Camping with the Family

Like we shared in our last letter, we were able to take some down days at camp and use them for a little family getaway. So we left camp to go camping! We went out to Lakelse Lake in Terrace, BC, and stayed at a beautiful provincial park from Monday night to Thursday morning.

On Tuesday, we took a daytrip out to Prince Rupert, which is the city furthest west, right on the coast. It was fun to see the Pacific ocean that is so familiar from a brand new angle. At one point we were down on a dock where a bunch of boats are moored, and where many people were fishing, and we watched a man reel in a dogfish shark. Pretty fun to see, and quite a surprise when we were expecting that he would be reeling in a more ordinary fish.

We also went on the Butze Rapids hike (yes, our kids thought that name was pretty funny!), which is where we snapped the picture above. It was a beautiful hike in and out of the thick forest, down to a cool viewpoint. Then we went gift shopping, which was exciting for four of us (I’ll let you guess who is less giftshop-inclined among us:).) But it was a great day, and we got each of our girls a special gift that day as a part of celebrating what would have been our first daughter, Kaia’s, 14th birthday.

After 5 miles of hiking and walking on Tuesday, we opted to make Wednesday a relaxing day at the campsite and in the lake, rather than more hiking. We cooked hot dogs, steak bites, and marshmallows over the fire that night, and just enjoyed a little bit of good family time. And then Thursday we packed up and headed back to camp, but not before the kids made friends with the neighbor kids and were introduced to their golden retriever puppy. The trip was a fun little excursion for us that we all enjoyed!

Family Camp & What’s Next

On Friday morning we met with the rest of the camp staff to get our act together for Family Camp. While we were away camping, one of our missionary co-workers up here that some of you know, Doug Anderson, fell and broke his hand. That is certainly a challenge for him, and it was suddenly a challenge for Family Camp, as well, because Doug was scheduled to lead worship. Since he was suddenly unavailable, Leanne stepped up to lead with a small team of others.

The last time she led worship (or even picked up her guitar!) was the summer of 2023. While it’s not her most natural strength, I am so proud of her for stepping in to fill a gap, even if it’s been a stretch. Of course, she’s doing a great job! The picture above is from this morning. It was fun to realize that she was leading the music, all three of our girls were on stage helping to lead fun hand motions for the kids, and then I was the morning chapel speaker. So it was a Very-Donovan Chapel this morning!

I was thankful for the chance to share from God’s Word a couple times this weekend. I shared about the need to root out idolatry in our lives on Saturday night, with a scriptural focus on Daniel 3 and the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego not bowing down to Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Then, this morning I shared from Deuteronomy 6 on building a legacy of faithfulness in your family. As far as I know, it went alright, although I did have at least one sleeper on Saturday night:).

In terms of what’s next, we are actually coming home soon! Initially there was a plan for an additional camp for 16-18 year olds to start on Tuesday, but not enough kids signed up, so it was cancelled. Instead, we are leaving here Wednesday, August 6. We will travel home the slow and scenic route, going down through Jasper and Banff National Parks, and we will probably be home sometime late on the August 10.

We still have the rest of today and a little bit of Monday for Family Camp, and then on Tuesday we have some meetings scheduled with the camp team (Daniel and Geneva Koster, Vance Christophersen, and me and Leanne), where we will talk about the summer, do some planning for the months ahead, and get on the same page going forward. And then bright and early on Wednesday, we set out for home!

Gratitudes

• We did have a great time together as a family during our camping excursion.
• The Lord gave me clarity on what to preach, and helped me prepare messages much quicker than usual.
• The Lord has empowered Leanne to lead worship well.
• Our kids have found meaningful ways to engage in the ministry over the whole month of camp. This was a big prayer hope for us as we came into the summer, and we are so glad to see the Lord answer that prayer!

Prayer Needs

• Pray for productive conversations after camp for all of us who are a part of the Rock Nest team. There are always improvements to make, areas of growth to pursue, and opportunities to reflect on the good work the Lord did over the last month. Pray that we might encourage one another in those conversations.
• Pray for a good time of reflecting, as a family, on the Lord’s work over the summer. We want to process our time well, and help our kids process well, also.
• We’d sure be grateful for safety on the travel, as well!
• Pray for no troubles with paying for our expenses home. We don’t have a money shortage, but our primary card got compromised, so our normal method for payment is unavailable, except via Apple Pay. We do have some cash and we have a debit card. Pray that the debit card doesn’t get compromised like the other card did, as there are fewer safety nets with a compromised debit card, particularly in travelling internationally.

Conclusion

We do look forward to being home, and to sharing so many more stories in person. We have a night of sharing about our ministry this summer scheduled for Wednesday, August 20 at Evergreen Bible Church at 6:00. All are welcome, whether you attend Evergreen or not. We will be sharing all about the Lord’s work over the summer, so save the date. We are thinking we will make it a potluck dinner, as well! Expect to hear more about that event once we are home. As always, thanks so much for praying! And thanks for reading my lengthy updates, too:).

Ryan and Leanne Donovan