We really do work too!

Some of the projects (and fun) at Camp Barnabas.........(Purdy, MO 8/23/14)

Repairing signs on campus

When you have a boat load of rice krispie

treats to make you need a paddle not a spoon!

Jim & Wayne degutting the BDL House

Curtains made for the 

parent/sibling suites

Canning peaches

Organizing the skit room

Installation of watering station

Hats have to be organized too!

Ladies outing on Roger & Kay's houseboat - 

Somebody's gotta do it!

Shop work - preparation of curtain installation

Campsite for Sower rigs

L to R

Wayne & Gail Fieler

Feryl & Jim Laney

On the road again……Aug. 23, 2014

Finished at Camp Barnabas on Thursday, it is now Saturday and here we are resting (really) at a small campground 2 hrs. from Oklahoma City.  We left Purdy, MO yesterday morning in route to Springfield to have our RV power system checked out and then we were westward bound by Noon.  With Sandia Park, NM in our GPS we only made it to Checotah, OK.  We will be spending 3 nights here just to recoup and meditate primarily because God has said so!  Our car needs a new catalytic converter (not a Cadillac conversion) and it has Gail leery of sightseeing via car.  We couldn’t figure out why she kept having blowouts on her bicycle until ~ DING DING DING ~ too much hot air (exhaust) coming from the car whenever we transported it for a trail ride!  Ok, so it is Saturday, no muffler shops open – we are forced to relax, inside as it is a mere 100 degrees outside.  Guess it probably would have been too hot for a ride anyway!  Monday morning we will set sail for Oklahoma City to have the Cadillac conversion and then be westward bound again hopefully by noon (they promise, one hour out repairs – yeah, right) – what is it about noon?  Maybe the Lord is saying, don’t wake up till 11:00 am and get on the road by Noon!  Who knows!

Here’s the last picture we had taken of us at Camp Barnabas – when the weather is high 90s – you just have to make the best of it!

Cooling off.......Gail won!

We already miss our friends Jim and Feryl…………they taught us so many things we will need to know about Western Sowing!  I think we will have to buy boots and a cowboy hat and just sit on the porch and watch roadrunners on our 3-day weekends!  Albuquerque and Dude Ranch here we come.  That should take us through Christmas and a new grand baby.........

Think I'll take a swim and get the pork loin on the grill...........ho hum........

Camp Barnabas, Aug. 12^th

Half way! Time is going way too fast.  We have enjoyed our new friends that we are serving with here at Camp Barnabas - Jim and Feryl Laney.  They have given us information that we will need when we drive westward week after next since they are from Oregon they are very familiar with that part of the country and all the projects on that side of the U.S.  Jim is a retired Marine and his dear wife, Feryl, is a retired housewife!  She has taught me many new cooking tips (with Western flair) and is currently teaching me to card stitch.  Not sure my eyes will be able to do this for many more years but it is a beautiful way to personalize a card or letter to send to someone. As much time as it takes to make one I will pick and choose my recipients carefully and no one best throw it in the garbage for at least one year! Wayne has acquired another jig saw puzzle so needless to say he is spending all his spare time putting it together.  This project was the recipient of an “Extreme Makeover” on its director’s house in 2006 and since they have moved on to another camp this building is used for the camp for offices, meetings and special events.  Camp was officially over for the summer last Friday so we have been able to use the building for our own projects (sewing curtains) and for game nights as well as laundry facilities.

We are eagerly awaiting the details of the next grand baby – sex will be revealed first week of September.  Boys, boys, boys!  But we would love another little girl just like the other two.  Someone has got to carry on that Carotenuto name.

Ok, so after 5 ½ months are we coping living with limited space in a 40 ft. motor home and on top of each other when we are together?  Yes, and yes.  Really we don’t spend much time in the RV.  We try to sight see on the weekends (3 days) and other times we are gaming with other SOWERs, catching up on paperwork and determining our next plan of action, i.e. where to sign up for the next project.  Planning 6 months in advance is not always easy but we can cancel at any time if need be and head in another direction if needed.

