“Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly… Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul…” – Valley of Vision
This Puritan prayer summarizes the message of Twin Lakes Camp 2012: that the book of Jonah is a record of God’s grace to a Dissonant Heart. Jonah’s heart was desperately out of tune, but by way of being brought low – literally – God turned Jonah’s heart back towards Himself and His will. God tuned Jonah’s heart to sing of His coming judgment to Nineveh, and then manifested the reality of His grace.
A record number of young people went on a journey “twenty thousand leagues under the sea” this summer. Over the course of 7 Friday nights, 2024 campers (1882 ages 5 – 12 and 142 LITs) went down to Joppa, boarded the ship going to Tarshish (the back deck of our assembly hall), were rocked by the wind and the waves, saw Jonah thrown overboard (30 ft off the deck!), went down into the water, walked through the belly of the fish (quite soggy and dark), and saw Jonah spit out onto dry land (after a watery blast from the fish/water cannon). Special thanks to Tuan La, Warner Mitchell, and their team of summer staff who made it all possible.
While mankind will never re-create the miraculous works of God, each summer we seek to engage children with the word of God through sight, sound, time with godly mentors, and most importantly – the preaching of God’s word. Ben Hailey, RUF minister at Texas A&M, joined us this summer and faithfully taught the children each day while counseling our staff alongside his wife, Beth. Ben’s ability to explain the deep mysteries of the Gospel in powerfully accessible terms was such a blessing to the entire camp. Ben, along with Brian Sorgenfrei (MS State RUF), Jeff Jordan (Mississippi College RUF), Chad Scott (Belhaven RUF), and Ben Shaw (Southern Miss RUF) each preached during our Sunday night staff gatherings. Twin Lakes seeks to be an extension of the work of discipleship that takes place through RUF at college campuses throughout the year.
Thank you for the trust you give to us in caring for your children – it is not a responsibility we take lightly. Together, we are planting seeds in the lives of our children. Many came to saving faith in Christ this summer at Twin Lakes, and many more grew in the grace and knowledge of their Savior as covenant children.
Come December, we have the privilege once again of running Twin Lakes Camp in Trujillo, Peru with our friends at Peru Mission. More info to come. We also look forward to turning our attention towards serving conference guests throughout the Fall and Winter. Thanks for your prayers and support!