COVID and the Camp of Colors
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psalm 91:11
In the late winter and early spring of 2020 we learned about COVID but had no idea what was in store for us. As the communities the Camp serves worked out how to respond the Camp waited and worked to find ways to facilitate any changes the communities needed.
As communities decided to postpone, and then cancel, weekends the members of the board and the community began to pray.
As it became obvious that the weekends would be canceled for an unknown period of time the Camp board made the decision to put the camp in a stand-by mode. They continued to pray. To conserve our financial resources and be good stewards of what the Lord has provided for us the board did what it could to keep all expenses to a minimum. This involved some hard decisions that impacted people who have worked with the Camp for many years. Through that time the operational expenses of the Camp came primarily from donations. Many of those donations were made through the link on this site. If you made donations during that time you should know how important those were. Those funds were like mana from heaven during a time in the desert.
Unfortunately, that time in the desert lasted longer than anyone would have hoped for. As weeks turned into months and seasons passed the effects of not having the living hands and feet of the Lord inhabiting the Camp on a routine basis began to take a toll. We all continued to pray. In the summer of 2021 communities began asking about scheduling weekends but the Camp was not in a condition where that was possible. Mold had become a problem and an environmental assessment indicated levels of mold higher than what would be safe for a weekend. The estimates to renovate the Camp exceeded the Camp's available funds. A person who had not had the blessing of seeing the Holy Spirit in action might conclude that the Camp could not reopen.
Fortunately, we are not those people. The Lord had our back and made a way for us to do the work. Through numerous and generous donations of significant financial, labor, and material resources by the members of the various communities the Camp went through an extensive mold remediation process. All items that could not be remediated were replaced. This included all of the carpet, the ceiling tiles in the main room, the chairs, and any other soft items that could not be cleaned. At one point the main room was stripped back to concrete and steel.
As communities decided to postpone, and then cancel, weekends the members of the board and the community began to pray.
As it became obvious that the weekends would be canceled for an unknown period of time the Camp board made the decision to put the camp in a stand-by mode. They continued to pray. To conserve our financial resources and be good stewards of what the Lord has provided for us the board did what it could to keep all expenses to a minimum. This involved some hard decisions that impacted people who have worked with the Camp for many years. Through that time the operational expenses of the Camp came primarily from donations. Many of those donations were made through the link on this site. If you made donations during that time you should know how important those were. Those funds were like mana from heaven during a time in the desert.
Unfortunately, that time in the desert lasted longer than anyone would have hoped for. As weeks turned into months and seasons passed the effects of not having the living hands and feet of the Lord inhabiting the Camp on a routine basis began to take a toll. We all continued to pray. In the summer of 2021 communities began asking about scheduling weekends but the Camp was not in a condition where that was possible. Mold had become a problem and an environmental assessment indicated levels of mold higher than what would be safe for a weekend. The estimates to renovate the Camp exceeded the Camp's available funds. A person who had not had the blessing of seeing the Holy Spirit in action might conclude that the Camp could not reopen.
Fortunately, we are not those people. The Lord had our back and made a way for us to do the work. Through numerous and generous donations of significant financial, labor, and material resources by the members of the various communities the Camp went through an extensive mold remediation process. All items that could not be remediated were replaced. This included all of the carpet, the ceiling tiles in the main room, the chairs, and any other soft items that could not be cleaned. At one point the main room was stripped back to concrete and steel.
New carpet, ceiling tiles, and chairsIf you had a special fondness for the blue and red chairs I'm sad to say those are no longer at the Camp.
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New Sound BoothThe booth; completely rebuild and expanded
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In addition to the mold remediation of the entire site the HVAC system was overhauled and expanded to include a REME HALO system that is designed to actively clean pollutants and eliminate risks from air pollutants, mold, bacteria, and viruses.
After the mold remediation and renovation the Camp conducted another environmental assessment that came back clean and within normal levels.
Additional inspections of the Camp revealed some deficiencies in the fire suppression system and hood vent in the kitchen as well as some other maintenance work that needs to be done for the well pump and water heaters. That work is in progress and will be ready as weekends start this winter and spring.
The Lord has been good to us. The whole nation has not crossed the river but stones are being collected. Hopefully we will all see each other soon on the other side of this journey.
After the mold remediation and renovation the Camp conducted another environmental assessment that came back clean and within normal levels.
Additional inspections of the Camp revealed some deficiencies in the fire suppression system and hood vent in the kitchen as well as some other maintenance work that needs to be done for the well pump and water heaters. That work is in progress and will be ready as weekends start this winter and spring.
The Lord has been good to us. The whole nation has not crossed the river but stones are being collected. Hopefully we will all see each other soon on the other side of this journey.