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The VanderSchels / Ohio Bible Mission / January 2012
What We've Been Up To Lately:
Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year from
the VanderSchels! Yes, the busyness of the holidays put us a bit behind in
getting our newsletter out, but we’ll do our best to get you caught up.
Kim and the kids are finishing up their first semester of
homeschool. Things have been much smoother since we’ve been able to move into
our schoolroom downstairs. The girls are especially enjoying their own bedrooms
downstairs, while Carson is now able to spread out in the loft room.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Kim’s family in Mansfield. Mark
Goldfuss and his girls joined us for the Thanksgiving weekend while Mark and
Izaac worked on a construction project in the rec hall.
Izaac and Kim both have had recent opportunities to
participate in community activities outside of camp. Izaac has gotten plugged
in to the area basketball referee association and has been able to ref a good
number of basketball games in the public high schools. Kim has been certified
to substitute teach in the local public schools and enjoys the varied
experiences that brings. Please pray that these opportunities will give us open
doors for witnessing.
Christmas brought a frenzy of excitement with 4 different
rounds of Christmas gatherings. We had our own Christmas as a family before we
headed to Mentor to spend time with Izaac’s family. After the kids were
thoroughly spoiled rotten by grandparents and aunts and uncles and Carson and
Izaac got to enjoy the Cleveland Cavs’ season opener, we came back to camp to
await the arrival of Kim’s family. We put up her parents and her two sisters
and their families in the other A-frame cabins and enjoyed a flurry of
activities—bowling, snow tubing, roasting marshmallows, swimming, playing
games, and fun times with 13 cousins hanging out together. About 18 hours after
everyone left camp, we packed up the van and headed to Missouri to spend a few
days with family there. We enjoyed a beautiful sunny 65 degrees New Year’s Eve.
We had a great time with family, and the kids enjoyed meeting a new baby
cousin.
So, here we are on our trip back to Ohio, thinking of everything
piled up and waiting for us back at camp—lots of Christmas stuff needing to be
put away, emails to go through, a summer camp theme to get rolling on, and more
churches to call to schedule presentations.
We thank the Lord every day for the opportunity He has given
us to be a part of this ministry. May we be found faithful! Thank you so much
for your continued prayers for our family.
What's Going On At Camp:
We are so grateful to the Lord for the desire He gives to
others to come serve at camp. We’ve had several individuals come to the camp
this fall to work on various projects. Dan Corey is still faithfully coming
twice a week to fill in as Interim Facility Manager. He and Izaac have done
many things the past several months from consolidating and cleaning up areas
around the camp, working on the camp vehicles, resealing the roof of the rec
hall, and winterizing buildings. Mark Goldfuss was here Thanksgiving weekend to
remodel and reinforce the octagon section of the rec hall. New window openings
and wood siding were installed, as well as slight changes on the interior
walls. Right after Christmas, Jay Stone came to help Dan and Izaac begin to
clear trees and brush from the downslope of the dam on the front lake. This
will help strengthen the integrity of the dam and prevent erosion. Several of
the large upcoming projects include upgrading the electrical systems in the
youth cabins, lowering the snack shop ceiling, clearing the downslope of the
back lake dam, and installing ceiling fans in A-frames. If you’d like to give
toward these or other ongoing projects around camp, please contact us. We’d also
love to have your help. Bring a group from church or come alone to assist us on
any of the projects mentioned above.
Springtime will bring our new Facility Manager and his
family to the camp. We’re so excited to serve with Nathan and Nikki Fry and are
thankful that the Lord led them to this ministry!
Camp Needs:
- Funding is still needed for reimbursement of printing costs
of the summer staff t-shirts. If you are able to help meet this need, a special
offering or gift would be greatly appreciated.
- We are in the process of replacing some of the outdated
furniture in the lakefront and A-frame cabins. If you've recently purchased some
new furniture for your home and have couches, chairs, end tables, dressers,
lamps, desks, etc. that are still in good condition, please consider donating them to the camp.
Contact us at pbcprogram@gmail.com or through Facebook.
- Funding for above-mentioned projects.
Our Prayer Requests:
- continued financial and prayer support of local
churches
- wisdom determining whether to sell or rent our home in
WCH
- transition for the Fry family to the camp ministry
Kids' Column:
I had lots of fun playing with all my cousins this
Christmas. I got two tickets to see the Cavs’ season
opener, so my dad and I went to the game. Even though the Cavs lost we still
had fun.
School will start again in a couple days. Third
grade is pretty easy. I like to try some of the 6th grade math
problems that my mom teaches my sisters.
I hope we get lots of snow at camp this winter so I
can play in it. I want the lake to freeze so I can walk and skate on it.
Love, Carson
Camp is beautiful in the winter! Stop by sometime and see it
for yourself!
Presentation Schedule:
January 22 - Update at Westerville Bible Church
February 26 - Maranatha Bible Church / Glenford
March 4 - Blue Rock Baptist Church / Philo
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Serving the Lord and Strengthening the Church by:
enhancing the current camping program
establishing new opportunities
encouraging continued involvement
