There are few experiences in life about which we are more passionate than family camp, and we consider it a great honor to be invited to speak for Forest Home’s family camp for the 8th year. Forest Home was on the cutting edge of developing family camps back in the 60’s. While attending a junior high snow camp at Forest Home when I was a 7th grader, an announcement was made inviting us to come back during the summer with our families for “family camp”—and to be honest, it sounded like a strange idea to me then. There were junior high camps, high school camps, and even college camps, but family camp? Little did I know then that 40 years of my adult life would be dedicated to that ministry!

Forest Home has led the way in being committed to building in to families through family camps for over six decades now, and we love that it’s become part of our tradition.

The theme of “All That Glitters . . .”, supported by the memory verse of “I am the way, the truth, and the life . . .” (John 14:6) was carried out through family devotions and peer group teaching times. As the marriage and family speakers during the morning session, we contrasted the world’s "glitter” as it influences family with the “gold” of Biblical wisdom. Three days we spoke on marriage and the fourth on parenting. Our daughter Lisa made a “cameo” appearance at the end of the parenting session and the campers loved her wisdom and insights. On the fifth day, we were on a panel addressing questions raised by the campers. We felt very met by God during each of the sessions and had many, many great follow-up interactions.

We love eating with a different family at each meal and being available to hang out with the campers throughout the day. We met so many wonderful humans again this summer in addition to meeting up with a number of longtime friends. Family camp is such a natural context for community and fellowship. So much richness!

*Lisa “knocked it out of the park” as she added her wisdom to our talk on parenting.*

*She stayed through the adult dinner and Paul Twiss’s talk that night. We loved having her up for the day!*

The program team we got to be a part of: Alika and Samantha Polanco (host), Paul and Laura Twiss (Bible teacher) and George and Ruby Louis (worship leader). We bonded quickly as a team and we were so blessed by each of them.

Forest Home’s family camps feature two teaching leaders: the morning is dedicated to family and marriage (and that was us) and the evening to Bible teaching. Paul Twiss, senior pastor of Bethany Bible Church in Thousand Oaks, CA, was our evening teacher and he “had” us after his first night of teaching. Trained in the discipline of expositional teaching, Paul taught from a different passage of Matthew each night and we feasted on his deep and practical messages each night. If you’re in the Thousand Oaks area, we’d strongly recommend checking out his church. And if you’re not in his area, consider checking out his church’s website where his sermons are available. We loved everything about Paul—from his British accent (he’s from the UK), to his lovely wife Laura (from Northern Ireland), to 4 of his 6 kids (the older two stayed home for summer jobs). All around delightful in every way, we hope our paths cross many times in the future.

We also really enjoyed getting to know Alika and Samantha Polanco. Alika did a great job hosting and emceeing the week and we had a small-world moment when he told us he had candidated for the senior pastor position at Kaimuki Christian Church on Oahu, the church we did a conference for last year. Crazy!

George Louis (worship leader from Saddleback Church in Irvine, CA) and his wife, Ruby, rounded out the team. George led worship at each of the plenary sessions and we were especially touched by him sharing an original song, “Be Still,” written after their foster baby was taken taken by her birth mom. George faithfully led us in worship morning and evening and we were blessed by his gifts and his sincere heart.

Each day started with family worship led by “Music Mama” and devotions, led by Alika. We love having the auditorium filled with all ages, from the littlest to the oldest. Family camp is such a perfect setting for connecting the generations and celebrating the whole body of Christ. Other “all ages” times were at Lake Day and Game Night, where friendly competition produced lots of laughter and energy.

*All together, from littles to grandparents, married, single, widowed: one body. Worship and devotions.*

*Lake Day featured an outdoor BBQ, water competitions, and baptisms.*

The week was nicely balanced with good programming and free time. We were especially blessed to hang out out with many great families and couples during the free time and around meals.

Jake and Kaylee Gosselin and their 4 children shared the week with us, much to our delight. We’ve known Kaylee since she was little and it is so encouraging to see their continuing and growing commitment to the Lord.

*We’ve also known the Monterastellis for years and we’re still shocked that their oldest, who we’ve known since age 5, is heading off to college this fall. Loved hanging out with these guys.*

It was also a joy to meet many new people. This group of ladies (with their husbands, who are sitting at the round table next to us) “do” life together in North County San Diego and we loved hearing their hearts for the Lord and for their families. We’re looking forward to a continuing relationship with them.

These two couples (whose wives are pictured above) are good friends with Justin and Falon Unger (worship leader we met last year at Forest Home and who led worship at the HIM Marriage retreat in 2024 and will again in 2025) and the Ungers recommended they come to hear us speak. Jordan and April Ciervo and Wes and Britt Mayer were delightful. Another small world moment: Britt served for a year at the New Hope Ministries orphan homes over 20 years ago and knows Jennie Dangers Mutaka (the missionary friend who is fighting stage 4 lung cancer and with whom we’ve become financial partners). Another crazy, “only God” meeting.

