The Plan

What a crazy ride this summer was! We started preparations much earlier, with more help from US groups and Polish volunteers. That meant improving our planning and letting younger leaders take on more than ever before.

For the first time, a 3-person team—Anita, Kuba, and Jonatan—led the entire camp program (games, meetings, meals and much more). It was incredible to see everything come together as one. Krzysiek coordinated our volunteers, with Bogdan and Tanya caring for the guys and girls. They handled work schedules, discipleship, encouragement, and helped those struggling with conflict or discouragement.

Meanwhile, Mike and Emily Rudolph, along with Seth and my dad, cared for our American groups and helped them serve well. This shift meant I could step back from managing everything in detail and focus on my main role—caring for our key staff members & camp counselors. I created online training to equip them to counsel campers well, which allowed us to involve more people to serve as counselors with us this summer.

The Rubber Meets the Road

Even though I handed off many responsibilities, training and follow-up took time, and there were plenty of bumps in the road. Satan tried hard to divide us, our egos sometimes got in the way, and our planning sometimes failed. But when our strength failed, the Lord renewed it. 

Really if you stop and think about it that is what life, especially when your involved in ministry looks like. We pray, ask for wisdom, plan, pray that God would bless and guide and then... well His guidance comes often not through warnings or detailed instruction. Instead its more like Jesus when he sent out the 72 out to share the news of the kingdom (Luke 10). Ever notice He said it would be terrifying and that they shouldn't take much provisions, but did you ever notice that He really didn't tell them what to say, or how to handle the realities they would face? He doesn't give us a cheat sheet instead He teaches us to lean on Him! It reminds me of a great old song that says: 

Learning to lean,

Learning to lean,

I'm learning to lean on Jesus.

Finding more power than I've ever dreamed,

I'm learning to lean on Jesus.

Thank you so much for praying! I’ve learned so much about conflict resolution, planning, and training others this summer but I'm still learning to lean on Jesus! It's so amazing because as you and I do that we truly find more power than we could ever dream -- and God gets all the glory!

Keep reading to see not just the numbers but to hear about some of the fruit!

 The Numbers

114 people at open pool days

240 attended concerts in town

47 salvation decisions at camps

103 dedications at camps

30 summer volunteers discipled for 6 weeks

Stories of God Changing Lives

One counselor shared how her camper heard the Gospel during an evangelistic evening, prayed with a believing friend, and later told her with joy, “Now you are my sister in Christ!” She began reading the Bible on her own and building Christian friendships.

Ania, a new counselor, served enthusiastically and later heard from her mom that these were the best camps she had ever seen—especially in how we disciple and care for both campers and counselors. It was an answer to prayer right when we were feeling weary. One of Ania’s campers came from an unsaved home, trusted Christ, and soon told Ania she wants to be baptized.

Another surprise: some foster-care workers visiting our property asked us to share hope with the teens they care for. During camp, they returned with 15 teens. Three of our campers who had been adopted into Christian families boldly shared how Jesus gave them hope—many of the foster workers were in tears, saying, “This is exactly what our kids needed to hear!”

I also love seeing the long-term fruit: young adults like Bogdan, Tanya, Krzysiek, Anita, Jonatan, and Kuba—many of whom we’ve invested in for years—are now making disciples and training others. This is extremely important because deep relationships have a huge impact on growth and I can only have soo many deep relationships with campers or volunteers. That's why it was awesome to see us all influencing so many more as we worked together. It’s not easy, but God is clearly at work in their lives.

Family

Our daughter Abigail (4months old) is just a ray of sunshine. Kaleb (almost 2yrs old) is just constantly moving ball of energy and my wife is the one who makes our house a home by caring for us all. That is a tough job in the summer because it feels like we are all being stretched in different direction but she is phenomenal at it! This year we celebrated our 5th anniversary and must say I am just so grateful for a wife that always encourages us to have fun planning way in advance so we can do the absolute best we can, in ministry, at home and in our relationships.

Thank You

I am deeply grateful for your friendship and faithful prayers—God is glorified when we intercede for each other! And may I gently challenge you to ask yourself: Who are you investing in now? Not even the best messages or events can replace personal involvement in someone’s life.

Thank you again for standing with us, and keeping our family and this ministry in your prayers. My prayer is that this update encourages you to praise the Lord for His work this summer and challenges you to invest in people around you.