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.

In Name Only

I did something last week that I had only done one other time in my lifetime; attended a Saturday night mass at a Catholic church in Northeast Iowa. I was on my yearly pilgrimage to the God’s country: turkey hunting, trout fishing, Mississippi River fishing, and mushroom hunting; it is a tradition that my family and I have enjoyed for over 20+ years. It is a trip that I can’t and won’t miss each spring.

This is a different year however; the first year that my dad won’t be making the trip to the cabin with us; he passed away last summer: we buried Dad just over the hill from the cabin in the Catholic cemetery at Wexford; one of the oldest Catholic churches in Iowa. The cemetery has grave stones that date back to the late 1800’s; with family names that I recognize from the community. I visited Dad’s grave for the first time on Saturday night; afterwards I walked to the beautiful old Catholic church and attended their 8 p.m. Saturday night service.

Many of the people who arrived a few minutes before 8 p.m. are my friends; I hunt on their land, and over the years we have grown to love them. I sat and cried as I listened to the “Hail Mary, full of Grace… “ repetition of the congregation. The people were very reverent as they entered the building, crossed themselves, dipped their fingers into Holy Water, then bowed before they sat down in the very uncomfortable pews; the kneeling bench was lowered and they bowed before the shrine of statues and prayed through their beads.

I had no idea what was going on throughout the service; the acoustics were poor, the Father was un-miked, and there was many rituals performed that I had no idea what or why of their actions. Good farm folk were very comfortable with the routine; I felt like a complete stranger who didn’t understand English. I felt very uneasy; but I stood when others stood, sat when they sat; most of the time I turned off my hearing aids, and bowed and prayed silently. But my heart ached as I prayed.

For over 150 years, this little stone church has been the meeting spot for countless families; it was where they were married, their children were baptized, where they participated in the sacraments, and where they were buried. For 150 years, people have attended a church and never understood the good news of salvation through faith alone. “For by grace are you saved, not of works, lest any man should boast.”

I spoke with one of the bachelor farmers on Monday and told him I enjoyed being in church with him on Saturday night. Johnny commented, “I can’t understand that priest. Couldn’t hear or understand a word.” I said, “Me too.” Nearly 80 years old, and not understand a word from the priest.

I attended New Albin Free Church on Sunday morning. There was no grand building to enter; because it was a temporary church, there was no sign out that indicated this was a church; the church was a bank meeting room; a lovely room with limestone walls, no ornaments on the walls, but only a piano, a portable lectern and a stack of hymnals. Coffee was on, cookies were out, and fellowship of believers was taking place. Prior to the service starting, family and friends milled about and visited with each other. There was life in the building.



4 hymns were sung: I knew everyone by heart; I didn’t need to open the hymnal. For the first time in months, I sang. “Tell me the old, old story; His Name is Wonderful, Grace greater that Our Sins, and Jesus, Name above all names” My heart was stirred from the words. The sermon was from the 1st three verses in Hebrews, of the 7 attributes of Jesus…. The one who provided purification from Sin. I understood this message. I understood each aspect of the service; I felt the Spirit of God working among His people as I sat in this room next to the bank on main street of New Albin.

What a difference: a beautiful church surrounded by a beautiful, old cemetery surrounded by beautiful timber and a nearby trout stream, and a main street bank building converted into a church for a short period. The 150+ year old Catholic church had no message, no spirit, no hand of the Lord. The bank building was blessed and anointed with proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One was a church in name only, the other, the Church that God intended.

Volunteers: What a Blessing!

Dennis and Pastor Mike from Charles City

I have just finished up a 2 week run of overseeing volunteers: what a blessing this has been for me! With the building of Schlichting Inn, we have put out the word to our churches that we are looking for help; and they have responded.

The Meriden Crew putting up siding

I am always amazed when a group of men will give up their Saturdays to come to camp and work hard and long. This winter we have had groups of men from Muscatine, Adel, Arthur, Oakdale, Meriden, Pella, Sheldon, Ankeny,Clear Lake and the Johnston area. Everyone of these group of men come with different skills and a variety of interests. During this one or two days of work, they accomplish more than our staff can do in a week. They are available to do work that is heavy and tiresome, freeing up our permanent staff to concentrate on some technical parts of the construction process (geothermal, heating, cooling, plumbing, wiring).


The Pella men sheetrocking the meeting room

In addition to these group of men who have given up their Saturdays, we have had 2 groups of young people here to work at the camp. One, a group from Dordt college in Sioux Center and the other, a high school group from the Pella Free Church who gave up their spring break days to come and help us in the Inn and around camp.

