Fishers of Men

Fishing Boys with prize- an 11 pound Catfish

I watched the little ones arrive at camp yesterday; what joy in their little faces. I love it when kids come to camp with such excitement, such anticipation. Once again we were overwhelmed with the sheer number of campers and parents as they arrived for a picture-perfect day; no rain, mild temperatures and just a little mud.

Three different speakers speaking to three different audiences, with plenty of fun mixed in the middle should make this week memorable. I love this age group of kids; they ask great questions; they look at their counselor as one who has all answers; and they try their best to stay up later than they should. Opening evening around the hot dog roast was best described as a zoo, as the little ones were climbing all over their counselor. I only watched and smiled thinking, “There is no way in the world I could be a counselor at my age; they would wear me out in a minute!”

Tradition has it that the fishing boys come to my house and fish from my pond one of the evenings. DeDe and I cook the boys a BBQ with some wild meat; last night was no exception with plenty of deer steaks and even fresh frog legs from the afternoon of pond plunking. The first two hours of fishing was more chasing tad poles and trying to catch a huge bull frog; there was little real fishing done except by a couple boys who were fishermen before they arrived at camp.

It is easy for me to spot the boys whose dads have fished with them and have trained them how to handle a rod and reel. They have skill and they also have the tools of a very full tackle box. Other boys come to camp with a rod and real, and a few hooks and bobbers, but little skill and for some only a mild interest in fishing. They liked the idea of fishing, but also like just mudding and dinking in the water.

I looked at this scenario and realized it is similar with people and their faith; many are committed, trained, disciplined, believers who are serious about their Walk with Christ; others are like the boys who will plink their week away; they talk fishing, they have a pole, but they never really get any fish caught. Some Christians love the idea of being a Christian, but never develop past their salvation experience; they stay along the shore chasing life without ever growing or going deeper in their walk.

And it brings great joy to my heart when I hear of someone who all of sudden takes off in their walk with Christ. I know, I diddled around shore for my first 20 years of my Christian life. I knew the language, developed a Christian pedigree, but I never caught any fish; I piddled 20 years away.

Occasionally, even in fishing you get surprised. Last night was no exception. I had left the boys at their campsite and walked the 100 yards back to my house to shower and get ready for bed when the doorbell rang. “We just caught the hugest catfish!,” they clamored. I grabbed my camera and headed across the bean field with them in the dark. Sure enough, they had. This little guy who had not caught anything all day long had stuck a dead blue gill on his hook and ended up landing a 11 pound catfish; which became the largest fish ever caught by a fishing camper in 20 years. The campsite was a buzzing with excitement, as everyone got interested in getting their pole in the water looking for another record size catfish.

My prayer for this week for these 11 young men and for the rest of the 400+ campers at Hidden Acres is that each of them will see the excitement and passion of their counselor’s lives and they too will get excited about their faith. Over and over I hear from parents of their child returning home from camp renewed and excited about Bible reading, sharing their faith, and praying. I want each camper to become real fishers of men.

Written by:
Earl Taylor, Director of Vision and Design
Hidden Acres Christian Center, Dayton, Iowa
earldtaylor@yahoo.com
Hidden Acres is the youth camp and adult retreat center located in central Iowa. Hidden Acres is owned by the Evangelical Free Churches of Iowa, South Dakota, and Missouri.

When Old Staff Return Home to Camp

Shawn and Connie and children

There has probably been at least 2000 kids who have worked at Hidden Acres over my past 25 years of being apart of the ministry; there is a long list of kids whom I have grown to love like sons and daughters; I smile often as I think about their time spent at camp with us.

Yesterday a couple of my favorites stopped in on their way back to Montana: Connie and Shawn McAlpine who both worked for us back in the late 80”s; Shawn is the pastor of an Christian Missionary Alliance church in Colstrip, Montana; they had returned to Iowa for a parents 50th wedding anniversary, and wanted their two children to see the camp and to check out what was new at camp; they had not been back for at least 10 years. It was great fun for me to give them the nickel tour and to show them the family life center, chapel, pastor’s cabin, and all the new program areas.

I considered both Connie and Shawn to be top notched staff; they were great kids while working together (before they were married); Shawn was our program director in the 80’s and went on to work at a camp full time in Minnesota after college. I remember them both as faithful, diligent, and with a passion for ministering to campers. In the 80’s, a staff of 12 to 16 seemed huge and almost unmanageable. I was much younger and much less trained, so that was all I could oversee. Today, we have 140 young people on staff and I don’t blink an eye at the size of the staff.

….And the week before, Ryan Peterson and his wife and new baby stopped in for a couple day visit prior to attending a wedding nearby. Ryan was a counselor and the camp pastor in the 90’s who now is senior pastor in Minnesota. He too shared about receiving his calling into ministry while working the many summers at camp.

Ryan and his family

Part of my early morning devotions time, I look over the list of current staff members and pray over them and ponder what will they become and how will they serve in the future at camp and back in the local church. From reading their bio-sketches, many of the young men have a desire to become youth pastors. I am surprised about the lack of kids who don’t see mission work in their future.

