MARCH 31- 24 HOURS WITH THE GUYS

One of our favorite weekends of the year at Hidden Acres is our 24 hours with the guys retreat. This past weekend, over 350 men and sons came to camp with their trucks loaded down with bows and guns, anxious to hit the range to get in some early spring target practice. At the end of the weekend, men leave refreshed in their spirits and bodies from their time away from work and routine obligations of life.

This weekend is by far the best evangelistic tool we can offer to our churches to reach men for Jesus Christ. Over the years, more adult men have accepted Christ during this weekend than all of the other weekends combined. Men come, because they have a common interest in hunting and fishing activities, but throughout the weekend, the gospel is preached 5 times; and the men and sons do respond to Terry Baxter's messages. It is a real joy to be apart of this weekend.

This past weekend, one of the highlights for me personally was seeing a 17 year old boy, kneeling up front of the chapel with a group of men praying with him to receive Christ. Earlier in the day, a 45 year old father accepted Christ also. After the retreat was over, I looked over the evaluation forms, and many more men made commitments to rededicate their lives to Christ.

We were challenged more than once through the messages to share our faith; to be bold. Randy Larson, one of our speakers, took a poll of how we had accepted Christ, and the overwhelming majority raised their hands to say that a friend or a family member led them to Christ; it wasn't church, or an evangelist, or the preacher, or VBS, but a friend. Men walked away from the weekend with a renewed purpose to share Christ in all seasons.

One of the neatest things that has happened from this retreat is the spawning of other retreats similar to our 24 hours, at other camps; in the next month their will be a retreat in Wisconsin, in NW Iowa and in Alaska that mirrors our 24 hours event; representatives from different places have come to Hidden Acres to look over our model and then have gone home and replicated it either at another camp or at the church.

It is our prayer, that Hidden Acres will play a vital part in the spiritual development of men of all ages that come to camp; we have 6 different men's ministry events planned over the year, praying that we can offer enough different activities to attract a wide variety of men. Our August Jamboree will be full of golf, biking, fishing, shooting, and great preaching.

Pray with us as we minister to these men. We know that life in the trenches is tough, with many temptations that can trip up men and boys; we want to be apart of growing strong, Spirit filled men that can be effecive leaders back in the local church.

March 25, 2008

A new week... a new season. At last, spring is here. I so enjoyed the extra long weekend doing very little except watching basketball and eating to much.

I spent most of the weekend goofing around on Facebook; enlarging my friends of former staff at camp. What fun for me to track down kids from the past and to get caught up on their lives through their pictures and employment situations. I am finding that it is becoming more important to me to keep connected with former staff than ever before. I do enjoy hearing their testimony of how their summer with us has impacted their lives today.

It is probably because of my age; at 53 you are nearly done working; which in turn forces a person to look back and see if our life counted. For some, they realize they haven't accomplished what they set out to do; for others, they see they have piddled their life away and it appears they have so little to show for their life; I look back over the years here at camp and smile at the kids and staff that have been a part of my life. I am not dead yet, just reflective.

The one thing that Hidden Acres wants to accomplish in the lives of our summer staff would be the following:
1. Teach young people that it isn't about themselves.
2. Serve with a humble mind and a willing heart.
3. Put in a good days work for your pay.
4. Develop some work habits that will carry over into a real job back home.
5. Encourage and train young people to become our church leaders of the future.
6. Promote healthy relationship that edify one another.

Summer camp is a wonderful time of the year for us; we have worked all winter preparing, hiring, building, and marketing for these 8 weeks together. I would encourage any parent to let their kid come and work at camp for a summer. We will return them to you seasoned and more mature because of their time at camp

I turned 53 yesterday; there are still a few good years left in me, but most of what I wanted to accomplish physically has been accomplished or it just isn't going to get done. Oh sure, I would have liked to have hunted in Alaska deep into some wilderness area; oh sure, I would have liked to hike across America; oh sure, I would have liked to have had 12 kids... but these things probably won't happen. I have reached a point in my life where I am content with what I have done with my own strength and determination.

That doesn't mean I am content with where I am; I still know that I must keep building buildings, learning management skills, sharing my faith, and trusting the Lord in all situations. I know there are many good days ahead of me; perhaps even the best days are ahead of me; I just know there will be more mind work than body work.

There are few things more satisfying in life than to be fulfilled with your life work; a work that is meaningful and a life lived that spreads Godly influence on those you work with. It truly has been my pleasure to work along side of nearly 1000 staff (ages 14 to 25) who have helped us make Hidden Acres successful. I often reflect back on the good old days when counselors came to camp without a computer, a cell phone, an ipod and were 100% focused on their mission of ministry to campers. There were special years with summer staff; 1988,89,90,91 were all great years; those were the years of having only 15 to 20 staff, but I was able to touch each staff member's lives through teaching and training.

It doesn't mean that working staff in 2008 and beyond won't be as satisfying; it will but it also has it's own challenges. The young people are just as needy and open to be challenged to live a life of purpose and passion. It is our job to be faithful and engage ourselves into young people's lives to counter-act what our culture

The purpose of this blog will be to communicate the vision and direction of Hidden Acres along with updates to the facilities and programs. It would be my desire that from this blog, you would catch a glimpse of who we are and what we are about.