What’s in a name…

We are naming our second son….
Isaac Judah Haines

Thanks for your patience.  We had put this off because Isaac’s due date isn’t till the end of the month.

We wanted to stick with Hebrew names since the rest of our first and middle names are found in the Old Testament.

We love the story of redemption and willing sacrifice with Isaac in the Bible.  Isaac means “he laughs”.

Judah means “praised”.  David and Jesus were from the lineage of Judah.  I don’t know that we’ll stick with the tribes of Israel theme (Asher, Judah), but we like the names so far.

Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement.  We are headed home today and are excited to show Asher his new brother!

Baby Haines!

A couple minutes old

We are happy to announce that we have a brand new baby boy!  He was born last night (3/17/11) at 8:53pm at Covenant Hospital in Saginaw.  He was ten days early.  No name yet, but we’ll keep you posted.  Here are the stats:

7lbs even, 19 1/2″ long, scored great on the Apgar testing, and has dark brown hair and eyes.  Sarah is doing well and had a successful VBAC.  We’d love to see you if you wanted to visit us at the hospital!  We’ll probably be there till mid-Saturday.  We praise God that everything went so well and for giving us great doctors and nurses during the process.  Thanks for being excited with us!

Baby Haines 14 hours old

Bring on the snow!

We are almost into our 5^th weekend winter retreat of the season.  Most of us Michiganders got over 10 inches of snow on Wednesday morning.  I know it made the roads bad and caused pandemonium at your local Meijer, but we love getting snow for our retreat season!

Father/Son retreat

Since Barakel is divided into two different camps on each side of Shear Lake, we are able to run two retreats at once.  This has allowed us to have a Father/Son retreat for 3 weekends while putting teenagers on the other side of camp.  The only location they share is Snow Valley, which works out fine.

Broom-Ball; a game of slipping and falling...for fun

Campers will agree that Snow Valley is what makes a winter retreat here so much fun.  The big draw is the tubing hill, complete with a tow-rope that will return you back to the top of the hill.  There is also a warming-hut, a place to rent cross-country skis, and an ice skating area with a regular rink, a hockey rink, and a broom-ball rink for the all-day tournaments on Saturdays.  Part of my job is to work the tubing hill, which is my favorite thing to do during winter retreats.

The tubing hill!

At the top of the hill there are two of us staff guys, ready and willing to spin or push you down the hill while keeping things safe.   Working the hill makes for a long day and quite the workout, but it’s a lot of fun.  Thankfully, we have weekend volunteers that come up and serve with us, so we don’t throw our backs out.  I just turned 30, and I’m told that kind of thing happens to old guys like me.  By the way, if you came to the hill while I was there, I would try to convince you that spinning is vastly superior to just going down straight.  It’s just the truth.

Danny Haines at a Jr. High Winter retreat at Barakel around '94

I enjoy being around the campers and it often reminds me of when I was a winter camper here at Barakel during high school.  My friends and I always had a great time as we threw each other into snow banks, waited in line at the tubing hill, and hung out in the Dining Hall, drinking way too much hot chocolate.  I enjoyed the songs we learned in Chapel and remember being convicted and encouraged by the speakers as they taught from Scripture.  Sarah and I are thankful to be a part of a ministry that builds lasting friendships, strengthens families, and most of all, spurs others on towards Christ.

The West Side Chapel - Speaker Don Jackson

We don’t count numbers here as far as commitments and confessions for Christ, but are confident that the Holy Spirit works through the power of the gospel being proclaimed.  We have, however, been blessed to have been able to see bold professions of faith and several lives impacted during these past few weekend retreats.

We are so thankful for those of you who are praying for us and sacrificing financially to benefit the work that is done here at Camp Barakel.  We truly see you as serving along-side us in this ministry.  We hope that you find the same joys in knowing that God continues to work through this camp in which He has called us to serve.

Sarah at 32 weeks pregnant

Sarah is in her 32^nd week of pregnancy and things are going well for her and the little guy.  We don’t have a name yet, but are considering one of names of Asher’s brothers from the Old Testament like Zebulon or Naphtali.  The nicknames won’t be very catchy, but they will build lot of character in him.  I think “Napht” or “Bulon” might work well.

Asher's "Frosty 'noman" in front of our house.

Tiling the bathrooms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asher enjoys the snow, has been tubing a few times and received his very own show shovel about a month ago.  Needless to say, he didn’t get the hint and I am still the primary snow shoveler in our home.  We live on a small hill which is a good size for sledding with him.  Like a normal little boy, he won’t tell me he’s cold until his hands are freezing and he needs to get inside right away.

Sarah likes to tell people that I spend most of my time in the bathroom.

