Tough Goodbyes

Working at camp saying good bye to someone at the end of the summer is inevitable. I didn’t really think about it much when we started in January that we would have to say good bye to some of our staff yearly. In the span of a month we said good bye to Cor who was here for over 2 years and looked after the maintenance before Troy worked here, Troy spent a whole day with Cor fixing the water pump in the bottom of the well.  Patricia the young lady I had the privilege to be a mentor to this year.  David was Troy’s assistant this summer and Liam’s maintenance hero.  Johannes was one of Joelle’s and Liam’s best buds to hang out and play with. Janik was one of the first people we met here; when we moved in he spent a few days getting the water pipes unfrozen so Troy could just move in. Claudius was my German little brother; he reminded me a lot of my brother and became a part of our family while he was here. We miss them all, I think the hardest part of saying good bye to this bunch Joelle and Liam still look for them sometimes. It is hard to explain how far away Germany is even when you show them on a map of the world they still think they are coming back to camp. I am sad to say good bye and we  miss them all but I am excited for what God has for each of them in the next chapter of their lives. We fell really blessed to have gotten to know each of them.

Joelle loved hanging out with Cor and borrowing his hat

 

Patricia was such a sweet heart and the kids all loved her and miss her. When the lunch bell rings Joelle still says "Hurry mom Patricia says come, come kids lunch!"

 

David became fast friends with Liam after letting him hold a hammer...best buds since

 

Johannes was one of the kids favorite buds to play with in the dinning hall...they still look for him some days

 

 

Janik was full of great ideas and will make a great leader one day

 

Claudius was my German little brother, had a lot of good talks over coffee and BBQ chicken dinners!

 

WE MISS YOU ALL!

Thank you all for blessing us as we moved to Frontier Lodge, you helped carry boxes, dressers, thawed pipes over Christmas so we could have water again and Troy wouldn't have to do that the first day living here. You took cardboard from our deck as I unpacked. You cooked amazing food for us, you all loved our kids and made them feel at home here. Thank you so much! I miss you all and pray that the next chapters in your lives are filled with fun, adventure, challenges that grow you closer to God. Blessings my friends.