Welcome to the Staff

It has been three months since I came on staff with Miracle Mountain Ranch and so much has happened! French Camp Academy is beginning to feel more and more like home as I get to know the staff and the students, as well as the ins and outs of my jobs here! Coming on staff has brought its own set of challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities.

Hello Graphics!

It only took me a week or two to realize that I was in over my head when it came to the overload of information that I would have to study in order to even remotely fulfill my role as the Ranch’s MS graphic designer. I had never realized there was so much to learn! One day in my frustration I told my roommate that I wasn’t just facing a huge learning curve, but a learning vertical! On top of that, further complications arose as wall after wall was hit while trying to obtain a work computer and design software, both of which are crucial to my job. Praise God, Who knows my needs well in advance and provided a personal laptop that doubled as a work computer until the other computer could be purchased.

I now have my work computer as well as my software and have undertaken the task of learning how to use it. My current project is to design the 2010 summer camp brochure for Camp of the Rising Son, a ministry of French Camp Academy.  So far it is coming along great, and should be done in plenty of time for my print deadline

My future jobs look as though they will be many and diverse. My goal is to learn more about the web end of graphics so I will be able to help out with some of the websites that are under the our jurisdiction as well.

An Unexpected Change

God must love baseball. I figure that because He loves to throw so many curve balls! After being on staff for about a month and a half I was given the opportunity to travel with Lew Sterrett and the SOTM crew back to Big Sandy, Texas and the International ALERT Academy, where I spent the eight months of my second year prior to coming to French Camp. While there God reminded me of the great fulfillment that I had felt while serving as their Volunteer Coordinator. I loved having a job that allowed me to spend time connecting with people, finding ways to encourage them, and making them feel welcome. I realized that in the graphics field I don’t get that.

When I returned to French Camp the Volunteer Coordinating was still on my mind. At that time one of the other staff members, Daniel Sterrett, was juggling multiple job titles and many different responsibilities. One of those jobs was conference coordinating. A whirlwind of events and the hand of God led to me ask Daniel about the possibility of taking over the Conference Coordinator position. At that same time it “just happened” that he was looking for someone to fill that very job. He spoke to his authorities and in a very short matter of time my job title gained the addition of Conference Coordinator.

opportunity to get to know them better.

The Apprentices

We currently have six second year apprentices working down here in various positions. There are three guys: Josh, Luke, and James, and three girls: Abbi, Katie, and Rachael.  Katie is in the advisor group that I help out with.

The apprentices will be down here for a complete year, including summer camp. Each of them does a different job ranging from housekeeping to working for SOTM. They are a great group and it is encouraging to watch them grow and change in even just the few months that they have been here.

Sunday School

One of my greater challenges has been the Sunday School class that I share with a FCA staff lady. We have a class of around 13 ninth-grade girls who all live on campus in the dorms. It is a constant adventure to keep their attention and to get them passionate about the things of God. However, it is exciting to see even small signs of growth in them. One Sunday in particular, God’s hand was on the class and the girls began asking me all kinds of questions. We discussed why God doesn’t talk to us like He did the people in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit and His role, the importance of prayer, how to know you are saved, and many other things. One girl asked me what salvation really meant and opened the door for me to give the whole salvation message from start to finish! Other girls opened up and admitted they weren’t sure if they were saved or that sometimes they have a hard time believing that God is real. It was a powerful class and I was blessed that God was able to use me in it.

Work Crew                      

Work Crew is one of greatest opportunities here. Every week day the 160-something dorm students spend an hour and a half doing a variety of different work projects. Our staff is responsible for the horse barn and the conference center work areas with the help of the 25 FCA students. I work alongside another staff member on one of the barn work crews. Depending on the week we will have somewhere between one to five students on our crew.  Every two weeks they will rotate to another chore area and we will get another group of students. This way we will are able to get to know more than just a couple of students, as well as giving them an opportunity to participate in different work areas.

During each work crew rotation, we focus on a certain character or quality that we talk to the students about. That opens up some opportunities for good discussions, but just the fact that we are working alongside them day after day causes them open up and share. I have had some of the best conversations with students while standing beside them in a stall grooming a horse or wandering around the pasture to round up the herd for feeding time. The stories that they tell about their families and backgrounds are heartbreaking. Many of them sound like something you would read in a book, but to these students they are very real. They have been hurt and wronged and so many of them don’t know what to do with that pain and desire for love. It is such a blessing to be able to have an impact on their lives.

Prayer Requests

• My Sunday School class - that they will have a hunger to know God
• My work crew – that God will teach me to be a better leader and give me the strength to say what He wants me to instead of trying to simply be popular
• The brochure – that everything will come together and be on time for the deadline
• Kimery – a girl in my Sunday school class that was recently saved and has asked me to mentor her. Pray that she will keep pursuing God and that God will give me wisdom about how to mentor her.
• That I will lay aside every weight and distraction in order to seek God with all my heart