Brackenhurst Ministries

Newsletter
Summer 2010

Camp BlueSky Campers Learn that Christ has

Overcome the
This summer the theme for Camp BlueSky has been Over-
World
come. The theme verse is John 16:33, “I have told you these
things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world .”
It seems like we are constantly hearing about bad situations
in the world, in our community, and in our own lives. And
the biggest problem mankind has is its separation from God
because of sin. The camp leadership chose this verse for this
summer because it gives us hope. Both believers and those
still needing salvation can grow as they gain a deeper under-
standing of how Jesus overcomes our sin and in turn helps us
The 2010 Summer Staff faithfully shared
to overcome the trials that we face in the fallen world that we
what Christ has “Overcome” to hundreds
live in until Christ returns.
of campers this summer.
Camp BlueSky sees a variety of campers from different cultures. We
“Overcome” have campers with backgrounds that represent all of the major world
Devotion Stories religions: Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish and Athiest.
Monday: Noah That, in and of itself, is a huge challenge to overcome, but we firmly
believe that the Gospel of Jesus is meant for every single person on
Tuesday: Joseph the planet. Using the theme “overcome,” we have been able to share
Wednesday: David the Gospel through every Bible story we’ve taught. Each day at camp
Thursday: Jesus the morning devotion focuses on a different Bible story. This layout
Friday: Stephen allows campers to see several different applications of the theme
throughout scripture. Just as important, it gives campers who are
hearing the Gospel for the first time a background into how we get to the cross and why the resurrection
matters.
In addition to sharing this message with the kids, as a staff we have experienced God overcoming situa-
tions in our own lives this summer. Before the staff arrived, we
saw God’s faithfulness in overcoming many of their financial situ-
ations. It isn’t easy, in his or her own power, for a young college
student to raise enough money to travel to Kenya for 10 weeks
in the summer. He has also been so faithful to overcome physi-
cal weakness, when our bodies have been tired, ill, or injured
(coughs, colds, concussions, sunburns, fears, anxieties, etc).
There are so many ways God has continued to make this theme
personally meaningful to each of us. All summer, God used each
member of our summer staff to do things we didn’t think possi-
ble: to love more, to have more patience with kids and with each
other, to speak in front of crowds, and to share the Gospel with Camp BlueSky has the amazing privi-
whomever we are in contact, be it an old Maasai man, a young lege of sharing Christ with many camp-
Hindu child, or an orphan in Western Kenya. In all of these situ- ers who hear the Gospel for the first time
ations, God’s faithfullness has been so evident to our staff this while they are at camp.
summer.
 Watching the Lord Work in Campers Lives
One exciting way we saw the
Lord move this summer was in a
cabin of Meru (8th grade) girls.
They were from the interna-
tional school and none of them
were from Christian families. At
the beginning of the week the
girls were shy and not willing
to talk about spiritual matters.
Throughout the week, their
counselors saw each of them
opening up individually. The
Lord laid it on the heart of their
counselors, Nicole and Keeler,
to speak with each girl one-on-
one. This was a great chance to
dig deeper with each girl. The
next-to-last night of camp, they
saw the Lord work in the lives
of all of the girls as a group. The
girls were firing off questions one
after the other and you could
see a desire to know God rising
in their hearts. Four of the girls
responded to the Gospel and
came to faith in Christ. It was an
awesome night! All week, the
counselors had the privilege of
watching the Lord prepare the
girls’ hearts and overcome all of
the baggage that threatened to
keep them from following Jesus.
We are so thankful that the Lord
used their experience at camp to
draw these girls to Himself!
Another place we saw the Lord
work was in Nate’s cabin of
middle school boys. “Second Cabin Devotions are a valuable
session of camp I had 6 middle time for counselors to meet their
school boys, none were Chris- campers where they are and share
tians or from Christian families. Christ in a small group setting.
They didn’t know any of the Bible
ber 2.15.’ Throughout the week
stories in the devotions all week,
they continued to read during
aside from the creation story.
rest time and after evening devo-
On the first night, in the evening
tions. They ended up reading at
cabin devotion, I asked if any of
least half way through John and
them had heard the morning’s
continued asking the counselors
story and none of them had;
questions about what they were
none of them had heard about
reading. In addition to reading
Noah. After devotion three kids
John, several kids also prayed for
wanted to read the Bible during
the first time during evening de-
flashlight time. When they asked
votion. It was such a blessing to
where to start I told them to start
see kids with a hunger to spend
with John. The campers started
time in God’s Word and in prayer.”
reporting back to each other, ‘I’m
on number 2,’ and, ‘I’m on num-

