“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and
through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you
walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched,
nor will the flame kindle upon you.”{Is. 43:2}
The Lord was mighty
to demonstrate His faithfulness to us in 1998. As we set
out to obey Him, the enemy rose up with tests and trials
to intimidate and try to stop us. We were slandered, and
lied to by brothers and sisters in the Lord. We were attacked
with sickness and disease. Sorrow tried to overtake us
through deaths in our immediate family. Auto accidents
threatened our lives and finances. Then, during camp we
came through a major fire. We could mention many more,
but in spite of them all, God showed His saving hand.
Since, we did not know
for sure that we would direct the camp this year until
May, we were late getting started. Our maintenance men
were not able to be here to do the start up, so a few
of us had alot to do, fast. Again, His grace was sufficient.
We were leading all
the horses to water twice a day and fighting rain storms
throughout the first camp. Although the group was quite
small, the camp was a success in that all the unsaved
youth received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
One highlight of the week was when a nationally known
group from Nitro-Praise, called “Fidelity Credence”, shared
their wonderful talents.
We had lots of rain
throughout June and one wind storm blew our raft and two
canoes away. Friends found one canoe and some lifejackets,
on the other side of the lake. We searched diligently
for the raft to no avail. Then, on the 3rd of July, the
Lord helped the sun shine on it just right so that we
could see it all the way across the lake, and go rescue
it.
We were not able to
use Corps. water until the 3rd of July, so we made many
trips to Fort Peck for usable water. The Family Camp on
the 4th of July was slightly hindered by a storm that
shut off our phone lines and made the roads greasy. The
dedicated group that came, shared their diverse gifts
and talents, and there was unity and fellowship in the
Holy Spirit. Some of the female staff created their own
dance routine to the praise song, “Stomp” .
Our sound man added lighting
effects to make it a more unique presentation. We enjoyed
some inspired drama, testimonies, preaching, prayer, and
praise.
The developmentally disabled
camp was short and intensive. The Malta group was here
for 3 days. Glasgow canceled their 3 day campers on Mon.
because they were short of help. On Wed., about 30 D.D.’s
and their counselors had the opportunity to ride in the
boat, ride horses, and enjoy the atmosphere. The chapel
and puppet show in the morning was a very big hit. Some
of the boaters were privileged to see a beautiful eagle,
with a fish in its talons, land in its nest. That day
we had just presented our new T-shirts with the scripture
logo: “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good so that thy
youth is renewed like the eagles.”(Ps. 103:5)
Nearly 100 Native Americans
arrived for camp throughout the fourth week of July. The
camp was running quite smoothly considering the care of
such a large group of people. Swimming seemed to be the
most popular activity, since temperatures climbed to over
100 degrees. People were responding to the special unity
and presence of God in the chapel services. Then, Thursday
evening, a couple of the campers started a fire that managed
to burn for the next 2 days. God worked through many people
and circumstances to suppress the fire and to fight its
consequences. By HIS GRACE, the fire never harmed any
people or structures. After the fire, we were attacked
with slander on the front page of the newspaper. (The
spark of a tongue can be more destructive than a natural
fire, sometimes. [James 3:5,6]) God forgive them.
We had to cancel the
pre-teen camp because of the fire, so we decided to combine
the pre-teen and teen camps for the last week. Some people
decided to cancel their registrations due to the newspaper
article. But, in spite of all the attacks, the last camp
turned out to be one of the best. The older youth did
a marvelous job of cooperating with the younger ones.
We had an awesome talent sharing on Thursday evening.
On Friday, five people decided to proclaim their conversion
by being baptized in Fort Peck Lake.
Many people gave of their
resources to make this ministry work this year. They gave
time, money, labor, grain, hay, food, materials, games,
horses, etc, and most of all, hope, faith, and love. It
was seed sown in good ground since many people were touched
by God.
Only the Lord knows all
the things that He did to save His people this summer.
One thing is for certain, His hand was extended so that
many people who were not even sure He is real, gave God
credit for the miracles.
THANK YOU for supporting
Pines Youth Camp!
Dave & Lela Sigmundstad
{co-directors}
