We finished our last regular day of camp today.  All of the planning, supplies and classes mixed with a heart of love and a covering over the Gospel came to fruition over the last few days.  It always feels like once we get into a rhythm it has to come to an end.  For the campers, today was a bit different as most of our younger campers have school in the morning.  So we just flipped our schedule and did construction in the morning and camp in the afternoon.

So, this morning, we were back at the waterslide project.  I think the project was bigger than we expected and we are hustling hard to get it finished for our camp big ender super day tomorrow.  That meant sanding wood railing, staining wood railing and posts, then a clear coat (to be finished still) for the railing and posts.  We also continued to work on the new feature, which will be a wading pool attached to the waterslide.  That meant more sandbags!  We still have cantera stones to move, but we did get the trench completed and the initial tie in to the water line for a water feature for the wading pool.  Some of that work had to continue with our team rotating during our camp time.  And we worked late into the early evening and still didn’t finish – and were the last team to roll in for dinner (a half hour late).

Camp went very smoothly and the whole team did a great job running their classes for the last day.  Music, sports, arts, Bible and English got to witness smiles of delight and minds absorbing new learning.  But most important was the relationships that keep growing.  Speaking of relationships, many of the older kids – teenagers now – have stopped by the Ranch for a visit.  This is especially encouraging to me as I have watched many of these kids from the community grow up.  And the first start of that relationship was… camp.  God is so good to not allow the passing of time (a year in between visits) and a language barrier to keep these relationships from continuing to grow and have lasting value.

This team continues to impress me with their passion for the Lord, patience with each other and perseverance in their work ability and effort.  It’s a joy to serve alongside them.  Would you continue to pray for Gospel fruit – especially tomorrow with our camp ender and community outreach?  The campers are inviting their families to come with them to the Ranch!  Would you also pray for our Mission Panama City team?  They left today and had their first day of ministry.  We are praying for them from Nica!