We were only able to watch this camp in action for one week of which Gail worked in the kitchen for about 2 hours per day then on to sewing privacy curtains for the bunks located downstairs in the dining facility.  These bunks house relatives that come along with the campers and are available if their child should need them during the week.  Sometimes it is just too far for the parent to go home and come back to pick them up at the end of the week so they stay.  These types of camps (for disabled children) are few and far between so they are from all over the U.S. and in some instances they come from out of the U.S.  The children have such a great time that it is hard to conceive what it must be like when they go home – one of the staff members here slept for 4 days just to get revived!  Archery and riflery, canoeing (elevators for wheelchairs that deliver them to the platform to get in the canoe), ropes courses, pool with slides (zero entry for wheelchairs) and with all types of water fun, every night is a different themed party, pottery, zipline (yes, even for the most disabled), gardening, putt putt course, and a few animals.  There are numerous doctors and nurses located in their own “Well House” and each camper dictates that 2-3 volunteers be available for their needs.  It is an incredible run organization which is rapidly gaining popularity.  At the end of each week they allow the campers to pre-enroll for next year and already there are weeks at full capacity.  They have acquired another camp on Table Rock Lake about 1 hr. away that is quickly filling up as well and they run another camp for  disabled adults to teach them to live on their own someday.

More than anything I am amazed and encouraged by the young adult volunteer staff here that works tirelessly with joy written all over their faces every minute of every day.  They often do not sleep a night through for turning children over every 2 hrs or cleaning them from head to toe in the middle of the night as one may have had an “accident”.  The hills alone that they are seen pushing wheelchairs up are grueling but never once have I heard one complaint.  Sometimes they are writing parents details of their child’s day, sometimes they are sitting with them while they are being tube fed at the “Well House”, and sometimes they are just dancing with them at a party.

Appreciation Brunch for Volunteers/Staff

Teas House (Extreme Makeover 2006)

Dining Hall

2 of 9 boys bunk houses

Add caption

Pool

Pool

Well House

3 of 9 girl bunk houses

Baby goat

Entrance

Entrance Gate

The Silver Lining - Extreme Makeover 2006

Barnabunk - Extreme Makeover 2006

The Fish House

We are so thankful that God brought us here to Camp Barnabas.  God is working here and we love watching Him do it.

Harvest Time Bible Camp – July 2014

Harvest Time looking toward lake

Whew!  9 weeks and we have survived!  It has been hard work mixed with connections with family and friends for 9 weeks.  Many completed projects and new additions to our resume’s – reupholstering of 2 golf carts, complete control of the dining hall during absence of Mz. Donna, reroofing 2 “A” frame cabins, and rebuilding pump for well house.  The best part is that thus far there have been 99 children who have accepted the Lord as Savior.

It was hard to say goodbye with 2 more weeks of camp to go through but this has allowed us to work a project in Purdy MO (Camp Barnabas) – a camp for disabled children. 

While at HT our granddaughter, Lily, was able to spend 3 weekends with us all of which I think we were blessed just by watching her enthusiasm on the “farm” as much as her parents were blessed with some “alone” time!  Lily loved those hourly visits to the pigs, chickens, horses and just riding around in the Toro with her Grandpa!  Skinny dipping in her small outside wading pool was grand and water activities at our house were so much fun for a 19 month old (grand parents too!)

Left to right:  Noah, Lily & Naomi

When your “check engine” light comes on in the motor home, it can be slightly unnerving to say the least.  This happened when we were about half way to our project in Missouri. After computer diagnosis we were set up for repairs in Springfield at a Cummins service center.  Only a loose wire from a sensor and a cracked exhaust manifold to the tune of $1,700.  At least we were able to still continue driving although going up some of those huge hills in Missouri proved to be laborious for our rig.  Loose wire fixed, manifold to be fixed next week after parts arrive – praying that the repair goes easy and without incident.  BUT thank you Lord it happened where it did to get this rig worthy of the long haul to New Mexico next month – it’s all in His perfect timing.

Let us throw in a short advertisement for the production of "JONAH" at Branson, MO.  It is a must see especially for those who are intrigued by drama sets and "how did they do that" concepts!  The message was superb and right on target.  We were able to spend 2 days in Branson with our good friends from Charlotte, John & Myra.

It’s amazing how every task in service for the Lord is meant to train you for the next one in line.  Gail has been working in the kitchen for the past 3 months – each camp increasing in camper volumes, 75 then 140 – now that we have arrived in Missouri where she will have one more week serving in a kitchen that cooks for approximately 400-500 twice for each meal.  OK Lord, that will be my max!  Kind of like “don’t pray for patience”!  Gail is eager to see just how this is going to happen………stay tuned – are we crazy or what?  Wayne will be working on installing a water station near the ropes course for the campers to fill their water bottles without having to go back to their cabins.  Then he and Jim (other SOWER) will be going about 50 miles to Branson to work at a sister camp that needs hydraulics rebuilt on a back hoe.  Amazing that God thinks we are capable of these new endeavors – just be willing and available – He will provide knowledge and wisdom in His timing.  We’re counting on it!

OK, from Harvest Time (NC) to Camp Barnabas (MO).  How exciting – almost like living a mystery bus tour – are we crazy?! (harvesttimebiblecamp.org) (campbarnabas.org)