I want to start this update by letting everyone know that my family is safe. We have been evacuated from camp due to the Fork Fire. From what we can tell, it is still about 12 miles away from the camp, and doesn't seem to be growing fast. We would appreciate your prayer for our family, Mitch and Tami (especially as their beautiful and organized home went from 2 people to 9 people), Forward Bible Camp, the firefighters, and the dozens of other Christian camps that are within the range of fire. Our sister camp, Mt. Hope Bible Camp, is not far from the North Complex fire and is also evacuated. On Tuesday afternoon, we started talking about packing to leave because the smoke was so thick that we were all sounding hoarse and had headaches. 2 minutes later, we received a knock at the door and were told by a local fire volunteer that they were recommending evacuation and that we should be packing because we could get the warning to leave at any moment. We packed for about three hours and left to go stay at Mitch and Tami's house, with the plan for Charissa and I to go back and get more things, like the bunnies hutch, my computer, and several other important/valuable items.
As we went down the hill, Jake Koder messaged me and said that he could meet us with a trailer and help us pack things out. Two of his boys, Zach and Levi, joined him and helped. As we were getting ready to leave, the deputies arrived letting us know that we needed to leave, as the voluntary evacuation had changed to mandatory evacuation. We have had several people offer places to stay, and we are very grateful for all that God has provided. This has been a different year to be sure, but God continues to provide and encourage us. Many people have asked what our current needs are, and we don't know what we need until we are able to go back home. We know the power was out for at least a day, do we don't even know if the food in our freezers is still good. The maps from ENF (El Dorado National Forest) are not easy to read, so we don't have any more details, but we will definitely keep people up to date so that you can pray and help.
Family Camps
After not being able to host any groups at camp this summer, we were very blessed to be able to have two family camps. The first camp was a hosted family camp, where Calvary Chapel Greenwood came to enjoy camp as a church family. The second one was open to the public as a Forward Bible Camp family camp. Both were a huge blessing and very encouraging. For the Forward Family Camp, I designed a devotional for families to do together, which included activities to do and questions to get families talking about important topics. I was a cabin leader for family camp, and I have to say that they were my favorite cabin of all time. Here are my camper's pictures:
Okay, I know, I'm partial. The whole family had a great time encouraging other families. Here are some photos from the rest of the camp:
Thank you for reading our entire newsletter. Your prayer is a crucial part of our ministry and lives. If you and your family would like to enjoy the devotional that we enjoyed at camp, click here. God bless, TJ