As I told the parents of the summer staff last week during our commissioning service, we will be a grinding wheel on your child’s life this summer. We will push them beyond what they ever thought they could accomplish. We will train and encourage. We will scold and admonish when necessary. We will force them to make good decisions and to be diligent and responsive. We will insist they take responsibility for mistakes and we will reward them for outstanding service. We want each young person to have a true servant's heart and to put the needs of campers above their own personal desires.

From the 140+ staff, I pray that we do send out future pastors to places like Colstrip, Montana and Minnesota, I pray we send out missionaries to places like Congo, Malaysia, and to inner city work. My prayer for this year's summer staff is that the Lord would touch their palate with the taste of active ministry that would transform them into young men and women who will not be content to sit along the sidelines of the church as pew warmers, but will be actively engaged in soul winning and kingdom work.

Pray with me that from this group, in 20 years when they come back for their tour of camp, (as they push me around in my wheel chair), that they too can report in and say, “It was here at camp that the Hand of the Lord touched me and I knew I was going to be in the ministry some day!”

Written by:
Earl Taylor, Director of Vision and Design
Hidden Acres Christian Center, Dayton, Iowa
earldtaylor@yahoo.com
Hidden Acres is a Christian youth camp and adult retreat center located in central Iowa. Hidden Acres is owned by Evangelical Free Churches of Iowa, Missouri, and South Dakota.

First Week of Camp at Hidden Acres

Fishing camp-- biggest catch of the week

Camp is off and running: 350 campers arrived Sunday afternoon; the rain held off until after the hot dog picnic and every mom and dad were gone. But true to form, we had a good shower that muddied up the roads and trails; for the kids, it created another adventure; to the housekeepers… it created opportunities!

There were so many new families bringing their first time campers to camp. We had underestimated the number of cars that would be arriving in a 2 hour period. Our new registration area in the Family Life Center worked well, but after the first week, we know we need to make some logistical changes for the upcoming weeks. For future Sundays parents should see even a smoother system in place to get their campers registered.

Our speakers this week are Damian Peasley from the Madrid Free Church and Tyler Parsons from the Sioux Center Free Church. Both are youth pastors and both have spoken at camp before. Our prayer is that each speaker will reach the heart of every boy and girl and that the Spirit of God would do a mighty work.

I have to tell you a story from Sunday. A mother approached me and introduced herself and went on to explain that the camp had given her daughter a full scholarship to come to camp last summer. The little girl had such a wonderful experience last year she had to come back for another dose of summer camp. The mother handed me an envelope with a lovely note stating how thankful she was for the experience her daughter had enjoyed last year, and included a check for $300 with a note stating they wanted to “pay forward so that another child could get the opportunity to come to camp on a scholarship”. Wow! Did that ever bless my heart! Thank you dear parents who understand how valuable one week can be in the life of a child.

Two different camps going on at the same time: Jr. High age campers and 4-6th grade campers; one group who acts a little squirrelly at times, but tries to mask it with a sense of coolness and lack of interest, and the other group who are still intrigued with life and are full of questions and energy. We love them both and know that no matter where they are, God has a wonderful plan for their lives and our prayer is that each child will return home renewed in their Spirit and with a clean heart to serve and to grow.

…. And just a reminder to parents…. Don’t forget to pick them up on Friday!!! We love them… but they will be plenty dirty, plenty tired, and will be ready for Moms and Dads to take them home and indulge them with regular showers and daily changes of all clothing! Sorry Mom, if you find your son’s suitcase unpacked from Sunday… we really do try to make him shower!

Written by
Earl Taylor, Director of Vision and Design
Hidden Acres Christian Center, Dayton, Iowa
earldtaylor@yahoo.com
Hidden Acres is a Christian youth camp and adult retreat center located in central Iowa. Hidden Acres is owned by the Evangelical Free Churches of Iowa, South Dakota, and Missouri.

2nd Generation

I knew it would happen eventually; if I stayed around long enough, a second generation of workers will work for me; today it has happened.

Kendall Johnson from the Oakdale Free Church worked for us in 1986 as a counselor and doing maintenance. The camp was very small with only 10 paid summer staff workers. My memory of Kendall: while a counselor, I would see Kendall on the John Deere tractor doing something, moving something, but not with his kids. Kendall was from the farm, and needed a little tractor time each week just to keep him sane. He tore into fixing the tractor and left it in a pile of bolts and metal.

Today his son Josiah Johnson starts working for us. Josiah has attended camp all these years, and has finally come of age. We are bigger now with over 120 summer staff, so Josiah will be one of many and much harder for me to keep track of.

I actually like the idea of seeing a second generation come through Hidden Acres work force. Though we were tough and demanding on the first generation, these parents understand the process of growing up and allowing their children to spread their wings and to begin establishing their own pedigree. For many, this is there first real job.

Just so you know Josiah, I will be as tough on you as I was your dad; the only difference is that I am much older and slower and I don't hear much... good luck and I pray you grow in real knowledge and that you will develop new skills that will last a life time.