Archive for April, 2009

Excavator

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

An excavator has been moved into the parking lot in preparations for the “Earth Works” stage of the project hopefully starting next week. Take a look at it here.

Excavator in the parking lot, hopefully start digging next we... on Twitpic

Posted in Update

Surveying

Monday, April 27th, 2009

The surveyors are at the site today setting the layout of the building. The earth work people should be moving in later in the week in preparation of receiving the Ground Disturbance Permit. Once that is in hand, we will get to start digging and get this building built!

Posted in Update

Dedication

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

As you may have heard, Camp Firwood is in the process of constructing a new Dining Hall called the Centerhouse. The Centerhouse will be located above the Skate Ramps and below the sign on the road into Firwood. The 12,000 square foot building will be able to meet the growing needs of Firwood as well as meet the rising standards of regulatory agencies. With the new building, the Longhouse will be transformed into an indoor recreation facility for campers to hang out and connect with one another.

Following the Annual Firs Council Meeting on March 27th, over 60 Council Members headed to Firwood for a time of prayer and dedication for the site. The outline of the building had been laid out to give a visual reference to the size and scope of the Centerhouse. After a number of answers to questions, a heart felt time of group prayer followed and a very intentional commitment of this project to God. Clear to everyone is the fact that this is not going to be achieved unless God is involved.

With an anticipated start date of May 1st, there is a lot to be accomplished between now and then. We are currently in the process of receiving a building permit and lining up financing. In terms of fundraising, the Firs Board of Trustees and Firs Staff have committed to 100% involvement financially in the project. A challenge has gone out to The Firs Council to also match the 100% involvement figure.

If you are interested in donating to the project, click here to download the Firwood Centerhouse Case Statement. Thank you for your support and join us, as we are “Making Room for Impact” at Camp Firwood.

Rob Lee
Camp Firwood Director

Posted in Update

Centerhouse Prayer Team

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

One of our core values at The Firs is that we are “focused on faith”. Being a core value means that it is one of the things that we need to make sure happens. Unlike the other core values, this one is the most intangible. How do you measure faith? Where do you show it? How is it accomplished by an organization or by a staff or even a constituency? It’s easy to say, but maybe not so easy to practice. When faith opportunities come up, however, it is crucial that we as an organization embrace them. Such is the case with a project like a new Centerhouse at Firwood. Sometimes faith comes down to something as simple as asking God and then trusting Him with the result. A story was told by Jesus to his disciples in Luke 11 that taught how we should be asking:

5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.”

Jesus follows this story with the familiar teaching, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened for you.” And the truth from the story is that our asking/seeking/knocking should be with “shameless persistence.” I really love that description. With shameless persistence, we who trust God need to ask for His provision for the new Centerhouse for Firwood.

I challenged the prayer team of The Firs, recently, to join myself, the Board and our staff in “persistent asking” in this regard. If you are willing to commit regularly to pray for this project, you would be a big encouragement to us all. Send me a simple e-mail at tom@thefirs.org and in the subject line or the body of the e-mail, just write six words: “You can count on my persistence.” You can include your name or not. But send it right away and be part of a big effort to trust God for something that will only happen if He shows up. Thanks for your support.

Tom Beaumont

Posted in Prayer