Hello friends and family!
Summer is here and half-gone already! It’s a classic camp paradox. Did we have so much to do that the time flew past? Or did we have such a short time that it was just completely filled with things to do? Both. The answer is both. Here’s a glimpse of the summer so far!
Camp News
June 3rd through June 8th was staff training week. Ironwood experimented with cramming all of the training into one week at the beginning of summer and another week in the middle of summer. This allows our summer staff to choose between spending the full 10 weeks here or signing up for a five-week stint. But cramming is the word for it! In one week, all the summer staff must learn policies, procedures, philosophy and activities. In addition to that, Operations staff have new job areas to master, and counselors must prepare for the challenges of caring for their campers’ spiritual and physical needs. We’re thankful for a staff who absorbed a massive amount of information with great attitudes.
June 10th through the 29th covered our sponsored summer camps. The Teen, Junior, and Horsemanship camps during these weeks are designed and run by Ironwood. (Custom camps, where individual churches use camp facilities and staff, will come in the next four weeks.) These three weeks ran smoothly, despite many people who were brand new to their jobs. God worked through His Word in the hands of five different speakers. We saw many young people accept God’s gift of salvation and many more make decisions to read their Bibles, invest in people around them, and dedicate their lives to God’s will.
To be honest, I can’t tell you much about the actual camp side of the last three weeks. But I can tell you that Gabe has had the opportunity to disciple a young man from our supporting church in work and life skills. I can tell you that one of our Leadership Live counselors has been pushed to really evaluate her relationship with God during some tough times. I can tell you that two of my kitchen girls have been growing by leaps and bounds in their ability to lead their peers in a way that honors God. I can tell you about the young man on our kitchen team who said this to me during the first week: “If you see any ways that I can do better, please tell me. I want to grow so I can serve God to the best of my ability.” God is at work! It doesn’t always show up in the decision tally, but His actions to draw people toward Himself are always unmistakable!
Palkki News
Between shop projects, training a new assistant, and running summer Camp Preps, Gabe is unceasingly busy. (We do find it ironic that we actually get to spend more time together because his summer schedule starts at 5AM and ends at 3PM.) He made the decision early in the summer to focus on investing in his assistant over accomplishing a long list of tasks. I believe God is blessing and will continue to bless that decision! But it does mean that the list of projects continues to grow, including a maintenance truck that has been acting up all summer as well as a new truck that came to our fleet with a knock sensor problem. Camp Prep has also proved challenging as more staff and the pace of summer throws the system into an entirely new gear. Please pray that Gabe will have wisdom to communicate and prioritize well over the next five weeks.
My summer schedule is also different. I work a total of ten hours as an administrative assistant during the first two days of the week, then spend ten hours each on Thursday and Friday running meals in the Homestead. These long days give me a great opportunity to build relationships and have conversations with our kitchen team. I also had the privilege of presenting two short devotionals for the Leadership Live girls last month. It’s a great comfort to know that God promises to work through His Spirit and His Word, even if my presentation wasn’t perfect.
Camp is an intense place. And it should be! Everything about the program is designed to create an environment where a camper or staff member will say, “How does God want me to change to be more like Him?” As the Ironwood mission statement puts it, camp is a place of decision! Of action! Of growth!
But sometimes I get lost in the intensity. My focus slides from God Himself to my “Need to Change” list. When that happens, I lose sight of God’s real purpose for my life.
Jesus reminds His disciples in John 15 that they are only branches, completely dependent on the Vine for life. His command to them is not, “Do good things.” Instead, he tells them simply, “Abide in Me.”
God doesn’t want me to somehow muster up spiritual fruit from sheer determination to do what He says. He isn’t glorified by that. He gets glory when I spend myself on knowing Him, enjoying Him, loving Him. Abiding. And then His life flows through me to produce that fruit.
What an incredible gift of grace that my purpose in life is to have a relationship with God!
Love in Christ,
Gabe and Cheyenne Palkki
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