Remembering the Miracles of the Past

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.”  Psalm 77:11

This is one of the verses that we have had the kids memorizing this summer as part of our program.  We have been using archaeology as the theme of our lessons, talking about Elijah, Moses and other prophets that God used to show His power in the world, and then relating it to how God shows His power in the world today. 

One of my activities during camp has been to lead campers on an archaeological dig.  I made a set of plaster tablets that have a crude drawing and coded message indicating some important event from the history of Camp of the Woods.  We set up tents and placed tubs of sand into each tent.  Then I broke the tablets I had made into pieces and buried them in the sand.  Each day, campers come during the specialized activity time to dig up the tablets, piece them together and decode the message.

And so, each week I have been able to proclaim “the miracles of long ago.”  I tell just the little bit I know about the fire that destroyed the lodge in February of 1987, and how it was so quickly reconstructed.  I tell about how in 1968 Garland Cofield had to make an emergency landing with his plane and it broke through the ice on a remote lake. The recovery of the plane is an amazing story.  I tell about the many programs that COTW had including winter camp in tents, and year round Bible School programs.  I tell them about Reba Cofield  and her garden.  Then I take the campers up in the loft where we have the Heritage Room with pictures and artifacts from the past and show them some of the pictures of these events.  There were campers this year who were able to find their grandparents in some of the pictures.

I am so thankful that, fifty years ago, the Cofields came to this place with a vision of what God could do in Northwest Ontario.  The miracles of long ago are being remembered and told to the next generation.

Personally, I am so thankful for what the Cofields did in this place.  It is a place through which God still reaches people, still touches people, and still sends people out.   I will be forever grateful for what this ministry has meant in my life.  I have found a place where I have gifts and talents to offer, and my offer has been accepted as is has been nowhere else.  I have been embraced as a leader even though I am a woman, and it has made a profound difference in my spiritual life.  I will never be the same because of it.

What Makes COTW Different

Each week on Friday evening we have a session where everyone talks about the week and what's been happening with the campers.  During that time we hear from all aspects of the ministry, and the people who work behind the scenes get to hear what's been happening on the front lines with the kids.

Last night as we talked we heard stories of several campers deciding to follow Christ it was very exciting, of course.  But I was really struck by the power of the ministry here at Camp of the Woods.  Here we set our summer staff up for their (many times) first real experience of sharing the Gospel with someone.  They have the responsibility of thinking through their presentation and trying to learn what is effective and what is not.

Sometimes when we turn them out to do this, we think, "Are they really ready for this?  Can we trust them with this great responsibility?"  And then we go through the week and God moves and kids make decisions.  What a gracious God we serve!

The other difference here is that these decisions are based on a relationship that these staffers have built with the campers in their charge.  Some of these relationships develop over the course of the 24/7 time spent with the kids during the week.  But with many of these kids this relationship isn't developed over just this week of camp, but over the course of many summers as campers and staff return to meet again.

God is at work in this tiny remote place in Northwest Ontario, and I am so thankful that I get to be a part of what He's doing here.

Story at Sundown

One of our team games

Blessings from Home

Teen Week 1 is complete and we had a wonderful crew here to help.  They represented our community well, and I'm so proud of all of them.  We connected with a small church on Signal Mountain and they made the long trek to Canada to serve as support staff for the week.  They were friendly, helpful and such hard workers.  Phil had some of these men as students in high school.  One of these guys was a friend of Jason Dildine's from back in high school.  They had not seen each other since then, and it was amazing for them to reconnect with each other on a mission trip to Canada.  God has plans that we could never dream of.

Sawyer Missionary Baptist Church group from Signal Mountain

Mallory with some returning campers

Daniel and one of his campers

Jason brought some very good messages to the students.

Brelyn taking aim during one of our games

Our young people continue to be such a key to the success of our camp program.  It is such a pleasure to see them thrive and grow spiritually under the responsibilities of reaching these students with the message of Jesus.  They would make you so proud.