Quarterly Prayer Letter - October 2013

PRAISES    Manuel, who we asked for prayer to continue to heal from the trauma of severe abuse and his family’s rejection returned to camp this summer so much stronger and your prayers were all answered. The assault charges were dropped and he stopped the drugs he had used to soothe his pain. This boy has a growing tender heart, amazing leadership skills and a boldness that needs to be used for the Lord whom he now loves. The one he was afraid to totally trust is his best friend, he said! Thanks for the prayers for the  Summer Program, Staff, Counselors and JC’s! God put together a remarkable team That made a big difference! Click here to go to our Prayer Blog.  PRAYER REQUESTS - OCTOBER 2013 Camper Salvations – So many campers responded as we introduced them to the life changing and healing reality of Jesus Christ. Please pray for their continued growth. Some were so brutally abused that you wondered how they could realize there is a God after years of sexual abuse, being used as slaves, being ripped from away from siblings, forced prostitution and the like. It was amazing to watch anger and hate melt before a God who was the only one who could reach them through His penetrating love. Pray that they will be protected and that their anger and bitterness will not return. May they retain what received and not stolen away. May there be fewer traumas in their lives and ease in heeding the Holy Spirit’s guidance. David & Jimmy - need prayer that their walk with Jesus stays strong, resting in His grace and that they make it through the Jr. Counselor application process since they want to serve back at camp. Chris – and about 8 others couldn’t make the decision at camp and need to bow their knee to the Lord and believe and be saved Ty – and several other campers need to find their identity in Jesus and not their past abuse. Freedom evades them and only God’s truth will free them. Counselors – It is Counselor recruiting time again for winter camps. Please ask the Lord to send just the right ones, who understand the camper’s needs and can show them the Love of Christ. Camp – Jr. Counselor (JC’s) recruiting (15-20 years), mentors to step up for camper JC’s, productive opportunities to share at churches. Please also pray for the Winter Camp Program planning which has started. Staff – Four staff have close extended family that need health issues resolved, two need to purchase vehicles and health challenges have risen again for most. Please pray for Tarrah who is starting a MOPS group. Pray for Amy as she begins a Doula Certification program this fall and attends classes and reads books. Building Project - Now that the Public Use Permit is approved, please pray as we raise funds to build. Lots of potential help is possible so we are encouraged. The Lord is in control and we want to trust in Him to provide. We want all the glory for this project to go to Him. Pray that things run smoothly for the project and move forward quickly and for Dan’s wisdom. Winter Camp - Pray over the program for winter camp, as we put together  the theme, studies, talks, games, etc. Pray that it would be especially encouraging and growing for the campers. Staff Unity - Pray for the unity of the whole staff and protection from the enemy, who is so quick to divide and discourage.

Fall 2013 - Prayer Letter

Dear Prayer Warriors,

            I first want to thank you for your continued support of Camp through your prayers. I notice such a difference personally in my life when I have 52 churches praying for me by name. Your faithful prayers make a huge difference in the ability of our campers to walk with Jesus and hear His voice.

            One Camper that is making the right decision to pursue God is named Tim. When Tim came to camp during secession 8 he arrived late. It was his first time at Camp Alandale and he had heard about camp from his foster brother who had come a few weeks earlier. Tim was tired when he arrived and immediately told me he did not want to be here. He had been sent to another camp the previous week and had come straight from there to Camp Alandale, so you can understand why he was so exhausted. I told Tim to just take it easy and try to enjoy camp. He took it easy but did not seem to enjoy his first couple days. One thing Tim did enjoy was complaining, because he did it about everything. He was compliant, but not without a negative opinion and a grumble. That is until he shared his testimony on Wednesday night.

            Tim shared one of the most difficult testimonies I have ever heard from a young man. He shared how he and his siblings were shipped off to Utah to live with an uncle where he was brutally raped on a regular basis by the uncle and his friends. Then Tim shared about a visit he had with his birth mother and how two men broke in and raped his mother in front of him. He shared that had started using drugs and had started to see a particular demon on a daily basis; then he shared about Jesus.

