What an awesome trip! We had so much fun! I experienced things that I had never experienced before on a camping trip. A majority of our kids who attended the trip had NEVER been camping before! It was fun teaching and showing them how to do the little things around a campsite that need to be done. Things  like getting water, keeping ALL the food inside the van so the animals don’t eat it, and why it is important to take your shoes off BEFORE you enter your tent.

One of my highlights was sitting on a kayak on a wilderness lake approximately 50 yards from a moose!! It was standing in the water, drinking and eating along the tall grass in the water. I was able to share that moment with one of the boys on the trip and I know it is a experience we were able to both bond over. It has helped us grow in our relationship together because for guys, bonding typically comes while DOING something together (a shared experience).

We also had some other really exciting things going on at the wilderness lake. This particular lake was crawling (or swimming) with leaches!!!! They were just waiting for you to step into the water near the edge so they could grab on to you! One kid had (and I am not exaggerating this amount!) 15-20 leaches on his feet and lower legs from standing in the water for less than 2 minutes!!! I had to grab them with my finger nails and pull them off his feet!! That was pretty gross.

We spent a bunch of time swimming in Gooseberry Falls, jumping into Lake Superior, and hanging out at our campground playing games. (I will attach our schedule if anyone wants to check out in detail what we did during the week and what time we did it!) It only rained one afternoon while we were there but I was able to rig up a tarp over our table so we were still able to stay outside and play games in the rain.

Our evening talks went very well! The kids were able to connect very well with our topic and added a lot of good conversation during the group discussion times. They also LOVED the “Child of the King” bracelets I had made for them. On the final night I gave an invitation for any of the kids who had not become a Child of the King to take that free gift. From talking with the other staff afterwards I do not think any of the kids accepted Christ for the first time that night but I do know that a few of them were encouraged and challenged to pursue a deeper relationship with God. Many of them had never thought about all the blessings they inherit as a Child of the King. It is always rewarding to help open their eyes to something new about God and their position in Him.

I will find out if I am able to post some pictures from our trip because I want to show you more about our trip. I am soooo thankful for all of you who sent summer scholarship money in because we only had ONE kid on the trip who was able to pay for the whole trip cost. One kid was not even able to pay the minimum $20 deposit. We were able to take these kids because of your generous giving. It is an experience they will never forget! Thank you so much. I am also in the process of making a short DVD of the trip so if anyone has video editing skills down so well they could do it in their sleep and wants to help me out with our DVD let me know!

Have a great week and I will update you all again soon! Obviously Maggie did not have the baby yet so we are still waiting for that to come. I’ll let you know, don’t worry!

Dan

Detailed Schedule of Lewis and Clark Camping Trip with TH

Tomorrow morning we leave for our camping trip!!! I have been running around like crazy today trying to get every last detail finished and yet I still have that feeling I am forgetting something. Oh well, I’ll tell you what I forgot when I get back (that’s just the way it goes. You don’t know what you forgot until you need it!).

We have 6 kids coming and 3 staff so it should be a great opportunity to spend time with kids in a smaller group. Please pray for me, Marie, and Marcus as we talk to the kids each evening, pray with them, try to dig deeper into their lives, and ultimately give them an opportunity to know Christ as their Savior on our trip. I am doing the “salvation message/talk” on Thursday night so pray that I am able to communicate it in a way that reaches them where they are. Thanks!!!

Also pray for Maggie, the new baby, and Ruby as they spend the week together back at home. It’s hard to leave when Maggie could have the baby any day! I am driving my own car up there in case I get “the call” so as long as Maggie can keep the baby in for 3 and a half hours I should make it back before all the excitement begins!

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, and support! I rely on you all greatly and your prayers are not in vain!! Thanks!

Dan

Last night I talked with the kids here about not giving up when things get tough in life. I also talked about how we often make decisions that lead us away from a place of God’s presence in our lives. It went very well and kids responded well to the challenge I gave them at the end. I am going to post the lesson/talk here so you can check it out if you want.

Please pray for our trip next week. Things are coming together very well. I have been getting all the necessary supplies and camping stuff we need. Because of your generous scholarship support I am able to have several kids come that were not able to afford the full price. THANKS!!!! It is truly a blessing to have you all behind me.

Also, pray for Maggie and the new baby. Pray that the baby will not come until AFTER I get back from the trip. I will be in sub-par cell phone service areas while camping so if things happen to progress quickly I may not be able to answer my phone right away and find out what’s going on. I am planning on driving my own car up there so I can have the flexibility to leave right away if I get “the call”.

Thanks again for all your prayers, scholarships, and support. I would not be here without you all. “Fight the fight. Keep the faith. Finish the race.”

Dan

Word Doc. for Don’t Give Up!!!

Everything is shaping up GREAT for the middle school camping trip!!! I was able to spend a lot of time in April and May planning, calling, and preparing for the trip. That prep is coming in handy now because it allows me to still spend a lot of time pursuing kids for one on one’s and even going after kids I want to come on the trip. So far we have 6 kids that want to go and are planning on attending. That is awesome because most kids have a hard time committing to anything 2 weeks in advance.

Our teaching topic for the trip is “Child of the King”. We are going to talk about how how people view us, how we view ourselves, who people think we are, and what a child of God looks like. On the last night I am going to give a short salvation message and give the kids an opportunity to become an Child of the King or to recommit their lives to Him.

Part of that evening involves giving them something they can tangibly take home with them. I have ordered 21 rubber bracelets with “Child of the King” printed on the outside to help them remember who they TRULY are in Christ. The cost for the bracelets is $51.45. I am putting this here because I want to give you an opportunity to step alongside these kids and give them this gift by paying for the bracelets. I don’t want it to sound like I am always asking for money from you all because I am SOOOO thankful for all you have done to support me, TreeHouse, and sponsor kids this summer. Chaska TreeHouse has had more scholarship money come in this summer than in any past summer!! Thank you SOOO much for that blessing.

Having said that, I know there is someone who has a heart for kids who is willing to step forward and donate these bracelets to the 12-15 of us going on the trip. I could use the money from my scholarship fund to pay for them but I want to be able to use that money to scholarship as many kids as possible. If this is something you are interested in doing just let me by posting a comment to this update. I’ll be in contact with you via email after that to work it all out.

On another note, please pray for Maggie and the new baby. We are getting closer to the due date (Aug. 13th) and it’s getting more uncomfortable. To make things even more fun our central air conditioning has  broken! Last weekend it hit 98 degrees here which is pretty hot for Minnesota. The forecast for next week is upper 80′s and a couple days in the 90′s again. We do not have the money to fix the central air now so we bought a window unit to help take the edge off when it gets really hot. Pray that Maggie stays cool over the next few weeks as we get closer and it gets hotter! Thanks! We love our house and having a pool this summer has been a lifesaver.

Have a great weekend and I’ll update you again with specific prayer requests as we get closer to the trip. Just leave a comment here if you are willing to give the bracelets to the kids on our trip (and yes, you will get a bracelet too). Thanks!!!