Hello friends and family!
We’ve officially entered the Desert-Doesn’t-Know-What-Seasons-Are time of year! Will the wind be blowing at forty miles an hour? Will it be a gorgeous seventy-three degrees? Will it snow? We’re thankful for a God who designed the answers to all those questions. (And the answer to each was ‘yes’ at one point or another last month.)
Camp News
Our Ministry Crew members were installed into their spring semester jobs as of January 31st. Because the crew gets to work in a new area every semester, they end their year with a much broader range of experience. The kitchen, maintenance, hospitality, longevity, program and production teams all got brand new workers, as of yet unskilled but eager to learn. Of course, job transition does come with a few speedbumps, but God is gracious in allowing challenges to grow both team members and team leaders.
Ironwood got to host a wonderful evangelistic opportunity in the form of a banquet. The local church in Newberry Springs sponsors a Valentines Banquet every year that is well attended by church members and their unsaved friends, family and coworkers. Not only do they get great food and a fun skit show, but the Gospel is clearly presented that night. Who knows what kind of fruit this unique outreach will bear in the future!
Out with the old and in with the new! Within the last few weeks, the Ironwood Institute of Ministry was officially re-christened as Defined. This change was brought on by the need to have a name that better described the purpose of the program. Young people come to find out how God has defined certain areas of their lives: their work, their relationships, their ministry and so on. If you’re curious about the thought process behind this modification, check out the video entitled “A Huge Change (kinda)” on Ironwood’s YouTube channel.
Palkki News
Gabe and I continue to stay busy in our job areas and adjust to life as Resident Staff. Having three guys in Defined has grown Gabe’s opportunities for investment exponentially. He functions as a ‘part-time dorm leader’ by checking in on them at curfew every Monday and Tuesday. I’m not exactly sure what they do in there, but I’m fairly certain he’s not singing them lullabies and good times are being had by all. His projects at the shop are as abundant as they are varied. This month saw him replacing the radiator and water pump on one of our camp vehicles, as well as the starter and brakes on a Willy’s jeep. (Finding parts gets a lot more interesting when the vehicle was manufactured in the 1940’s.)
A completely new kitchen crew meant that I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, training and pitching in while the crew got their bearings. God has blessed us with an absolutely amazing team this semester and it’s a joy to work with them! I’ve also run multiple banquets this month, including the Newberry Banquet which topped out at close to 120 attenders. Some notable projects on my list included some graphic designing for our 50th year celebration, installing new casters on the tri-tip cutting station and taking camp’s new truck into town three times for various inspections. I also have the opportunity to work on a project for the junior camp summer program. It’s been a challenge to my creative writing skills and a lot of fun!
At some point in my childhood experience with Wednesday Night Kid’s Club, I memorized Psalm 46. Though it was many (many!) years ago, these verses have been a consistent comfort and encouragement through my teen years and into my adult life. Life in the desert gives Psalm 46:2 a whole new context! The earth is supposed to stay, well, on the ground. Mountains are supposed to be landmarks, dominating the terrain. But when you’re leaning into a wind that whips forty foot trees around like prairie grass and you’re looking up at where the mountains are supposed to be and all you see it a wall of sand, thousands of feet high and who knows how many feet thick… suddenly, you get the feeling that the earth very well could be removed and the mountains might just be cast into the sea.
Life is like that. Everything is normal and solid until a stiff breeze comes up. In what seems like a moment, every landmark has disappeared and the world has rearranged itself into chaos. There is no guarantee of stability, no ‘safe space,’ no way to control the forces set in motion by sin.
And yet the sons of Korah say, “We will not fear.”
Why?
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
God is unmovable, unchangeable. He is good. He never leaves His children alone. He graciously allows things into our lives that drive us back to His loving protection.
There’s nothing you can do about a windstorm except run to the nearest Refuge.
Love in Christ,
Gabe and Cheyenne Palkki
PS: As always, go to the home page and explore this month's pictures, praises and prayer requests!