Complete

Family Camp came and went last weekend. It was a great weekend with the group that gathered, though it was remarkably different from the 2025 Family Camp. Last year Family Camp provided a unique opportunity to share about Jesus and interact with families, at least half of whom didn’t know the Lord. This year, the majority of adults in attendance were already believers. For the chapel sessions, we taught through Matthew 6:9-13, commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer. But as was noted during the sessions, it’s not so much Jesus’ prayer, as it is Jesus’ work in teaching us to pray.

One of the things I highlighted when I taught on Sunday morning is the community aspect of this teaching. We are to pray to OUR Father, who gives US our daily bread and delivers US from evil. This isn’t just a “me and Jesus” prayer, but the first intent is that it is a “we and Jesus” prayer. Jesus was teaching His church how to pray together, in addition to teaching us how to pray individually. Because I was teaching on the last portion of the prayer, which says “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”, I took part of my time to talk about the sins we sometimes commit together. Sins like rivalries within churches, chasing false theologies, racial, social & economic prejudice, as well as legalism & rule making. I am convinced that, as churches, we are wise to pray for OUR Father’s help to not fall into temptation and sin together.  

In total, there were around 50 people in attendance at Family Camp. 20 of those were kids, and we had a lot of fun with them on the Giant Swing, making bead art, playing carpet ball, enjoying gourmet s’mores, friendly games of dodgeball, and more. There was also a kid’s program that Cheddar (Vance) ran during the chapel sessions. Mabel and Estelle were able to be a couple of Cheddar’s helpers during that program, and Rosie fit right in as one of the kids. Rosie especially enjoyed getting to reconnect with a couple friends she made last year at Family Camp. And Leanne and I helped train volunteer dish crews on the fly each day, too!

Fast Track Home

We finished out Family Camp, did our part to clean the camp up, then we packed all our things into the car and heading down the road Sunday night. We drove through rain and lightning to Quesnel Sunday night, and then we hunkered down for a long haul day on Monday, driving all the way home. It was a 14.5 hour travel day, starting at 9:00 AM and ending at 11:30 PM, but we were all very happy to lay in our own beds that night. We had a good time together on the road, with lots of laughing and only a small amount of backseat fighting. It was a good trip, and everyone endured the long day of travel like it was no big deal. When we arrived home, Rosie raced to her room, crashed on her bed, and she was out like a light. The rest of us followed in similar fashion, though maybe a little less dramatic.

VBS, Processing, Recovery

Arriving home early opened the door for our girls to participate in VBS at our home church, which was definitely a factor in making the big push to get home Monday. Our church always does VBS during the last week of July, and we anticipate that we will usually be in Canada still during the last week in July. But because of the coming trip to Nebraska for the UIM 5 Year Conference, we are home uniquely early. So for just this year, Mabel and Estelle get to enjoy being VBS leaders, and Rosie gets to be a VBS kid.

Although we are home (until Monday), our brains are still pretty scrambled. We are processing the summer at Rock Nest, thinking about the successes, the areas for improvement, and everything in between. We’re also all in recovery mode. Essentially, there were no days off between the end of June and the end of July, unless you include the day I was I bed with a fever. And most days were 14 hour days, arriving at the lodge by 8:00 AM and not being off duty until 10:00 PM. In arriving home, it has become apparent just how exhausted we are. So we’ve been making provisions for rest, as best we can, while also working to make the transition to be ready to leave for Nebraska after the weekend. We’ve done simple things like getting the oil changed in the car, mowing the lawn, and enjoying normal family meals together. But we’ve also sat in chairs and stared at the wall, taken long naps, gone for walks, and just tried to let our minds unwind from the frenetic pace of life we just experienced.

Just for perspective on the pace of camp life, I watched 2/3 of the movie Project Hail Mary in June, on the night before we started making airport pick ups for arriving staff. And then it never even occurred to me to watch the rest of the movie until the second day we were home! But I was glad to have the space and time now to enjoy the last 50 minutes!

Pic Above: We took family pictures for everyone who wanted one at Family Camp. We got some really great pics of families, including this one of us!

Pic Below: My good friend Calvin won the Cornhole Tournament, so I was presenting him with his prize: A bag of Fiesta flavored corn tortilla chips.

Prayer Needs

• Pray for a good opportunity to connect with UIM staff and leadership during the conference in Nebraska. It will be a gathering of missionaries from the Canada, US, and Mexico fields. So we will be with many missionaries we know, but we will also have a chance to connect for the first time with many we’ve never met before.
• Pray as we continue to process our summer at Rock Nest together as a family.
• Pray for wisdom in how we might, as a Rock Nest Leadership Team, figure out if there is a way to structure the summer in a healthier way. The pace is pretty intense, and it would be a great benefit if we could find ways to make the pace of the work more sustainable and healthy.

Conclusion

We are so blessed to have been called into this ministry by the Lord. We are grateful for all our partners who encourage us, pray for us, provide for us financially, and receive us back with joy. Thank you for being with us in this ministry!

Ryan and Leanne Donovan