Dear Faithful Supporters,
“Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” Psalm 106:1.
I am thrilled to report God’s continued blessings at Wildwood! It has been a summer marked by God’s power, and we are so thankful for those who have partnered with us in prayer and support. Lest you think the sun is always shining and it never rains here, my father truly said “Camp is like a microcosm of life. Life is full of challenges.” There were upended plans, sicknesses, injury, breakdowns, disappointments, and times of doubt and fear...but God!
Evangelist Joe Mueller did a wonderful job preaching to our junior campers this year and we appreciated him and his family very much. I sensed the campers connecting well to his preaching from the Word of God as he used them for illustrations and examples during the sermons. While juniors don’t verbalize outwardly as much as teens do, we still had several express their decisions that will count for time and eternity.
Pastor Billy Ingram preached with fervor during teen camp, and God began a great work starting in the opening service. Teenagers responded to the invitation and began calling home Monday night, making very difficult things right with their parents and pastors. This continued throughout the week and my wife’s phone was borrowed over and over as calls were being made. We had two that trusted Christ as their Savior, including a young man from our church, and many surrendered their lives to God. Please pray every one of these young people will continue forward in their relationship with God.
We are once again indebted to our volunteer staff members who give of themselves to invest in eternity. It takes quite a few folks to perform all the tasks necessary to run the weeks of camp and God blessed once again with a tremendous group! It was very good to hear their transparent testimonies during camp. Several of the young men stepped up and were a huge assistance to me in running the program.
The Men’s Retreat will be here very quickly, and I would encourage you to sign up or mail your registration forms in. Pastor Philip Bishop will be preaching again this year, and I know your men will be challenged and strengthened through the preaching of God’s Word. It’s only a month away!
We have many projects we are continuing to work on including the electric upgrade and fitting the boy’s cabins with electric and insulation. This will allow us to increase our capacity for the Winter Retreat and provide lighting during summer camp once it is complete.
I am also happy to report we are moving forward with the property purchase! The surveying of the 39 acres is complete, we received the appraisal during camp, and I met with a lawyer last week to draft the Deed of Trust. This will allow Wildwood to purchase this property over ten years interest free. The purchase agreement is $96,000, and we will have some legal fees associated with this. God’s timing and provision is miraculous! An individual handed me $5,000 at the beginning of teen week and following camp we received a check for $10,000 from someone else. Our church just voted to donate $5,000 this week, so we are already well on our way! As we were riding home from church this week my son commented “It is amazing the amount of money that flows through this place.” We all came to the conclusion it is absolutely miraculous.
We serve a miracle-working God and I am constantly in awe of what God is doing here. Changing the trajectory of people’s lives is a far greater miracle than just providing funds. May He receive all the glory!
For our Great Savior,
Joel Marshall