What she means (I hope), is that, during the week, I’m usually working on tiling the bathrooms in Crosscut, Camp’s newest lodge.  I’ve gotten 2 of the 4 bathrooms done and will have the great room to tile after I finish those.  I’m usually working alone, but keep my sanity by listening to music and sermons on my work stereo.

We enjoy being here, but miss many things about our home in Rochester, especially our church family.  We’d love to get letters and emails from anyone reading this, so we can keep up with your lives too.  We hope you are doing well and enjoying the winter season.

Serving Christ through Christian Camping,

Dan Haines (as well as Sarah, Asher, and “Zebulon”, due March 27th)

P.S.  Our Winter retreats end on March 6^th.  No praying for warm weather until then!

Here are some more pictures I posted on facebook of the stone project if you are interested.  It’s kind of a beginning to the present time progress thing.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=261504&id=513349999&l=8da712af8a

Sorry.  Can’t figure out how to make it a link.  You’ll have to copy and paste that.

Stonewall (and trips to) Jackson

Monday night we got back from a very long but enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend.  We visited both our families, some good friends and were able to make it to our home church, Five Points, on Sunday.  We’ve only been at Barakel for 2 months, but we miss a lot of people and it was great to see them again.

As mentioned in the previous blog, in November and December, Barakel doesn’t host any campers, but spends time on construction, repair, and preparing for the future retreat season, which starts in January.  For me, this is much like my past work, repairing and remodeling homes.

Pine Cabin roof

There are six of us on the Maintenance staff and many of the jobs we do together.  When the weather was better, we spent a few weeks re-shingling about half of the Dining Hall and one of the cabins on the east-side of Camp.  We also spent a few days all around our 350 acres chainsawing, splitting, and stacking logs from the many trees that had been knocked down in windstorms.

My giant puzzle!

Most recently, I, along with Cody Leonard, a young guy on seasonal staff, have been working on the west-side of camp at Cross Cut Lodge.  We’ve been installing the cultured stone on the lower perimeter of the lobby as well as above the fireplace.  It’s a slow and tedious process, but it’s well worth it.  Each lodge has it’s own theme that goes with it’s name. Cross Cut’s name and theme tie into the logging history that was here before God gave Uncle Johnnie, Camp’s founder, this land for Christian camping. So for the lobby in Cross Cut, we wanted a very rugged look.  The walls are rough-sawn pine, which goes great with the cultured stone.  We also have several rusty two man lumber-jack saws that will eventually decorate the walls to finish off the look.

The next step for Cross Cut will be tiling the lobby and four bathrooms.  Long ago, Uncle Johnnie decided not to go into debt for buildings and other needs here.  Because of that, the construction process always waits on God providing the donated funds and skilled workers for each project.  We are two-thirds finished with Cross Cut and, Lord willing, would love to see campers housed in it for summer 2011.

Sarah and I have already seen several ways that God has provided for our needs in ways that we didn’t expect.  I’m often convicted when God provides things that I should have prayed for, but didn’t think to.

(Cue the storytime/flashback music)

We had visited Five Points church about a month ago and I mentioned to a friend that I was going to buy new knee-pads, knowing of the upcoming stone and tile jobs.  She said, “Wait, don’t get them!  I have a pair I’ve been meaning to return on my desk at home.  We don’t really do projects that we would need them for. “  It turns out, they were the nicest pair of knee-pads Home Depot sells and this incredible family just gave them to me, still in the box!  I’ve used them a great deal over the last few weeks and they will always serve as a reminder of God’s provision.

Knee-pads are a must!

Sarah is now in her 23rd week of pregnancy and still making the monthly trips to Saginaw to see the doctor.  She has just recently started to really show with the baby-belly and often feels him kick.  Asher will be quick to tell you that the baby in Mama’s belly is a boy, but was confused to find out that there is, in fact, no baby in his belly.

Asher helping me vacuum out my camp truck

Asher is growing up and learning things so fast.  It just amazes me.  He talks very well, I think, and can follow along and fill in the words for many of his books.  He’s always running and loves playing with any kind of ball .  He hit me in the face with his little Nerf football earlier today when we were playing catch.  What an arm!

We hope to find you well this Holiday season.  We’d love to hear how you are doing!      HainesBarakel@gmail.com

We’d also love to see you in person this winter so check out if one of Barakel’s retreats works for you.    http://www.campbarakel.org/cr/sched.asp

Dan (Sarah & Asher) Haines

As the seasons change…

God's beauty of autumn shown at Barakel.

We have officially survived our first month as Resident Missionary Staff at Camp Barakel! We have seen the beautiful colors of fall as well as the first snow! We moved in September 21^th and we were greeted by the staff men who unloaded all our worldly processions from the Barakel semi. It has been a time of adjustment for our family. We had 2 weeks before all of our appliances worked and 3 weeks before we had the internet and water we could drink. A new well had to be drilled for the house in which we are living. Our boxes are mostly emptied, the walls are painted and things are hung on the wall. It is looking more and more like a home every day. We are thankful for this house that Barakel has provided.

