Ready, Set…

Tomorrow we kick off the first week of camp here at Rock Nest, which starts late afternoon on July 5 and goes until the morning of July 11. We start the summer off with Teen Camp, which is for students who are 13-15 years old. And after several days of training, we are about as ready as we are going to get. During our four days of Orientation, we worked on team building, understanding culture, learning all the ins and outs of the various cleaning jobs around camp, and we spent good time in the Scriptures together, as well. I had the opportunity to lead several group devotional times, challenging the students from 1 Timothy, and I’m always thankful for a chance to “look at the book” with young people.

While we are still a little lighter on staff than we would have hoped (the pic above is the majority of our camp team for Teen Camp), we are so grateful for everyone who has come. We have enough cabin leaders for two cabins of girls and two cabins of boys (currently 14 boys and 11 girls, with 4 other boys on the waitlist). What a huge blessing that two additional girl cabin leaders came to join us on account of hearing the need! Without them, we would have only been able to have one cabin of girls and would have had no choice but to turn away quite a few girls (we always have two cabin leaders in each cabin, largely for safety reasons).

My Role at Camp

A common question I have received is regarding my role at camp this summer. In fact, I would call it the Million Dollar Question for me this summer. Because the truth is, I don’t know, exactly. In fact, I don’t think I will fully know until we’re all done for the summer. My role is, largely, to figure out my role. Where are the gaps? What are the needs? And more specifically, what unique gifts and abilities has the Lord given me that can be most useful at camp? And how can my strengths fit in with others, while not stepping on too many toes:). So if you’d pray for clarity on how I can be most effective as I serve here, not just for this summer, but for years going forward, that would sure be great!

Update on A Financial Need

I shared previously about the need for financial help with a plane ticket, and that need was fully covered within 48 hours! What a huge blessing to Ava and to the camp.

Immigration Status: Status Quo

There is no news to report regarding my immigration status. Any day, I could receive a message that says I can stay. Or a message that says I need to leave. When will we receive word? Who knows? Just the Lord, so I’m leaving that in His hands.

Prayer Needs

• Pray that the teens who come to camp would be receptive to the gospel.
• Pray for the young people who are working at camp, who will be serving as cabin leaders and work crew, that their energy and efforts would result in a deepened faith in the Lord.
• Pray for continued clarity on how I can best serve at the camp this summer.
• Continue to pray for favorable results on my request to stay in Canada beyond June 30.

Conclusion

Today also marks one week until my family joins me at Rock Nest. We are all quite ready to be together again. Thank you for praying for us. We are blessed beyond measure.

Ryan and Leanne Donovan