From the Heart of a Fox

Thank you to each and every one of you who prayed for me and my cabin last week. Nineteen years ago I was a Cabin Leader at Rock Nest, and immediately determined that it was the best job on campus. Circumstances in the years following have placed me in other roles, which have also been fulfilling; but having now done another week as Cabin Leader, I still agree with my previous conclusion. 

There were four girls in my cabin. One 12 year old, and three just-turned 9 year olds. The eldest was so gracious and helpful, and she didn’t act the least bit resentful to be with three girls much younger than her. Two of the youngers came as cousin-besties, and the third girl didn’t know anyone. I pointed this out to the besties and asked them to be sure and include the other girl, and their response was, “Okay!” And they each grabbed one of her hands and ran off together without even questioning it. The rest was history!

All four girls acknowledged that they don’t know what they think about Jesus, nor do they spend time considering it. There wasn’t resistance, just indifference. Every Bible story taught and song sung was new to them, and the last time any of them were in a church was as a small child. If the Lord brings cabin 4 to your mind, please pray for them! They 

were all such sweet girls, eager to be loved on and listened to. 

Some moments that stood out to me: 

One night my camper asked me, “If you and Curly split up, will either of you still come back to camp?” The question hit me hard because it emphasized the assumption that relationships eventually end, not continue for the duration of life. And she was considering how that assumed instability would affect her and this new relationship with us. 

I told one of my campers she had a beautiful singing voice, and the rest of the day and night she was continually humming and singing. She heard me. 

My eldest camper challenged herself daily to be a leader, to grow her confidence by putting herself out there, and face her fears (namely heights and deep water). I am so impressed with her quiet strength and thank God I got the chance to see it and name it for her. 

The little daily moments when pieces of advice or life skills were shared in subtle, organic conversations. 

Stepping out of my cabin at 2:20am and seeing the Big Dipper and countless bright constellations directly in front of me. Breathtaking! 

There are many more I could share. Suffice it to say, it was a really good week, and I feel very privileged to have walked through the camp week with my sweet four campers. 

Thank you again for praying for me and for all the encouragement I received! May God bring these girls to your mind and mine throughout the year! 

Love, Fox 🦊

Prayer Needs

• Pray for a great time together as family over the next few days.
• Pray that the Lord would give me clarity on what to teach, and that He would help me put those teachings together well for Family Camp Weekend. Pray also for Doug Anderson and Daniel Koster, who are each also doing one of the teaching times.
• Pray for productive conversations after camp for all of us who are a part of the Rock Nest team (Us, Daniel and Geneva Koster, and Vance Christophersen). 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.

Conclusion

We have several days before Family Camp starts on Friday, so we took a family trip. We are camping 3 hours west in Terrace, BC, at Lakelse Lake. We arrived today and we will be here until Thursday. We plan to take a day trip from here to Prince Rupert, another day trip to Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park, and spend some time here at the lake, as well. Our hope is to have a good time reconnecting as a family after a busy couple weeks where our attention was focused most on caring for campers and for fellow staff. We’re really excited to see some parts of God’s beautiful creation that we’ve never seen and spend some time enjoying each other.

Ryan and Leanne Donovan