We live in a duplex on Barakel’s property. Our closest neighbors are Danny and Judy VanOrman who live in the other side of the duplex. Judy has served at Barakel for 48 years and Danny for 40. We are just starting and they are about to retire. There are many transitions occurring here at Camp.

 

In our month here, we have experienced numerous tests of faith in areas of life that are out of our control. We are so thankful to have Christ, for without the hope that is in Him, we would have none. God has been teaching us that we can trust Him for what He has given us in this day. He will take care of tomorrow.

The biggest transition in our family is preparing for is the arrival of another baby at the end of March. Sarah is currently 18 weeks pregnant. A month ago we learned that the hospitals around here (all an hour away) will not perform VBACs which is our hope for the delivery for this child. Because of this Sarah will have to travel to Saginaw (2 hours away) for doctors’ appointments and finally, delivery. Before all of these events started taking place, God was working and Sarah now has a doctor in Saginaw who she has already seen. He loves Christ and is involved in his church and has even been to Barakel. How fun is that!  About that same time we also learned that a blood test showed that the baby could be at risk for Down’s Syndrome but after a detailed ultra-sound done last week we were able to see that the baby is healthy and there is less than a third of one  percent chance that the baby will have Down’s. We were also happy to find out that we are having another boy!

Haines Baby Boy! Due March 27th

 

Here at Camp we have been a part of 5 weekend Retreats which has included a Father/Daughter Retreat, Ladies Retreats, and Mens Retreats . During these fall retreats Dan has been busy helping to run the zip line and archery range, as well as washing lots dishes. He also had the opportunity to lead devotions two mornings for this latest Men’s retreat.  During the week he has been doing maintenance on staff homes, roofing on the east side dining hall, paneling and doing his assigned cleaning, Arrowhead Lodge.  Sarah helps with the baking of the over 2000 cookies which are consumed each weekend, the food preparation and cleanup as well as the baby-sitting for the younger staff children.

Dan working at the zip line.

 

Zip on!

 

We look forward to this weekend where many of the College aged Summer Staff return to Barakel’s property to help us with fall cleanup. We are also very excited because the youth group from our home church will also be joining us.  November and December are not filled with retreats but this does not mean that it is a slow time of year.  There is much to be done in preparation of the winter retreats. The big difference for us is that this is the time of year that we are like “normal” people and get weekends off instead of Sunday afternoon and Monday. Feel free to give us a call or an email sometime.  We would love to hear from and see how you are doing.

Serving Him with you,

Dan, Sarah, and Asher

248.914.5360

HainesBarakel@gmail.com

A lot can happen in 9 months!

Well, it’s official! God has provided 100% of our yearly support for Camp Barakel! We started raising support this past Thanksgiving and will be headed up to Camp this month, which is right when we had hoped to join staff. God’s timing is often different than ours, but it’s an added confirmation when He lets our plans line up with His own.

We will officially reside on  Barakel property on the 20th of September after spending some time here in Rochester packing and getting ready to move. Dan is at Barakel this week painting and preparing our new home. We will be living in a duplex on Barakel’s property. It’s newly remodeled and bigger than our apartment now. When we stayed there this summer, Asher enjoyed running back and forth through the rooms and climbing up and down the stairs. It’s a nice place and we are thankful for it.

Randy Harris will bring down the Barakel semi on September 18th for us to load up.  Then on the 19th Five Points Community Church, our home and sending church, will be commissioning us during the evening service at 6pm.

We are so thankful to God for those who have partnered with us through prayer and financially giving in this Christ-centered ministry.

We had a wonderful time this past weekend at Barakel for Family Camp. This was Sarah’s 16th Labor Day Family Camp. Family Camp was the first time Sarah was ever a camper at Barakel and this Family Camp was our last experience as campers. We also were able to celebrate Asher’s 2nd birthday and Sarah’s 29th. It was a joy to spend time with family and friends.

We were able to speak for a few minutes during the Sunday chapel and give testimony to the greatness of God in bringing us to Barakel as Resident Missionary Staff. It was encouraging to hear our pastor, Pastor Brent Nelson, who was that speaker this weekend. God used him to proclaim truths from the Bible and challenge families to be living sacrifices for the name of Christ.

Another joy that we are excited to share with you is that Sarah is 11 weeks pregnant and due on March 27th. Sarah had an ultra-sound last week and it was fun to see our new little one and hear his or her heart-beat.

We appreciate your prayers as God is doing so many things in our lives. We would also love to see you at our commissioning on the 19th or if you would like to help us move on the 18th.

For His glory,

Dan, Sarah and Asher Haines