Christ's abundant provision
In the summer of 1998 I was a CPA auditing Tri-County Addictions, the non-profit that administers state and federal alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs for Polk, Highlands and Hardee Counties. A transaction right at their year-end caught my attention. They had sold what they called the Trout Lake property.
I looked at the map and the pictures. I looked at the names of the three men who were buying it. It hit me like a thunderbolt: “They’re going to restart the camp!” (Camp Wingmann.) The three men were John White, Davis Yates and Bill Yates. Bill and his wife Joanie had been my youth group leaders over 20 years earlier in the 1970’s.
Bill, Davis and John had personally signed a mortgage of over $500,000 with the hope that the diocese would support their dream. Bill gave up his job as Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Florida and Joanie left her job as a teacher to rebuild the camp. They gave up everything. They had no guarantee that people would support their efforts, but God’s call was very clear to them and so they went to work.
When they arrived at the camp it was completely dilapidated and uninhabitable. They had to live in their camper for several months while they rehabilitated a retreat house. Then they rehabilitated the director’s house. It took two years to host the first camp in 2000, using the Louttit lodge to house the campers and staff. It took 20 years to refresh and restore all six cabins.
The camp has overcome hurricanes, recessions and all manner of challenges since 1998. Fr. Bill told me, “We never had a lot but we always had just enough. Just enough.”
And what has come of it? Each summer the camp hosts 300-400 campers. They get all the fun and games of a rustic – but air conditioned – camp on a spring-fed lake. They get to swim, kayak, sail, have relays and ropes courses. They get an hour and a half of Christian education each day. They pray Morning Prayer each morning and Compline each night with great music. They do devotions in the cabins at night and learn to ask questions and share their faith with their peers.
The counselors, most of whom are former campers, learn leadership and responsibility while exercising a tremendous ministry.
This is a contemporary example of what Jesus did in this feeding of the multitudes. Think of Bill and Joanie as a fish and a loaf. They gave themselves over entirely to this mission. They allowed themselves to be broken, to give of themselves, again and again. And what do we see come out of that? An abundance of young people who have come to know Jesus, who have developed a sure foundation for becoming reliable employees and to build good families of their own. Some have gone into ordained ministry. Many have gone into some form of ministry be it youth or music. The current director and his staff are all former campers and counselors. One of them has a master’s degree in public health and left her job with Johns Hopkins to come back and work for the camp she loves. Our own Meredith McKenna worked there the last year for the same reason.
The five loaves and the two fishes are vital to understanding who Jesus is, what he has done for us and what he expects from us. We cannot overstate the importance of this miracle.
1. It is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels.
2. The original symbol of Christians was the loaves and fishes, as illustrated in the oldest friezes and icons we have from the ancient church. (The cross came into common use centuries later.)
3. This isn’t new – The abundance Jesus displays is like of God giving manna, water and quail to the Israelites in the wilderness during the Exodus.
4. We should note that Jesus does this immediately after learning of his cousin John the Baptist’s execution. The handoff from the old testament to the new is complete. Jesus himself will be broken, and what abundance will rise from that!
I hate what this virus is doing to families and communities across this country and around the world. I hate that parents and school officials are in this awful position of having to weigh different costs and benefits to opening school. I hate the furloughed and lost jobs, the stresses on individuals and families, and the cascading problems that brings on every level.
This summer, like the summer of 1999, there was no camp, no in-person camp. We add it to the long and frustrating list of cancellations and costs from this COVID-19 pandemic. I hate that our kids couldn’t go to camp.
But we can look back and see what Fr. Bill and Joanie did. They didn’t look around and say, “We’ve got nothing but a bunch of broken down buildings.” They answered God’s call. They began with nothing but a vision (well, a vision and a large debt.) Out of that, thousands of campers had life-giving and life-changing experiences. Dozens of staff had life-shaping experiences.
And when we get past this pandemic, the camp will re-start with six nice air conditioned cabins, a beautiful spring-fed lake, a dedicated staff and the very same vision.
We all, all of us, the entire world, have a number of challenges and a lot of uncertainty facing us right now. As time went on, I expected things to grow more clear with this COVID mess. Instead, many things have gotten less clear. I expect that is true for many of us, especially parents and educators trying to balance the risks, costs and benefits of in-person school vs. virtual school vs. some hybrid solution.
But I’ve got good news for you. If you will give yourself over to God’s grace, allow yourself to be broken for His sake, then you will see his abundance pour out through and around you in ways you cannot imagine.
Be faithful and confident. As we are faithful, God provides.
AMEN!