Last week we had a group up from Sacramento. On Monday, Mitch (my father-in-law, boss, and all around good guy) came up to look at and work on the tractor. While looking at the tractor, I talked to him, and he said that he has had several spells where his blood pressure skyrockets and he feels terrible. I told him that Tami (his wife and the greatest in-law you could ask for) was right, and that he really needs to go to the ER and get checked out. Mitch did go to the ER, and after a few hours of testing, the hospital moved him to a hospital with a heart department (is that the right term?) and on Wednesday the 23rd Mitch went into surgery. While in his artery, they found that it was 90% blocked. While exploring his heart and arteries, they were able to put a stint in. Mitch is recovering from that procedure and is not supposed to over-exert himself or lift more that 10 pounds. We are working to replace him in the kitchen for the rest of the summer and you can email me if you are interested in helping with that. It takes several people to replace a Mitch, but I know we can do it.
During the lockdown this last year we decided to combine our Crew and our Jr high and High school camps. Our Crew has always been a team of 13-18 year old students that work during the opposite gender's camps. They clean the dishes, wipe the tables, clean the bathrooms, and do various projects around camp. Crew has their own devotion times, swim times, game times, etc. Most of our Crew members come back year after year and multiple times a summer. We see some of the greatest growth in our Crews, and attribute part of that to their opportunity to think about and serve others.
The changes that come from drastically changing a schedule are not always easy, but we
have had an overwhelmingly positive response to our 13-18 year old campers getting opportunities to serve. The students work for 3 hours a day, have chapels and small groups 3 hours a day, and have group activities and games the rest of the day.
My favorite change this summer is having my oldest son, Ian, help a ton around camp. He helped me clean up and prepare for summer, and has helped tremendously each week. I am so glad to have my kids start to get old enough to serve alongside Charissa and I, and I look forward to seeing the other kids help more in the years to come. My parents heard what Ian is doing to help at camp and decided to support him as an un-official missionary, and I decided that I wanted to help with that as well. I would love for all of my kids to desire a relationship with Christ and want to serve him as missionaries, and I want to encourage that. Ian decided he wanted write a missionary letter and here is that letter:
My name is Ian Morris,
I am a summer missionary at Forward Bible Camp this summer. Thank you for praying for and supporting me. Your support has helped me get closer to my goals (laptop, car, etc.), as I am growing up and getting more ambitious. This newsletter explains what I do to help at camp.
One of my jobs is to clean the pool and make sure that it stays ready for the campers to use. This job includes testing the chemicals in the pool, cleaning the pool, and keeping the pool area nice. This is one of my favorite jobs because I get to see the pool improve after I spend time balancing it out.
Another job of mine is to set up our chapel for services, the chapel is the building where we meet to worship, and learn more about our loving heavenly father. For this job, I have to set up the PowerPoints and the sound as well as the worship music. I love this job because I get to troubleshoot anything that is not working right. I love problem solving and so this job is perfect for me.
My overall favorite job at camp this summer is editing the end of the week video. Every camp we take pictures and videos of what activities our campers are participating in. At the end of the week, I create a slideshow of all the different videos and photos and show it to the parents on checkout day of the kid’s camp. This job is my favorite because like the pool, I get to see and present a finished product; and like the chapel, I get to troubleshoot how to get the videos together and the music to match.
This is how I contribute to the ministry at Forward Bible Camp.
If you would like to join my financial support team, you can send a check to:
Ian Morris
10321 Wentworth Springs Rd.
Georgetown, CA
Because I am not old enough to be enrolled in the summer missionary program with InFaith, donations will not be tax deductible.
Serving our Savior, Ian Morris
The videos that Ian has made are available on the camp YouTube channel here. The videos from this summer were edited by him.