On September 21st, we celebrated our first first full year at Camp Barakel! This means I got to take part in all of the retreats from our first year and about five of them for the second time. A lot of our campers are returners and I enjoy talking to people that I met last year. Sometimes people remember my name, but they are more likely to say something like, “Oh yeah, you’re the…”
“Archery guy” or…
“Zipline guy” or…
“Dishes guy” or…
“Guitar guy”
And they would be right. Those sum up most of what I do during the fall retreats. It’s far from glorious (bathrooms don’t clean themselves!), but I love what I do, partly because I get to work with people, but mostly because those activities bring people up to Camp Barakel to have fun, spend time together, and learn from Scripture about our great Savior at four different chapel sessions during a weekend retreat. 
The campers, however, are only here for the weekends. The Resident Missionary Staff spend Tuesday through Friday preparing for the coming retreats, which, for me, mostly involves cleaning and doing construction. Since the summer ended, we’ve been able to finish a ridiculously big stairway going down to Crosscut Lodge as well as add a roof over a deck on the East Side Dining Hall and shingle it. We were helped by several volunteers, which made the jobs less daunting. I’ve also had a few smaller projects.
November and December are very different for us because we don’t have any campers. We switch to a regular work week (Monday-Friday) and focus completely on waiting projects without needing to worry about cleaning and retreats. Right now I’m working with Mike Baker and Cody Leonard to gut and re-insulate the walk-in freezer and cooler in the East Side kitchen. That building needs a lot of work, so we’ll do what we can before January retreats. It’s also the holiday season and a time when many of us use our vacation time visiting family and friends “down-state”.
This past Saturday, Sarah and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! Sarah’s parents threw a huge party with food, music and a little dancing! It was nice of them to think of us, but I’m pretty sure that they were more consumed with it also being Sarah’s sister’s wedding day. We are now anniversary twins with Michael “Koz” and Emily Kozma. The U.S. Army let Koz come home for two weeks from Afghanistan to get married. He’ll head back on Saturday to, “fight the bad guys”, as Asher likes to say. With hope, they’ll live together at an Army base in the states in August.
Sarah has been very busy with the boys as usual. Her duties with Barakel are put on hold for 1 year after having a child, which we appreciate. She enjoys attending a young moms group weekly and an exercise group in town a few times a week. I’m very thankful for her hard work and support as she takes care of the boys and me throughout the days. Sadly, Sarah’s 89 year-old grandma passed away a few weeks ago. It has been a rough time, but we are thankful to know that she is with Christ in glory.
Asher is 3 now and Isaac is 8 months. As of now, they think the world of each other. Isaac is pretty sure that everything Asher does is amazing. Asher looks forward to the day that Isaac can swordfight and throw a ball. They are both stinkers when it’s naptime or when they are hungry, but we love them and enjoy watching them grow. With hope, they will grow to love Christ.
Looking back on our first year, we are so thankful for the many friends and family that have been able to visit and stay at our home. We have been able to make valuable friendships in town and at our church here, but we miss all of you, our 5 Points Church Family and Town Square Pizza in Rochester. Mmmm.
In Christ,
Dan, Sarah
Asher & Isaac
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(1 Corinthians 3:10-11 ESV)
"To Live and Serve our Best" 