Unexpected Blessings
Unexpected blessings are one of the many things that make our lives sweeter. What a pleasant surprise when God gives us a gift above or beyond what we could even ask for. During the past two months, God has faithfully given at least four unexpected blessings to the camps program!
Southwest Ministries has held a frybread fundraiser sale for several years, with the proceeds going towards different areas of the field. Currently, all of the funds are used to help children go to camp. The cost to send a camper to camp is about $200 per camper, for a weekend. We ask campers to pay $50 toward the trip. The rest of the money is donated by generous people like yourselves and through the twice-a-year sale of delicious frybread.
The fundraiser takes many hours of preparation before and numerous working hands on the day of the event. February’s sale had barely begun when volunteers showed up to work that no one knew were coming! What an unexpected blessing! My (Becky’s) mom has always told me, “Many hands make light the work,” and it’s true! Some of the unexpected volunteers were friends of regular volunteers and some were from a local church. When they came with smiles on their faces and hands ready to serve, it was an unexpected blessing!
The second unexpected blessing was the amount raised was more than usual. We only ask for a donation when people come through the line, and this past February, the donations were very generous. More than $11,000 was raised that day. Praise the Lord!
On March 1st our first work team arrived from our home church in Ohio - Faith Memorial Church. Five young adults came to help with our March Elementary Camp. We knew the work team members were individuals of great character and that their trip was being covered with prayer. Even so, we were still nervous we would mess something up. God was faithful as always! The team was amazing, and the unexpected blessing was how well the campers connected with these young people. Many campers asked when the team might come back … always a good sign. The entire week was a blessing to the campers, to the team, and to us.
The final unexpected blessing came during the March camp weekend: snow! Depending on where you live, you may not consider this a blessing, but for young campers coming from southern Arizona, snow isn’t something you see frequently. The Saturday afternoon activity for both campers and leaders was playing in the snow! We saw the creation of snow men (one they named Bob) and a snow couch, and of course, there was a giant snowball fight.
We don’t take these unexpected blessings for granted. God is faithful as we work for Him and as you intercede with prayer for the Native children we serve. Thank you! You are a blessing!
Lord willing, we will be in Ohio from June 1st to July 15th. We would like to meet with as many people as possible to share the good work God is doing in the Southwest. It also would be great to catch up on what God is doing in your lives. Meetings can be one-on-one, small groups, or larger events. We are flexible.
If you would like to set up a time to get together, please email Doug at doug.darfus@wgm.org.
Blessings,
Doug & Becky
Would you like to be a part of God's ministry in the Southwest?