Life Advice

Hello friends and family!

To begin the off-season, I would like to share three pieces of life advice. First, there are lots of great ways to pinch pennies, but buying tissues without lotion is not one of them. Second, the reason your mom told you not to chew with your mouth open was due in part to the chance that you’d aspirate Ritz crackers and cough up half a lung. Third, Ritz crackers and stuffy noses do not get along. Well, now that you’ve seen a few of the lessons I’ve learned in the past six weeks, let us move on to bigger news!

Camp News

The latter half of summer is composed of our second week of staff training followed by five weeks of custom camps. Because churches often choose to bring their own counselors, we’re able to use our counselors on work teams during those camps. They got to work on some big projects like deep cleaning buildings, putting a roof on a storage area, and organizing the Program storage building.

Ironwood does not always get to hear about all the decisions made during custom weeks, but we ended the year knowing about 37 people who accept Christ as Savior, and 18 more who were assured of their place in God’s family. These decisions were part of the 163 total decisions that we recorded over the summer. And we know there were more decisions that no one on this side of eternity may ever hear about! God is at work!

Sequoia Meadows experienced a successful first season with a total of five camps during the summer. One of the consistent testimonies from attending churches was the depth of fellowship they were able to achieve in the distraction-free environment of the mountains. This summer has proved that camp, even camp done simply, is an effective ministry tool!

Palkki News

As you may have guessed from my life lessons at the beginning of this letter, our family was battling a bad head cold for the last two weeks of summer. Thankfully, Gabe was still able to finish servicing all of the vehicles and equipment. He also rebuilt the deck and replaced the winch on the tilt-deck trailer. Between camp prep and supervising camp vehicle use, Gabe often has chances to correct people on their mistakes and help them focus on areas of growth.

Between colds and several consecutive days with temperatures above 110 degrees, Rosie and I spent a lot of time indoors. I did a few more house projects and we both read some good books. (I now have Dr. Suess’s Alphabet Book memorized.) Last week was our after-summer-break-week and we enjoyed relaxing at home as a family. We did a puzzle, went for a hike, had a movie night with friends, and generally just recovered from a busy summer.

There’s a difference between the life advice I gave earlier and the life advice that Gabe gives when he’s confronting someone about backing the truck into a building. While both have to do with common sense, usually the type of Kleenexes you buy doesn’t say a whole lot about your spiritual state. But how you care for the resources God has put at your disposal and your response when someone calls attention to your mistakes is a pretty good snapshot of your heart.

Probably the hardest part of camp ministry is challenging these heart issues as they manifest themselves. The reactions can range from instant repentance and growth to excuses to outright anger. It’s painful to watch someone continue to make bad decisions and it can feel pretty hopeless.

If our success in ministry was measured in good responses to confrontation, we’d be in rough shape! But there is hope.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who call you is faithful; He will surely do it.” (1Thessalonians 5:23-24)

No matter how many times we instruct or correct without visible result, we can be confident that God will sanctify His children in the end. Even if our campers or staff leave at the end of summer without changing at all, we know that God is faithful. He will surely do it!

Love in Christ,

Gabriel, Cheyenne and Rosemary Palkki

PS: I must confess that I did not take any pictures to add to the Gallery for this month, but there are lots of new requests and praises on our Pray page! On that note, Rosie has been struggling with an eczema/allergy outbreak in the last few weeks. Please pray especially for her healing, wisdom for Gabe and I as we seek the best way to help her, and God's provision as we navigate the cost of the many creams, soaps and ointments needed to manage atopic dermatitis.