November 2009 Newsletter

November 9, 2009

Greetings from Camp Penuel East

This year is just winding down so fast, Thanksgiving will be here soon and before you know it another year will have come and gone.  We are so thankful for all of the prayer and financial support that all of you have been giving.  We find comfort in knowing that God is with us, but also so many others have joined us in our mission here.  We receive encouraging notes and letters from time to time and they mean a lot to us.  Sometimes just the thought that someone is thinking about us and praying for us goes a long way.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers for this is the hardest time of the year for us.  It is hard to see the camp so empty throughout the winter season.  Some would think that our most difficult time would be when we have all of the children from the inner cities coming through here.  The truth is that’s the easy part, and when you’re doing what you love and are called to do the time just flies by.  Our opportunities to minister and to do what we are called to do are few and far between during this time of the year.  Please keep praying for us and we will continue to seek Gods will for this camp and this ministry.

We are still looking for churches or groups to share with.  We will preach, share about Camp Penuel, or whatever opportunity your church or group may have for us.  We recently helped with a ministry program for kids in Westons Mills where around 40 kids made a decision for Christ.  We were just happy to be a small part of sharing the Gospel there.  We are trying to raise awareness of what it is that we do here at Camp Penuel East.  We are also trying to raise our funds for next season.  If you would like us to share with your group or church please contact us.

I was driving home the other day and I heard someone on the radio ask “what is your definition of worship”?  That got me thinking about how I would define worship if somebody asked me.  I believe that worshiping God is what we were created for, but it is so much deeper than that.  I have heard it said in church before “God really moved in service today”.  Did He really move?  Or is it that on that particular day that we came expecting to enter into His presence?  His presence was there the whole time.  It’s not that God draws closer to us, but that we draw closer to God.  I believe that the atmosphere that we experience during worship is available to us all of the time.  We are often too caught up in our own schedules and agendas to be open to the presence of God that’s all around us.  To me it seems like the story of Elisha’s servant from 2 Kings Chapter 6.  Elisha’s servant was afraid of the ensuing army so Elisha asked God to open his servant’s eyes.  What he saw was that Gods army was all around them and they far outnumbered their enemies.  They were there the whole time, but the servant allowed fear to take the place of his faith.

Maybe we just need to let God open our eyes to see that He has us surrounded.  He is bigger than our circumstances, sicknesses and all of the problems that we allow to steal our focus away from Him.  When I think of worship I think of a life that takes the atmosphere of Heaven everywhere they go.  Worship is surrendering ourselves to God and desiring to be intimate with Him at all times.  It goes way beyond church, it should interweave into every area of our lives.  It is through that kind of relationship with God that we will find true peace, joy and purpose in our lives.

Jeremy Walter
Director

 

Needs List:
Blankets (for kids that come to camp without any)
Dish towels and wash clothes for the lodge (many of them had to be thrown away)