On behalf of the Board and our staff, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to you, your family and church family, for your investment in “our” camp. Truly, this is a partnership work and we praise God for each of you who share your financial gifts and prayers with us. It is our prayer and desire that you encounter the Incarnate Savior in a special and profound way during this Christmas season.
As we celebrate Emanuel, “God With Us”, we are reminded of Jesus’ prayer and desire for his disciples – his friends – as He prepared to give us His greatest gift, his very life:
Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)
Yes, to be with Jesus and to behold His glory! Who of us does not long for this? That same night, Jesus taught us about the way of glory:
By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:8)
God has chosen His church, bearing fruit in His name, to be the manifestation of His glory to the nations and the generations. This is amazing to me, that He would take this risk! And it is really His fruit, mindful that He is the vine and we are the branches.
Years later, one of his fruit bearers, the apostle Paul, wrote to his friends in Phillipi. He had a ministry need, but he did not want this need to distract his hearers from their primary objective: to bear much fruit to the glory of Jesus. But Paul, anticipating the glory for our Lord and the joy that His church would experience, wrote to them this way:
Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. (Phil. 4:17)
Like Jesus, Paul was zealous for the glory of God in His church, and he knew it would come through sacrificial living, yielding to the Holy Spirit, and generosity. We pray this would be our -- and your – focus as we look to the Light of the World.
Yes, like Paul, we face a need. Our ministry relies upon the faithful gifts of God’s people and His churches. Winter giving has always been vital to help us faithfully pay our bills during a time when there are no camping revenues. We would be most appreciative of your gifts and prayer support. We have enclosed a response envelope for you.
But more importantly, we truly do desire that fruit that abounds to your account, whatever that may mean for you in this life and the next. Because that fruit is the testimony of the goodness and grace of God which proclaims the gospel as effectively as the angels proclaimed “Glory to God in the highest” on the Holy Night of His birth. As we all yield ourselves to that grace, and give our lives for the joy of His glory, this ministry, and yours, will continue to be a light that shines in the darkness.
Thank you again for your partnership and your faithfulness. We do praise God for the fruit that He is bearing in each of you.
In days to come, Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit. (Isaiah 27:6)
Yours for His glory,
Paul Coldagelli
Board Member