            Tim shared his story of how Jesus had set him free from drugs and from being tormented by this demon. Tim shared how important his relationship with Jesus had become. He told me later that evening in tears how God had touched his heart through the experience of sharing his testimony and how a fire to follow Jesus had been relit in his heart. Tim stopped complaining and stated leading his team. He started praying for his team members and decided he loved Camp Alandale.

            Tim is doing well today and really, really, wants to be part of our Jr. Counselor program. Thank you for your prayers for Tim. It really helped him to make the decision to pursue God and turn for the temptations that had crept back in to his life.

            You have received a set of prayer cards for campers and staff at Camp Alandale. Please hand them out to your prayer team and ask them to pray for the person on the card until our winter camp starts. Thank you for battling for the hearts and souls of our campers in prayer.

  

Love in Christ Jesus,

Matt Pritchett, Camp Director

Summer Camp 2013 - Session 9. August 12-17, 2013 - 10-12th Grade

Dear Prayer Coordinators,

Thank you for joining us for the final week of camp. It was a great week of camp filled with many highlights, but it was not without many difficulties. This camp seemed a little bit different because about half of the campers were new. Typically, high school camps are about 75% returning and 25% new. Although we anticipated a very difficult camp because of the amount of new campers, God’s grace was upon Camp Alandale as the Holy Spirit moved in the hearts of the campers.

The first night of camper testimonies Diana chose to share her testimony. She was new to camp, but chose to jump right in and tell her story. She told it with boldness and tears as she walked through moments of beatings, abuse, rape, and miscarriage. It broke our hearts to see her lay her head back and find the courage to tell the next part of her story. It was evident from the way she talked that her heart was so hard against God, so much so, that during Counselor Prayer the next day her counselor shared with us that she had said that she hated God. One cannot blame her for thinking this, but we know that our God is a God of love and justice who takes care of the beaten and downtrodden. Her counselor fought mightily throughout the week to show Diana that she is loved by God and loved by us. She encouraged her to send God a “Facebook message” and open up communication with him, which had been shut down many years prior. Diana, although coming to camp with a very hard heart towards God, left camp with a heart softened toward him. Pray in the days and weeks that follow camp that God will take hold of her life and that she’ll surrender all of her pain and sorrow to Jesus.

Another camper new to camp was Anthony. He came with a hard heart just like Diana. Despite having been placed in a good home at an early age, Anthony struggled to believe in God and found his security in knowing that he had been raised as a Catholic. His thoughts were conflicting as he had never been in a place with other foster children who had similar stories and had not heard much of the person of Jesus. His counselor spent many one-on-ones with him telling him about who Jesus was and what He accomplished through His death and resurrection. This was very comforting for Anthony, who slowly over the week opened up more and more, and finally put his faith in Christ on Friday. We rejoice with the angels as another camper became a child of God.

There are more stories like Diana and Anthony’s from this last week of camp, which much credit is due to your faithful prayers. Please continue to pray for all the campers as they’ve returned home to difficult situations. Blessings!

                                                                                                In Christ,

                                                                                                Jeremy & Amy Allen

Summer Camp 2013 - Session 8 - August 8-10, 2013 - 10-12th Grade

Dear Prayer Coordinators,

Last week I was blessed with two amazing, young men as my campers. The first of which was Phil, a returning camper who came to camp with many anger issues. He hadn’t been in a couple of years and came back claiming to have this great relationship with God. During our first one-on-one he shared his testimony with me and explained how he had an abusive father and a drug addict mother. He had bounced from group home to group home since he was eight years old. He was angry and felt as though he had been dealt a bad hand in life. My second camper was Jim. Jim made it to camp at around 5pm on Monday, shortly after being taken off the roster. Jim was late because he was on his way back from another camp and had just enough time to clean up. Jim was a first time camper and came with a very different struggle. His father had been in prison since before he was born and his mother was also a drug addict. He had recently given his life to Christ and was really seeking God in his life. Although he was a Christian, he was incredibly negative about everything we did. He didn’t like the tents, food, games, schedule – the list goes on and on. He and I would have great conversations about God and the Bible, but as soon as the conversation was over he would be negative again. As the week progressed both of these young men had amazing victories.

