Well, howdy! Long time, no update! We certainly haven't been trying to keep you in the dark; we've just had a very long to-do list!
To call this year eventful could be an understatement. The calendar's been booked solid, but we think it's kinda fun! Well, where should we begin?
If you're a devoted follower of our blog (we are so sorry), you already know that Jess and Celsey Huber left this January and moved to Dubuque, Iowa, where Jess is now working with troubled teens. And this June we had to say good-bye to Shawn and Terri, who will soon be heading to the 1040 window to mentor young adults interested in missions. This August would have marked Shawn and Terri's 14th year at Camp!
In their absence, we've added a few new members to the year-round staff. Josh Polly joined the team in March as Assistant Program Supervisor and Outdoor Education Director Intern. (By the way, as of last Friday, Josh is now a married man! Congratulations, Josh and Katie!) In July, Micah Harrison and his wife, Amy, joined us; Micah is now Spiritual Ministries Coordinator and Assistant to Director Intern. And Everett Mansfield along with his wife, Bryana, and son, Wyatt, joined us this August. Everett is taking on the role of Facilities Manager.
The new year-round staff!
That makes for the biggest year-round team yet, and it's certainly appropriate because Camp Elim is constantly growing. In fact, this past summer marks the highest attendance we've ever had in total for a summer season. That means more campers to hear the glorious good news of our Lord Jesus Christ being proclaimed! We saw close to a hundred decisions for Christ made this summer-- some children accepted Christ as their savior for the very first time! Others rededicated their lives to our Lord and countless others still grew closer to our Father! Eternal destinies are being changed and having the privilege of witnessing God's work at Camp Elim makes all the hard work well worth it! We've had a lot of fun this summer and we're excited to see both old and new friends return for winter camps and next year's summer camps!
The summer season may be over, but we've still had plenty to keep us busy! We had a great time at the Men's Retreat and we had a blast at Labor Day Family Camp! The Heritage Retreat and our Scrapbooking Retreat are still yet to come, with plenty of school groups and rental groups in between. We appreciate all your prayers and support and we hope you'll come visit us sometime soon!