places before but you always see new and different things with each visit.

We were amazed that these places were not packed with tourists on this a weekend day. So far, the only problem has been finding a cheap motel room. The problem is all the motorcycles are heading for Sturgis, SD, and the remainder of the rooms are filled with oil field workers!

Tonight, we can be found in Livingston, Montana, and will head for the west side of Glacier National Park in the morning.

Still Traveling North

This was another good day of travel. We started north out of Pueblo early this morning and are now in Rock Spring, Wyoming.

Since our travels today were in areas that we have already been too and seen, we went off the beaten path (translation interstate). When we got to Denver we headed west on US 40 and saw some beautiful mountain scenery that (we think) rivaled the Rocky Mountain National Park. There was a lookout at 11,500 feet and it was spectular. We met a couple of young men from Oklahoma and Texas (flat land USA) that had ridden their bicyles up the mountain from Winter Park. They asked to have their pictures taken. They then took our pictures and said we could use their bikes to make people think we had ridden up---yeah, sure!!!

Where drilling for oil products is permitted, they are working hard at putting down new wells---oil and natural gas (we think). In Wyoming it appears that the wells are almost on top of one another. We don't see sights like this back home.

Tomorrow, we are heading north again to the Tetons and Yellowstone. Since the daylight hours are long, we will probably leave early in the morning.

We're on Vacation!!

Around 8 this morning, we bid Kim, Chris, Luke, Hannah & Drew goodbye. What a wonderful, hard working week we had with all of them!! It was hard to leave but we now have much to look forward too.

As we left Wichita, it was foggy and the fog just got worse for about an hour or so until in spots it was near zero. However, when the sun did shine, we were almost immediately met with 100+ temperatures. Most of the afternoon it was 101-105. The skies were perfectly blue and for about half the distance the grass etc was green. Now, everything is nice brown color but that might be normal for this time of the year.

We are now in Pueblo, Colorado, for the night after driving 434 miles today. Oh, the sights that we saw----fields of cotton, soybeans, corn, milo, vegetables of all kinds but particularly onions; oil wells; pheasant "farms"; huge beef factories; lots of beef cattle feeding lots (maybe not quite as many cows as in the past) and horses. One of the saddest places of Greensburg, Kansas. This is the town that was almost totally destroyed by a tornado with some deaths probably more than year ago. What wasn't newly built there was gone. The places where buildings had stood was mostly all that was left. We drove past the "hospital" which was only FEMA trailers plus tents with a red cross painted on the top.

What time is it---our bodies don't know. We gained another hour today when we crossed the Colorado line. We are now 2 hours behind HC time.

Tomorrow is still in the planning stage. Right now, we are thinking we will head north to Wyoming. Our next destination will probably be the Tetons.

Our project at Camp Tracey is now but a memory. We completed our work there on Tuesday afternoon. The men finished putting siding on a fairly large house. As the work progressed, the question was “Will we be able to finish this before we leave?” Prayer kept them safe as they climbed high scaffolds etc. The ladies finished all the work that had been asked of them. On the final day, more pecan pies were made for the students.

Leaving a RVICS project is the hardest thing to do. Over the period of a month lasting friendships are made. We always hope that down the road we will have that privilege of being together again soon. Since (for example) this past project we were from 5 different US states it is hard to visit often.

The “students” became very special to us. We ate with them and heard the stories of their “family” life. It was very hard to listen to because it broke your heart. We became like grandparents to them. Our prayer for them is that they might soon leave this camp and have a normal, stable life.

However, we had much to look forward to in leaving. On Wednesday we drove to Kim’s in Georgia and are now playing with Luke and Hannah! We can’t believe how much they have grown and changed in just a couple of months. Chris is in Hawaii for a few days and probably won’t get home before we leave. Since they are now possibly headed for Wichita in the near future we probably won’t have the opportunity for these stop ins.

Thank you for your prayers and continued support for our work. Right now, we plan on continuing this work beginning in the fall. Miracle Camp is on the list for September and we are hoping to be assigned to that project.

Time Is Flying By

Today is really beginning to feel like summertime in the south! We aren’t complaining because this has actually been a very cool week. However, it is reminder as to how close we are getting to finishing up our work here and beginning the trip north in a couple of weeks.

This week was much like the week before as far as our work is concerned. Don and the men worked hard on putting siding on the house. The house is very crooked which is presenting many problems/decisions. Sharon and the ladies worked on cracking the pecans all week. That project is nearing an end. One day, a couple of the ladies made 10 pecan pies. We shared them with all the campers, staff and all the volunteer workers. We can’t do that very often. Ha!!

