In Dear friends,
When people ask me how many campers we had at Ferncliff this year I reply with a breathless, “More than Enough”. Our staff cared for over 1600 youth and kids! The same words could be echoed in a response to someone asking about our guest groups, nature preschool or outreach programs, as all areas continued to grow. It has been a year of abundance.
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That abundance, while overwhelmingly positive, also includes an abundance of wear and tear. After David, our director of twenty years, retired a couple of years ago it seems like many of the major appliances missed him as they decided this year to join him in retirement. 😉 This job stays interesting. There is always plenty to do.
Somedays, when I’ve had “More than Enough” of managing the daily tasks that come my way, and I find myself losing energy, focus or motivation, I like to take a jog around camp. I jog past the dining hall. I look across the lake and I see small children, our nature preschoolers, playing in the shadow of Ramsey Chapel. I jog past the Eco Center with its large solar panels and I pass through the farm and garden and shout “Hello” to the animals. I run by the Disaster Center buzzing with activity as volunteers create gift of the heart kits for those in need.
As I jog back towards the office, already feeling my spirits lifted, I wander up to the Mosley Tabernacle where we have our evening worship services in the summer. I can imagine all the campers standing there, side by side, singing camp worship songs and laughing. I head down the hill to the office rejuvenated; recommitted to the mission of this place, refocused on doing whatever it will take to make a difference for each guest and each camper that comes here.
Today I am thinking about one particular camper, Cody Andrews from Homer, Louisiana. Cody spent seven summers at Ferncliff and was well-loved for his upbeat attitude and good sense of humor. This summer we received a letter from Cody. It was great to hear from him. He was writing from marine corps basic training. This is what Cody wrote:
“Hey y’all! Thank you so much for writing to me. It literally made my day. One thing that really has helped me get through the first few weeks is the memory of Ferncliff moments. Honestly, though, I don’t believe I was ever able to express to y’all how much Ferncliff has affected my life so far. The 7 years that I went positively affected my mental state and spiritual life more than anything else ever could.”
We are proud of Cody and his service. We are glad that Cody had such a positive experience at Ferncliff. And we have reason to believe that his experience is not an isolated one. Last summer Ferncliff participated in a study by the American Camping Association looking at the long-term effects of faith-based camping. The results indicated that “camp is a setting in which the participants surveyed were able to connect more with their spiritual selves and develop their faith in God more than any other setting.” Camp works! Ferncliff made a difference for Cody and continues to for so many more.
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When I think of the phrase, “More than Enough” the biblical story from Matthew of the feeding of the 5,000 comes to mind. The people were following Jesus and were hungry and all the disciples could scrape together to feed them were five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took the bread and fish, gave thanks and told the disciples to give them to the people. Somehow there was more than enough and there were actually leftovers. What a story of abundance!
Perhaps it was a miracle. Perhaps the loaves and fish were magically multiplied by the power of God. Or perhaps — there was always more than enough. And as the people saw others offering the fish and bread that they had — they too shared their food. And by all those people offering what they had, there was more than enough for everyone. A miracle still.
Since 1937 God has provided more than enough to sustain Ferncliff as a ministry. As 2018 comes to a close, I invite you to consider a year-end gift to Ferncliff. As a non-profit, we depend on gifts to fund our mission. By providing a gift to Ferncliff you are caring for creation, assisting with disaster response and supporting faith development all at the same time.
With your help Ferncliff can keep going and keep growing. Please know that whatever you can share, it will be more than enough.
Appreciatively,
Joel Cory Gill
Click Here to Make a Year End Gift To Support Ferncliff