Camp Plays a Vital Role in Student Ministry

Most people who have worked at a summer camp can affirm that camp both challenged and
strengthened their faith, as well as developed their leadership skills. We have many former
campers who serve as Junior Counselors and Counselors at camp each summer. Most of these
young men and women are older high school students who are involved in our student min-
istry program. Chris is one of those students this year. He
says that camp has helped to deepen his faith because
when kids ask questions about the Bible stories, he has
taken the time to answer on a deeper level, instead of the
general answers he used to give. Camp has helped him
become more comfortable speaking in front of groups
about the Bible and Jesus, especially knowing the audience
was diverse in believers and non-believers. Caleb is another
student who has been working camp this summer. The Students who volunteer at camp
Lord has strengthened His faith in countless ways this sum- deepen their faith as they work with
mer. He has found that as he pours out into these kids and campers.
teaches them, they are pouring back into him and teaching
him just as much. Its such a blessing to see these students grow as they step into the leadership
roles for which the student ministry team has been seeking to equip them.
 Camp Staff Serves Throughout Kenya
During Break from Camp
While the camp staff spends most of the summer involved in camp,
there is a 3-week break during which they are able to experience a
variety of ministry opportunities. This year they were able to spend a
week working with a project that serves that Maasai tribe, as well as
visit Mission Link Ministries, the project that Brackenhurst Ministries
partners with in Western Kenya. In both of these places they were
able to serve in a variety of ways including building a greenhouse
and installing gutters to collect clean rainwater. They also had op-
portunities to work alongside and encourage the local church. These
experiences are a huge part of the summer for the summer staff.
They were able to participate During village time, the camp staff
in the global Church and see had the opportunity to both en-
what the Lord is doing in the courage the local church and be
lives of people whose lives are encouraged by them.
very different from their own. Many of them find they have abso-
lutely nothing in common with the people they meet except Jesus,
yet time and time again having Jesus in common has been enough
to develop friendships that will impact these college students for
the rest of their lives.

An Update from Summer

Volunteer Teams
By way of update from the volunteer
trips of 2 teams featured in the Spring
newsletter, the Southside Team was
able to dedicate the new borehole they
drilled at Chakulo Church. Unfortu-
nately, they were not able to complete
the drip irrigation project because the
company sent the wrong materials.
However, the church members will be
finishing the project. They were able to
complete a variety of projects at Re-
hema Children’s Home and Academy,
including some valuable documentation
for our Child Sponsorship Program.
The ladies from First Presbyterian
Church of Peachtree City, GA had some
valuable time to train approximately
50 teachers from the Early Childhood
Development Centers, as well as spend
time teaching, playing with, and loving
the children from several of the centers.
We are so thankful for what each team
member was able to do during their trip
and praise the Lord for their safe and
successful time in Kenya.
A Pastor’s Encouragement
In 2008 when our group went to Western Kenya I stayed
with Pastor Puis for the week and it was an immense bless-
ing. The first question he asked me was if I came from a
family of believers. When he heard that I was the only per-
son in my family who knew Christ, Pastor Puis told me that
he would pray for my parents and my little brother and sister,
Aaron and Amy every day. When I left his home at the end
of the week, I left a picture for him of my little brother and
little sister. I left Bungoma feeling so blessed from the
experience and extremely encouraged and loved by God.
Pastor Puis and I have been communicating ever since then
through email and Facebook. He was aware that I would be
heading back to Bungoma this summer and we were hoping
we could see each other again. On our second to last day in
Bungoma after we had eaten lunch at Rehema, I was sur-
prised as I walked around a corner and was greeted by Pastor
Puis jumping out and giving me a hug. Once again, the first
thing he asked me was “Brother Greg, how are your parents,
and how are Aaron and Amy? Have they come to the Lord
yet? I am still praying for them.” This absolutely blew me
away. Two years later, he still remembers their names, and
is still praying that they might come to know God. These
people in the community that we work with in Bungoma are
some of the greatest people I know. Pastor Puis has pro-
foundly impacted my faith and me.
Looking For ward...
At the end of the summer, the Brackenhurst Minis-
tries team will be saying goodbye to both Clayton
Pugh and Eric Carlberg, who will be returning to
the States to head back to school. Clayton has
been running our Adventure Trips program for 2
years, as well as serving on the Student Ministry
and Camp teams. Eric has been working with our
Western Project, as well as Camp and Student Min-
istry. These guys will definitely be missed!
Jon Gill will be joining the team through the end of
the year, to serve as an interim director for BlueSky
Adventures while we look for a full time director.
He will be working with Kim and Amanda who will
continue to do a little bit of everything until we
can fill some of our staffing needs!
Staffing Needs...
• BlueSky Adentures Director
• Western Project Director
• Student Ministry Staff
• Asian Ministry Staff
• US Executive Director
Please contact us if you are interested in one of
these positions or no someone who might be!
Brackenhurst Ministries
900 Westpark Drive
Suite 300
Peachtree City, GA 30269
Get Involved...
Here are some ways you can be involved with Brack-
enhurst Ministries:
• Give - Our camp and student ministry programs
and staff are in need of more financial support
to both maintain where we are and grow in the
future!
• We are planning a concert event in Peachtree
City, GA, which will seek to sign up sponsors for
the children at Rehema Children’s Home and
Academy. There are many ways you can volun-
teer.
• Host a coffee/dessert night in your home and
give us the chance to tell your friends and neigh-
bors what Brackenhurst Ministries is doing.
Keep In Touch...
admin@brackenhurstministries.org
www.brackenhurstministries.org
www.brackenhurstministries.blogspot.com
Kim’s laptop was stolen earlier this summer and she
lost all of her email contacts. She would really like to
rebuild her list so please email her at
kim@brackenhurstministries.org so she can add you
to her contacts.