                As the week progressed Phil's anger became more obvious, with his buttons becoming easier to push. He started to lose patience with the other campers. As it progressed I found out it was not so much anger at others, but a fear of what was going to happen after he left camp. He told me that before he came up to camp his Aunt told him she was going to adopt him. This gave him a great deal of happiness, but sadly also brought up feelings of rejection and insecurities. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time someone told him that they were going to adopt him. He was fearful of being rejected again. Thankfully, as the week came to a close he found comfort in God. While all of this was going on, Jim was working through some struggles. He had a difficult time enjoying himself at camp because of his negative attitude. He shared with me his younger foster brother had come up before and did not like it. So his impression of camp was negative even before he came. It was on Wednesday, however, that he realized he truly did enjoy camp. His attitude slowly started to change. He grew in his relationship with the Lord and was even able to share his testimony. It was his first time ever sharing his testimony, which was a very freeing experience for him. After he shared, he told me that it felt like a weight was lifted from him. In the end, he loved camp and everyone was able to see his joy as well.

Even though I only had two campers there was a third camper in my tent. We had many different conversations at night, but a few stuck out to me. The first of which was that they had many questions about the reality of God’s love. This led to a great conversation on what love truly is and how we should show it to others. The second happened on the last night of camp. One of the guys asked me why I had lent my jacket to a girl at campfire that night, considering that it was the coldest night and I was clearly cold after doing so. This simple question opened the door for me to share with them what being a man is, and not just any man, but a godly man. At the beginning of the week these three young men had all sorts of dysfunction going on around them, but by the end of the week though they were able to find comfort and normalcy in God and His love for them. Praise the Lord! While they still had problems when they left, they were able and willing to seek God in them. Thank you for praying for these guys throughout the week. Your prayers are powerful!

                                                                                                                                In Christ,

                                                                                                                                Kris, Staff-Counselor

Summer Camp 2013 - Session 7. July 29-Aug 3, 2013 - 10-12th Grade

Dear Prayer Coordinators,

Thank you so much for your prayers over the past few weeks. We were genuinely unsure whether Camp would be spared from the mountain fire, but it turned out it was in God's plan to finish the summer. The staff returned to Camp on Tuesday July, 23^rd in order to clean up and prepare for our first high school camp of the year, Session #7 from July 29 – August 3. Thanks for praying with us.

As a young staff member, at first I was a little apprehensive about counseling high schoolers. But, as is always the case with God, He did not give me more than I could handle. My first camper, Blaine, remembered me from three years ago, making it easy to build a relationship with him. Blaine thought he was a committed Christian but talked about how he didn't think you needed to go to church or read the Bible in order to maintain a close relationship with God. As Bible studies went on throughout the week, it came to light that he suffered from a form of Dyslexia and had difficulty reading. God found other ways to minister to Blaine at Camp, though – one of Karen's solos about forgiveness had him breaking down in tears. When I asked him later he said it was because the song made him realize he needed to forgive his dad's girlfriend, who had hurt him in the past.

My other camper, James, was more of a challenge. James had been coming to Camp for seven years and had yet to give his life to Christ. At our first meal I inadvertently made myself James’ enemy when I enforced the “two cookie per meal” rule by taking several Oreos off his plate. For the rest of the day he wouldn't even talk to me! When it came time for our one-on-one, I had to get the Director to talk to him before he agreed to go with me. He would provide the occasional one word response when I asked about his interests, but every time I brought up God he became silent. This attitude continued throughout the rest of the night and for the next few days – James would disregard rules and choose not to participate in most camp activities. I decided that the disciplinarian approach wasn't working and realized that if this boy was going to change, it was going to have to be through God's power and not my own. At dinner Wednesday night I noticed our team Junior Counselor writing some Japanese characters – since one of Justin's favorite things to do was watch Japanese anime. I started a conversation between the two of them and James talked for the longest I had seen him talk so far. Something about having a simple, civilized conversation really impacted him. After testimony time that night, I asked him about his testimony. For about five minutes he just sat there in silence, but then out of the blue he just sat up and told me his story for the next twenty minutes. His parents alternated between abusing him and leaving him on his own for days at a time. Eventually CPS was called and Justin bounced from abusive group home to abusive group home. He said the worst part was that wherever he went he was treated like a little kid. He responded to this treatment by running away, shoplifting, and smoking pot. After opening up to me, although he was not the perfect camper, his attitude towards me and towards Camp changed. He began answering questions in amphitheater and even asked the director to repeat a verse so he could look it up later. Our one-on-ones became livelier, but he would still avoid the topic of God, at least outwardly. By Saturday I had become concerned that he had yet to tell me that he really believed the Gospel. I asked him if he at least believed that Jesus walked the Earth. His response astounded me - “Of course. How else would he have died for our sins?”

