On a Wheel and a Prayer

Nanoose Bay Camp is located on a peaceful bay on the Inside Passage of Vancouver Island.

We picked up Tony and Amy (our good friends from Minneapolis about to experience their very FIRST SOWER’s Project) at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport late on Thursday night and drove to Port Angeles, WA.  We boarded the early AM ferry and headed to Victoria, BC. We had a trip that was unforgettable.  It was said to be one of the roughest trips EVER in the history of the passage.  We were very thankful to be on land.

After a lengthy process with Canadian Customs, (about and hour and a half, their concern was that we might be taking jobs away from Canadians with our volunteer work) we were on our way to Nanoose Bay, BC.  

There was a great deal of work to do as the result of the major storm.

Tony and Don removed two(2) large widows from an internal wall of the tabernacle and rebuilt/filled-in the space.

Amy and Jenny did a lot of painting and cleaning. Here they are painting a wall in the lodge kitchen.

Tony mowing the large athletic field.

Don had a chance to do some cabin furniture repair.

Painting the wall replaced in the tabernacle.

A lot of cabin cleaning was accomplished by Jenny and Amy.

Painting in one of the dorms.

Local rules dictate fires be hand-fed. Working at the task of burning some huge tree stumps and fallen branches. Warmest Don had been in months.

SOWERs living in Nanaimo, about 20 kilometers south of Nanoose Bay, invited us to join them for supper at their home one Sunday. A great time was had by all.

 Many other tasks where completed by the SOWERs team of Amy, Tony, Jenny and Don as the month unfolded. 

We are so blessed at each site we visit.  Nanoose Bay Camp was a delight and they were so very appreciative of our help.  This project was a special privilege in that we had a chance to serve along side our friends Tony and Amy.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Don and Jenny

Prescott Pines Camp www.prescottpines.org   What a privilege to serve at this place.  We could see and feel the Holy Spirit’s presence throughout our month at the camp. 

The camp, like most places where we volunteer, is in need of help.  Here the need was probably more than some of the other places because of winter storm damage sustained. 

Another wonderful group of people to serve with again this month: from the left, Bob and Mary Lou-Washington, Elaine and Vance- Oregon, Jack and Peggy–Idaho , Jake and Marlene-Full timers from Michigan, Dorothy and Fred-Minnesota and Jenny and Don-Full timers from South Dakota/(MN).

We have been in Arizona from November through March and have been in some “cool” places. Prescott Pines Camp sits at 6200+ feet. The nights were cold and it snowed every night for the first week. We stayed comfortable but the furnace ran a lot.

Fred, Jake and Don laid ceramic tile in the snack kitchen and “Goodies” store.

Marlene, Elaine, Peggy, Marylou, Dorothy and Jenny took on a staff house and the task of deep cleaning and then painting the complete dwelling. They did an awesome job.

Vance, Jake and Jack worked on taking down a cabin that was destroyed by fire in December. They reclaimed all that was salvageable and cleaned up the remaining, saving the foundation for a future build.

A winter storm had seriously damaged the camp’s sewage treatment/sanitation system (actually floated the huge tank out of the ground). While the tank was out of the ground, some major repairs were made by welding some new steel plate sides to several of the tank’s six different compartments. Fred and Don had the opportunity to paint (with 2-.part epoxy) two of the compartments that are 10’ deep.

Fred, Vance and Don laid out and built a deck that will be the flooring for a new room attached to the “Frontier Village” kitchen. Currently, the camp staff must transport the food supplies from the main kitchen to the Village kitchen each day. The new room will house a walk-in freezer and storage for the kitchen.

Jenny , taking time for a photo op, while painting a staff house. The staff house looked just great when the ladies were finished with the job.

Thank you all for your love, your support and your interest.  Please feel free to leave a comment so we know you are out there.  Your interest and comments provide encouragement for us.  It helps us to stay connected with our friends and family and gives us a sense of belonging.