*More new friends: Hilary and her children happened to share a duplex cabin with the Monterastellis, and they introduced us to their new friends, who are now also our new friends.*

Almost 50 years ago we met Dick and Nancy Beggs at the Christian Camping International Conference, and we’re been fast friends since. The Beggs directed Camp Maranatha in Idyllwild, which is now being directed by their grandson. These are “salt of the earth” folks and we were so happy they were willing to drive up to Forest Home to spend a couple of hours with us.

*Also decades-long friends, we spent some time with Stan and Anji White, who have also served the Lord faithfully in Christian camping.*

Our dear friend Karen Bushnell drove up to hear us speak on Friday morning, and then came back up Saturday morning to drive us down the mountain. Our friendship with Karen is deep, having developed over the past two decades. Never married, she adopted two orphan girls and has poured her life in to raising them and teaching special ed. Progressing Parkinson’s disease forced early retirement and she is now relocating to South Carolina to spend the next chapter of her life enjoying her recently purchased lake home. Karen is also a “salt of the earth” person and she has blessed our lives greatly for many years.

Just after camp concluded on Saturday, our longtime friend Danielle White Versluys drove up to Forest Home to retrieve her daughter Nora and niece Charlotte (who had both served as CCA’s (Childcare Assistants) for the week) and we had a lovely, though too short, visit with her and her two youngest children, Luisa and Francesca. We loved reconnecting with them.

We did manage to get our 5-mile walk in daily, which was harder than it looks at 5,500’ elevation. I actually thought it would be “easy” since I had just finished climbing to 17,500’ on Mt. Kilimanjaro, but I was mistaken. We huffed and puffed our way through each step of five miles, enjoying the beauty of the mountains.

We spent the final night in California with Lisa at her home before going to church with her on Sunday and then flying back to Northern Virginia. Of course we managed to hike Mt. Rubideau at sunset after having a yummy sushi dinner. Time with Lisa is always time well spent.

*Sunset on Mt. Rubideau with Lisa. Way easier than Mt. Kilimanjaro. :)*

Returning home on Sunday, July 13, we jumped into helping Julie with the kids while she worked, as Derek was in Africa with Neurokids. We had a blast all week, doing some of our favorite things, like eating Papa’s homemade waffles, going to Skyzone, doing some kitchen projects, and, of course, lots of pool time. Nathan and Rachel managed to beat Papa and Gigi in pool volleyball numerous times, much to their delight.

We are so thankful for these times with the kids, since this is why we moved here. Pure joy.

*Yummy waffles and smokies for breakfast.*

*Rachel practicing her volleyball skills.*

*Rachel loves to help in the kitchen, especially when we’re making something yummy like “Honey Nutters.”*

We are so thankful for the opportunities we’ve had these past two weeks. The theme has been people. We are so blessed by those who have been in our lives for decades, as well as those who have just come into our lives. We’ve rejoiced with some who are experiencing the goodness of God in tangible ways, and we’ve grieved with some who are in the midst of painful, hard times. We’ve listened to many stories and we’ve prayed with many.

Speaking of those dealing with “hard things,” we have very recently received an update from Jennie Dangers Mutaka that was not nearly as positive as her previous one. She writes:

Hello dear friends and family! It has been over a week since my appointment with the specialist, and honestly, I just have not been able to find the words or the emotional energy to write an update or even fully express what he said and how we’re doing after our appointment... It was a tough meeting, giving me a much bleaker outlook than we had originally been told (or at least understood). Here’s a summarized update:

The doctor emphasized how extensive my cancer is…
The number of years he said I likely have left was far less than we'd first understood
While the Tagrisso seems to be working great (I'm off my pain medicine completely and continuing to not cough much!), the doctor said that the average time patients stay on the Tagrisso before the cancer “wakes up” and finds a way around it is 1.5 to 2 years… far fewer years than we’d first understood
He said he would not recommend the chemo now, but he said, likely, I'll be living from scan to scan (every 3 months) for the rest of my life, and after each scan, they will decide if chemo and/or radiation, or surgery would be necessary
And, likely, once the cancer “wakes up,” for the rest of my life, I will be dealing with chemo and/or radiation on and off
He does not feel it is wise or will be possible for us to live in Kenya or Uganda again, but just to have visits after our second round of scans (to ensure the Tagrisso has truly “turned off” the cancer’s activity)

Jennie’s CaringBridge site is here. Please continue to pray for the Mutaka family.

We are beyond blessed to be rich in friendships and relationships, the only part of life which is connected with eternity.

All praise is His.