Often times at Camp we are blessed in that we get to see the fruits of our labors, as I did with Blaine. Other times, like with James, we only get to see glimpses of God's work. Either way, we thank Him for his provision and you for your continuous prayer.

                                In Christ,

Michael Bacon and the Camp Alandale Family

Summer Camp 2013 - Session 6. July 22-26, 2013 - Cancelled

Due to the huge fire burning out of control near Idyllwild and the fact that Idyllwild was under mandatory evacuation, we had to cancel camp for this week. It was sad that we needed to do this, but at the time no one knew what the outcome of the fire would be.

The fire began on Monday, July 15, and Idyllwild was evacuated on Wednesday, July 17. Our little town and the Camp were delivered by the magnificent efforts of the fire fighters, especially the tanker planes who made so many drops over the fire to keep it from spreading over the ridge and into Idyllwild. But by Friday the threat of the fire continued as it burned out of control until Saturday, July 20, when God brought the rain and a change in the wind. In that five day period the fire consumed over 27,000 acres, but very few homes were destroyed and there was no loss of life. As of today, July 29, the fire is 98% contained.

We praise God for His providence. Thousands were praying for God to protect our community and the fire fighters. He hears and answers prayer!

Summer Camp 2013 - Session 5. July 15-19, 2013 - 7-9th Grade

Dear Prayer Warriors,

My name is Ryan and I’m part of the Summer Staff at Camp Alandale this summer. I was blessed to counsel two wonderful young men the week of July 15-19: Thomas and Marco. I’ve had Thomas as my camper a time or two before, and was excited to have him again. He has a great sense of humor and loves to make everyone laugh; he goes out of his way to put a smile on another person’s face. Thomas, though, struggles with outbursts of anger that manifest as verbal obscenities and insults. Through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, I was able to learn some of the triggers that incite these explosive reactions. We spoke in depth about anger and its place in our lives. I was blessed to share that I struggled with anger and similar outbursts when I was a child and he asked questions about how I overcame these struggles. We then talked about how Jesus wants to take these problems away from us. We talked about Jesus’ reaction to the merchants in the temple and how Jesus didn’t allow his anger to control him. Thomas, already having accepted Christ into his heart years ago, resolved to pray about his anger and to ask the Lord for help. 

Marco is also a very funny guy; he always made me laugh. We struggled through our one-on-one times though as he held his burdens inside, answering questions with “I don’t know” and “maybe” much of the time. The other male counselor on our team and I prayed daily for Marco. I know that the Lord is bringing Marco to a place of desperation centered on His grace. Marco is moving toward justification and sanctification, it’s only a matter of the Lord’s timing! 

Unfortunately, I was unable to work with Thomas or Marco to the fullest extent of the camp week due to the fire that threatened Idyllwild and the surrounding areas. The fire began on Monday and sent up a large plume of smoke that dominated much of our skyline and conversation on Tuesday. The threat was very real on Wednesday when the town of Idyllwild was placed under mandatory evacuation. The directors chose to evacuate Camp Alandale on Wednesday evening after dinner due to the threat the fire and smoke posed on camper safety and health. We wished that we could have had the whole week to minister God’s love to these campers. I know that God promises that everything works together for the good of those who love Him and are called by Him. We are sure that the premature terminus of this week’s camp is within the will of God and will be used for His glory. Even though it was a short week, we are still very thankful for the time that we had with the campers. By the way, the fire is out and camps are resuming as planned.

Thank you for all of the support through your prayers. God is glorified as his people intercede on behalf of one another. We’re working together to glorify our king and to fulfill his purpose at Camp Alandale!

Sincerely,
Ryan Strobel (Staff-Counselor)