The Pella High School Group and Pastor Greg

I have to tell you, I have drug my feet when I get a request for a work project from high schoolers; it is usually the adults who want their kids to experience a service project of some kind; the students are usually not too hot about it. NOT SO WITH THESE TWO GROUPS! I have never seen such a faithful group of kids... and they gave up their week off of school to help me out!! That is a huge blessing to me.

The students cleaned out and re-mulched all of our flower beds, they hauled over 200 sheets of 12' x 4 1/2' 5/8 sheetrock up to the second story of the Inn, they put on siding, insulated, sheetrocked, cleaned, swept, and organized our tools and supplies in the Inn, made targets for 24 hours retreat, hauled picnic tables, hauled wood, picked up trash, pulled wire, mudded nail holes, set up archery range, and anything else I could think up! They worked their tails off.


Dordt College Students

I actually loved being around the kids; they always came and asked me, "What do you want me to do next?" I call that Iniative! Very few young people have that gift. It truely is a gift that will send these young people to the head of the line when they start looking for full time jobs. There is nothing that exhausts me more than having to track down workers to tell them their next assignement.

We see the same thing during the summer with our paid staff; there are those who want to work, and then there are those who just want paid. A big difference. It is the workers who we invite back the next year.

A free piece of advice to parents: Instill a strong work ethic in your kid early; don't allow them to make excuses, to be lazy, to be sloppy or slothful. It never hurt a child to push them a bit... or alot! Kids want to be challenged, they want to do something big, and they can't and won't do anything sitting in front of their video game machine. They should be taught life skills that will go with them into adulthood. A parent of the Pella students wrote me a note after her son returned home: "My son especially noted your willingness to teach him and work alongside him. He mentioned you were almost a grandpa figure for him!" Man... that blessed my heart! A grandpa figure!! and at 54 years old! (I felt like a 80 year old grandpa trying to keep up with these young, strong, able bodied young people. I was determined not to be outworked).

I always have many projects up my sleeve for the volunteer! I can use a bunch of good men, women and children to help me build and keep the camp looking good.

earldtaylor@yahoo.com

The New Look in Church: No Steeples or Stainglass

I was visiting with my mother-in-law the other night and asked about her church. She replied, "Our pastor is leaving. We can't seem to attract any young families. There are 3 or 4 couples and a handful of widow ladies, and one young family." We talked further and she said, "But our building is worth a million bucks." She went on to say the church building was right next to the new mall in West Des Moines and that the city would love to own this piece of property.

It was a no-brainer for me, "Sell the building, hire you a young pastor with a family, pay him a decent wage so he can work full time at the ministry and set up church in a store front or school," I told her. "We could never do that," she said with a shocked look on her face. I said, "Well, then figure on dieing a very slow death as a church!" But I understood her shock; here was a group of older folks who have attended this church all their lives, and had no idea of how to break out of their slow death march and create a new look, a new perspective of ministry, a model that could be attractive to young families. The rut they were in was nothing more than a grave with both ends opened up.

I visited the Onawa Free Church yesterday. Quite the opposite from my mother-in-law's scenario. This established church recently sold their old conventional church building in a hard to find residential area of Onawa. They sold the church building, bought a former car dealership building out on the highway, and are now busting at the seams. The men of the church have created a very lovely, usable space complete with sanctuary, offices, Sunday school rooms, kitchen and fellowship area. They have a huge parking lot complete with enough parking lot lights to light up every nook and cranny of the site. And to top it all off, before the ink was dry on the purchase of the car dealership, another company came along and offered to buy the service building across the street from them; they were able to get into their new building for next to nothing.

I liked their approach; it was not normal or conventional, but the leadership of the church understood they need more space, more visibility, and a facility on ground floor. As a result, the Lord has blessed them abundantly. They just purchased an adjacent building to the church to create a youth center; all for penny's on the dollar for new construction. We pray for Pastor Tim and the congregation that they will be salt and light to those who drive down main street Onawa. Great move!

Don't get me wrong: I love my mother-in-law, and I pray the best for this little Baptist church next to the mall. I am not asking them to throw out their piano and organ; I am not asking them to preach a lighter gospel; I am not asking them to stop meeting the needs of the seniors. I just wanted the church to look beyond their personal interests and needs and to see the fields white unto harvest; To place their church right in the middle of where people are living.

That is our prayer at the camp; to always look for more ways to preach the gospel. To be attractive enough to the unbeliever that he or she will give us a chance to share with them. And to be available when opportunities come our way to respond quickly and with the purpose of presenting the gospel message to those in need and for those looking for answers. I see the crumbling economy as a wonderful opener to share what God's Word says.