The Ohio Independent Baptist, August 1999

Keeping Up With Our Camps iew Ranch ,~41 TR319 11.ersburg OH 44654 3J0-6~4 -511 FA 330-674-4606 E n,a,l svranch@valkyne net 1nctecn n1nct\ -ni ne n1ark.s the thin1cth .1nn1, crs.lf ) of the n1in1stry at ..... k~, 1c,, R.1n'-·h For the p,1st lht rty year. . si..~, 1c,, R.1n ' h h.1s rc.h.:hcd ',1111pcrs ,v1th the h), c 1.) f Chr1~t .tnJ ·ht.1llcnl:!cd thcn1 to .. It, c f,Jr H1n1. To ' clcbr.itc th i: n1i lc ·tone, we gJthcrcd fonncr staff tnember and ... Tru.' tce: of the Ranch for a reunion ~ tcrnor1al DJ\ ,, eckcnd . taff men1ber • repre.·enting the ,' pan of the n1ini . try .1ncnded this fu n \\ cckend. It wa a great ble. sing to . hare , torte . renect on the ... fun , and rcmcrn bcr what the Lord did in the It vcs of staff a they served . We arc plann ing to in tall a three acre lake thi s year. The Board ofTrustec has been d i cus. ing thi , project for more than t, o decades. Now is the time to con1plete this vi ion a a n1emorial of th i pccial t1n1c in che history of the Ranch. We arc excited about thi projec t and our ability to improve and grow . We invite you to celebrate our Anniver- ary with u . If you would like more informati on on how you can be involved with the mini try, give to the lake project, or get in formati on on the growth and the future of the mini try , plea e contact the Ranch office at 330- 1 674-751 1. Camp Patmos: A New Arrangement A Communique' From The Council Of Twelve O ur OARBC churche enjoy a cordia l and productive relation hip wi th three Ohi o camp - Scioto Hill in the outh. Sk\ \ iev: Ranch in the center of the ~ ·tate. and Camp Palmo in the north. Onl) Camp Patmo ha been "offi c iall y o v. ned'' b 1 ou r A ociati on. yet we have enJoyed a \VOnderful partnership with all three. The Board of Trustee of the e camp · hare our doc trinal stance and as chur he we upport and pray for them. It ha become the deci ion of our Council of I I that we al o tu rn ownership of Camp Patmo over to it · Board of Trustee (a v.1th the other two camp ) for the mutual benefi t of the Camp and the A · oc1auon. For a number of year ~the Counc il of 12 has con idered the possibility of legal!) eparat1ng these two ministries. In 1 ear gone by. moti ons have been framed to make the legal eparation. The e v. ere delayed. due to cri e uch as the Regular Bapu t Fell ow ·hip insurance tailure and the Camp Patmo law u1t. The RBF fail ure put the Camp at risk and the Patmo law u1t put the OARBC at r1~k Legal "'eparation would avoid future \ULh r1 ~k A v.:ell. the Council fel t that the da 1 -to-day management and pol icy dec1~1on~ for the Camp should be in the hand of people v. ho would be in the bes t pc. 1uon to make those decisions-the Camp board. 6 In our meetj ng of Tuesday , April 27, 1999, the Counc il of 12 voted unani– mously to take the s tep of legal ·eparati on. As a part of this procedure, the Counci l voted to cover all the legal co ts of this transaction, so that the fi nanc ial burden would not be on the camp 's shoulders. Having attempted to tudy the ubject carefully from as many perspecti ves as possible, and weighing all con iderations, we came to the conclu– s ion that this was the best course of action. We want you to know that every one of the Council member i doing thi based upon their consc ientious convic– tion that this i best for both the OARBC and Camp Patmos. It is our desire to keep the relationship between Camp Patmos and the OARBC very c lose and cooperative. Thi deci ion will be brought before the messengers of th,e OARBC at the Annual Conference ~n October, and the ac tual transfer of ownership would take pl ace at that time. The Council of 12, our State Representative Dave Warren and some Patmo trustees have studied this matter thoroughly . We desire clear communicati on and in no way want this to become a divisive issue in our Fell ow– ship. We are simply making a decision we believe is bes t and trusting the Lord Scioto Hills 1009 Martin Rd. Wheelersburg, OH 45694-8462 740-778-3279 FAX 740-778-2170 E-mail grow@sciotohills .com W e were approached last year by a church in Cincinnati , Ohio, who wanted to place camper scholarships in their mi sion budget and felt Sc ioto Hills wa the camp to send thern to. Thi ~ year to date we have had 80 non– churched campers attend our program through scholarship . God cont inues to amaze u at how He is working in these li ve . These children are all very polite and courteous here at the camp and when they are introduced to Christ for the first time you can onl y imagine the j oy they experience. One child went home cryi ng and would not stop . The mother fin all y called the pa tor to come over and explain what was going on. A the pa tor explained to the mother what the gi rl had learned at camp she too accepted Christ and the tears became tears of j oy. To God be the glory for the near ninety decisions that have been made in the first half of this summer! We are tudyi ng the seven wonderful " I Am" tatements fo und in the gospel of John . As we introduce children to the person and dei ty of Jesus Christ we see many doing exactly what Andrew did when he f irst recognized Christ as the Messiah– running to tell brothers, sisters, moms and dads. One young lady went home having decided to introduce everyone she knew to Christ and began a Bible study at her gymnastic class. She is currentl y providing each of them with devotional to help them in their own personal times of study. Another camper fe ll in love with the worship chorus one of our ministry assistants wrote u ing the verses containing the " I am" statements and i now Leaching it at the 4-H meet– ings. God continues to demonstrate the incredible and undeniable power of His Word. Plea e continue to pray for our staff during this next few weeks, that we would fini sh even better than the start, to God be the glory. to show thi s to be a posit ive step for all involved . As the Counc i I of I 2 , we welcome your question , res ponses and com– me nts. We des ire open and lovi ng communi cati on on thi s matter, so do not he itate to communicate, as we are attempting to do. If you have any questions , please contact Dr. Warren or Council Chainnan Ken Spink.