The highlight of the week was an ice cream social that all the volunteers put on for the girl campers. We really have fallen in love with these girls. There was much interaction with everyone. The volunteers (RVICS, SOWERS and another volunteer couple) all sang songs to them. In return, the girls sang to us. Everyone thought that it was a success---with ice cream with all the extras you can’t go wrong.

When the campers turn 18 years of age, they have the freedom of leaving on their own. Bradley is an 18 year old that has been here for 5 years and has chosen to stay on. As a gift from him to us, he is washing all the vehicle of all the volunteers here. He is a success story of Camp Tracey.

Thanks for continuing to remember us as we are away.

Another Good Week of Work

Camp Tracey has been our home for a week. Time just continues to fly by. We are thankful to be able to spend this part of winter in Florida. Right now, the weather certainly is much better here than in the northern part of the US. However, it is pouring down rain today with the storms that come with it.

Once again, we had a productive week of work. Sharon spent 2 days of the week tutoring girls at their school. Don and the men are putting vinyl siding on a house. The ladies spent a couple of days cracking pecans. The nuts came from trees on the property. There is, also, a small garden where the students grow a few vegetables for use in the camp.

The RVICS couples love interacting with the students that are here. We are invited to eat lunch and supper with the girls or the boys (they eat separately). In talking with them, their lives are full of broken homes and troubled backgrounds. In talking with a girl yesterday, she calls Camp Tracey her home. An uncle (who adopted her) told her not to come back. It breaks your heart. They are here because of the trouble that they have gotten into. They have entered this camp because the family has sent them here or (in rare cases) a court has sent them. However, the good news is that if they are here for at least a year there is a 90% success rate.

There is an international flavor to this project as there are 2 couples of Canada that are serving here with a different RV mission group. It has been fun getting to know them. The men have worked separately but he ladies have spent a couple days with the RVICS ladies doing the pecans.

Thanks, again, for following our ministry with your prayers.

An Ending and a Beginning

Our Lake Swan project has been completed. This will go down as a favorite. We loved the staff, worked very hard and left the camp in a better physical condition than when we arrived. The electric company had not arrived to bring the power from the pole but that is OK because those that follow will enjoy it. Everyone in the group said that they wanted to work there again in the future.

As is always the case, the hard part of the project is saying goodbye. Larry & Gaylene had to return to Indiana (snow & cold!). Everyone is missing them already. The remaining couples along with us have gone to a new project that we will begin on Monday at Camp Tracey, Glen St. Mary, Florida. Another couple from Michigan have now arrived to make our group 5 couples once again. We worked with them on a Michigan project last year and they are a great addition to this group. In addition to our RVICS group, there are 2 couples here from the SOWERS (Canadian) plus a young couple staying here that do prison ministry. The campsite is full!!

In a future blog I will tell more about this camp as we learn more. Basically, it is a ministry to teens that are one step from jail. (One boy was really interested in our truck---can that be good?) It is a working farm and the kids do all the work etc. Our view from our back window is of cows and barns. We will be eating meals with them (boys and girls are separate) and have already had lunch with 4 boys. We will learn alot, I am sure.

Please continue to pray for us as we work here. Right now, we have no idea what we might be doing but we wish to be useful.

What a Week!

Another week has passed –can that be possible?? Our time here at Lake Swan Camp has flown by before we knew it. We are now down to the last few days here. Tuesday afternoon will be our last work day before we move to a new location.

The electrical work got under way in a big way this week. When it was found a ditch witch couldn’t do the trenches for the electrical lines, a back hoe was brought in. (In this case, bigger was better!) After all the digging, the RV parking lot looked like a huge mine field that had blown up. However, no RVs had to be moved and nothing was hit. RVICS hours were thrown out and the men worked long and HARD days. It was amazing to see all of these old men digging and the other hard work involved. The women (in the afternoons) served them coffee and cookies, moved dug up roots, did misc. help and were the cheering squad for our hubbies. They have alot done but it is unlikely that we will benefit from the final hook up. The ladies continued in their painting etc. The finished walls/rooms make it worth the while.

Yesterday (our tour day) the group traveled 50 miles to THE BEACH (Crescent Beach on the Atlantic). All of us were like teenagers. We had the absolutely most perfect day to do this. We packed lunch, chairs and flew a kite, played bocce ball, picked up sea shells and walked barefoot in the sand!! This week, we played just as hard as we had worked! The sun was out and the temperature was about 80---in February!!!! Oh, did I say, it was perfect?

One of the couples from North Carolina had to go home on Sunday. They found the problem to be related to his back rather than an old hip injury. It was hard to loose one of the group. We are now a group of 10 (5 couples).

Thank you for all your prayers. It was amazing that no one suffered any permanent damage etc. from all that was accomplished.

