Well, we made it through the summer! And it was a busy time. Josh had one mission trip and four camps that he went to and we had a full summer here at HIS Children's Camp. Now we're getting back into a routine. The kids have started their home schooling and things have settled down a bunch....at least in the house. Out on the camp things are just as busy as ever. We've got work teams scheduling and Max has been working hard out on the camp. He has a helper with him right now that's staying until October. Her name is Jennifer. She has been a tremendous help to Max, and we are very blessed to have her here. She is going into the Journeymen program with the International Mission Board and will be going overseas for two years. Please pray for her as God is directing her where He wants her to go. We've got some exciting events coming up this fall. Please check out our Upcoming Events page to keep up with what's happening. Talk to you soon. Emily
We have had much going on this past month, and all of it exciting. The first week of June was spent in Nebraska where Kenny, Max and I were trained to start a Royal Family Kids' Camp! Max and I will be directing a week of camp for Barry county next summer. It will be a lot of work, but God is calling us to minister to these hurting children and we know He will walk through the process with us. HIS Children's Camp has also hosted two weeks of camp this month (which ended yesterday). We have all worked very hard and are VERY tired, but what a blessing to see the vision of the camp become a reality. God is sooo good! Please continue to pray that God would lead us in how to minister to all children in our area. The possibilities are endless because our God is able!!!
Well we had more excitement this week. Max and I went on an overnight motorcycle trip with several church friends Sunday and Monday. Monday afternoon about an hour from home we had a wreck. We think it was a mechanical problem with the bike that caused it. I'm fine (Max says it's because I landed on him) but Max broke his arm up next to his wrist. He had surgery Tuesday to put a plate and screws in. He's doing well, just sore. It was quite an adventure! We can see God's hand of protection and mercy all throughout the experience. It's wonderful to see God working, even in the difficult times. Please pray for his quick, painless and complete healing. His name for the next 6 weeks is "5 pound Max" because he's only allowed up to 5 pounds on that arm. It was his left arm, by the way, and yes, he's left-handed. He does pretty well, though, being somewhat ambidextrous. We're off to Nebraska for Royal Family Kid's Camp training tomorrow. We're very excited to start this ministry in our area. (It's also a good way for Max to be able to rest and not feel like he needs to be out on the camp working all the time.) Until next time, Emily
Well, last Friday was a sad day here at camp. The four goats that we had were attacked by a pack of dogs and killed. Joshua and Lyra-Ann were really upset, especially Lyra-Ann because she had worked with the goats a lot. It was rather traumatic because they were with Max when he found them. It's such a hard life lesson for them, and I hate seeing them so upset and hurt. They are doing better now, but it was rough for a couple days. We did have good news in the midst of the sadness, though. One of our bunnies had babies!! They have just started raising rabbits and they are pretty excited about it. They have had a good time loving on the baby bunnies born a few weeks ago and they are choppin' at the bit to love on some new ones. Please keep the kids in your prayers. Like I said, these life lessons are hard and I pray that it would draw them closer to God. Emily
Well, here we are at the end of the school year...already. It seems like Christmas was just yesterday, now it's summer. Even though my kids are home schooled I can tell they are excited about summer. Unfortunately they have a bit more school work to do before they can enjoy a vacation. Needless to say, they aren't very happy about that, but they are working hard to get finished. We're busy at camp, too. We had our Fun Ride last weekend, we have a Quilters' Retreat this weekend, then after Memorial Day our calendar is full for an entire month. That is very good and very exciting, but it can also be very tiring. Please pray that God will continue to give us the energy we need to do His work. It can be overwhelming if we don't keep our focus on God and remember that He will enable us to do what He has called us to do. We certainly serve an awesome God!! I've been working a lot on planning our Detective Daycamp. Mary is a college student who will be spending the summer with us. She has helped me plan the week of learning and activities. We are both very excited about it. I'm praying for God to give us the opportunity to spend the week with kids and show them His love during that week. Please pray that Mary and I will be able to hammer out all of the planning details as we seek God's direction. Well, thanks for reading. I'll write again soon. Blessings, Emily
Well, It's halfway through summer and it has been a whirlwind. We had our first camp in May and it was so cool to have the smiles of children on camp. We are still working on projects and just like all camps we always will be. Because of some great volunteers over the last couple of months we have all the siding on the cabin, the rock work done on the cabins, the "Cowboy Cover" has a concrete slab and lights and electric to it. This gives the camp a 3200 sq foot dry place to do things with the kids or stay out of the rain. We are still in need of volunteers to work of all the finishing touches like painting. Please hold up in prayer one of our next biggest needs is a dining hall to feed children in. One of the local churches blessed us by letting us use their space this year but we really need to be able to feed the children on site next spring. Come see us. Kenny
Let me start by saying shame on me. I had not kept up with this journal because I thought no one was reading it till I looked at it today and saw that there were people looking to see what was going on. It now is the last part of April and we have our first week of camp scheduled May 29th. We have 6 cabins up and are working hard to get all the electric, water and septic ready. We had a local group called Cowboy Connection sponsor our 40'x80' pavilion and it is named "Cowboy Cover" Everyday we have different people here running hard to be ready. We did get our well drilled and it came in with good water but we still are in need of the funds to get the pump put in it and the water system going and to the cabins. $22,453 The septic system is on site except for the gravel for the lines and I believe it will be put in place the week of May 8th. We have been searching for sponsors for the cabin beds which are $100 each to build and buy a mattress for. Today we had 31 more beds sponsored bringing us to 78 out of 150 we need. We are over halfway there. It has been great seeing how the Lord has been bringing different groups and churches together at the camp working together to get this camp built for the children. Way cool! If your ever in SW Missouri we always love to show people what's going on at camp. For the children Kenny