Our Outdoor Education

This week flew by as we continued our work here at Lake Swan Camp! In fact, a few of the projects are now completed. A couple of the women have finished sorting and archiving old files and 35 boxes of have burned, the fence has been replaced/repaired, the key sorting is nearly complete. Sharon and a couple of the women continued to paint and one building is now ready for campers and another is progressing nicely. Don and Larry (in addition to working on the fence) have moved a shed and other misc. items, installed new lights and repaired soffitt. Everyone is anticipating another busy week coming up too.

Stacy Farris (ex-Hoosier) is in charge of the living outdoor school. What an interesting lady! Stacy is a lawyer who walked away from the profession for her love of kids and nature. One night she took our group to the lake and gave us a study on the stars---both the science view of the sky and the scriptural story written in the sky. She has a boa constrictor (among other animals) that she gave a lesson on one day including the feeding (actual demonstration) and care. What will we learn this coming week?

In addition to the work we continue to socialize! On Tuesday night our group hosted another RVICS group that is on a nearby project. Our theme song is “Family of God” and that is actually what we are---a big family. It is so much fun to gather with other RVICS. Even though we had with only one other couple in the past from this group it seems like we have always known the others also. On Sunday my sister and husband paid us a visit while on vacation from their home in Ohio. What a treat!

Florida is badly in need to rain and we had a couple of times of heavy rain. Sun is much preferred but the rain was very welcome.

One of the men is experiencing pain from an old injury. We are praying that he might get relief and to be able to continue work. Thanks for your continuing prayers.

Lots Of Work Being Done

What a good week this has been at Lake Swan! Progress has been made on the projects but there is so much more to be done. Don and a few of the other men have taken down a wooden fence and replaced it with a nice new one. Don dug lots of post holes but he said that it wasn’t too bad because it was sand (?) There is just a little more of that to be done before they move on to other work. A couple of men have been replacing parts of a roof that was in bad shape. Sharon has been painting and will probably paint until we leave here. The rooms in the cabins we’ve been working on needed painting badly. One lady has been sorting keys and finding a home for them.

This camp has so much history that we are learning about daily. It was founded in the early 1920’s by a Dr. Minder. Two of the RVICS ladies are sorting through boxes of papers (newspaper clippings, receipts, letters etc) that had to removed from the Minder home that will have new occupants. They will be archived to make tracing the history of the camp easier. Of note is the fact that Billy Graham preached one of his first sermons here prior to his street ministry. The story is that he was asked to preach and he said that he had 4 sermons prepared and preached the entire 4 sermons in 10 minutes. There is a building in the camp that was moved from another location that he preached in also. In the 1970’s he returned for the dedication of one of the buildings in the camp.

The camp director, Gordon Swenson, is a former missionary for 25 years in Indonesia. Stacie Farris, outdoor educator, is transplanted Hoosier. They are very friendly and make this place “work”. Gordon told us that they have 250-450 decisions made here in a year.

We have been greatly enjoying the fellowship of the other couples in the team whether it is a planned social event or around a fire burning the discarded files for the last 20 years.

Don has now recovered from the stomach bug (or whatever). One other in the group had acute bronchitis but with help from the doctor and medication has since recovered. This coming week they are to begin (long story) on the very badly needed electrical work needed in the RV parking. We pray that it might go safely. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Lake Swan Camp

Goodbye snow, cold, wind and Indiana. Hello north central Florida. Soon after we left Indiana one week ago, it wasn’t too far down the road that we found the warmer temps and abundant sunshine that retirees are always wanting to find. After spending a few days with Kim, Chris and grandkids, we gave hugs. After getting the RV out of storage, we finished our journey to Lake Swan Camp near Melrose, Florida.

Lake Swan Camp is a place that we have heard of for many years but have never visited. Clyde has been bringing the senior high youth here for spring break for a long time. Even though this is in Florida it has impacted many lives even back home in Indiana. This camp has suffered through many years from attacks from the neighbors around the lake on which it sets. Everyone is trying to preserve their little piece of heaven no matter who it affects. This has resulted in many law suits over the years---even to the extent that vending machine lights must be off. As a result of all the lawsuits that left very little to no money for the physical facilities. In fact, they have had to cancel RVICS projects in the past for lack of funds. Now that the suits seem to all settled they are trying to upgrade some.

They have a place for RVs to park on the grounds. The electrical hook ups barely work. The men will be replacing the electrical lines to bring the up to date for one of their jobs. We haven’t heard what the women will be doing.

Even though we are just meeting the other couples in our group, we anticipate a really good and fun month. There are 6 couples in all---North Carolina (2 couples), West Virginia, Minnesota/Illinois and, our good friends the Holloways from Hartford City. We are anxious and excited to get going.