We’ve had some great fun the last few weekends at our Spring Adventure Weekends!  The weather has been beautiful, the kids (and parents and grandparents) have been wonderful, and God has been so evident through our time spent together.  Praise Him for all He does in our lives!

To see pictures from the Grandparents & Grandkids Retreat, click here.

To see pictures from the Girls on Horses Retreat, click here.

To see pictures from the Parents & ‘Lil Shavers Retreat, click here.

To see pictures from the Father & Son Retreat, click here.

To see pictures from the Mother & Daughter Retreat, click here.

(All pictures will be added by 8am Monday, June 14th)

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Recruiting is one of my favorite parts of my job!  The photograph above is from my visit to Whitworth University – after spending the day in the HUB, Kimono and I met up with camp staff and friends from Whitworth and Gonzaga for dinner.  We also celebrated Sammie “Mushu” Trestik’s 20th birthday – and made sure to embarrass her with loud singing in the restaurant!  It was a great trip – as always it is wonderful to touch base with summer staff and hear about how their year is going – and I think I may have made a few new friends at Whitworth too – bring on the summer staff applications!!!

-Dirt

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Mike Bothman, Food Service Extraordinaire, works wonders in the Cascades kitchen…but he couldn’t make things happen without the help of some very talented individuals.  Thanks Carolyn, Isabel, Allivia, and all our kitchen staff for your hard work!

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A little less than a month ago Cascades hosted the NPC annual High School M.U.D. Retreat.  Students had a great time:  worship was amazing, the messages were insightful, the activities were off-the-hook, and God worked in mighty ways!

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Don’t believe me?  See for yourself!

**Please don’t attempt this at home – these men are trained professionals.**

Rob “Trane” Mohrweis, Cean “Torque” Williard and Josh “Miles” Rogers were brave enough to walk out into the middle of the frozen Elbow Lake (that’s right – past the seal, dolphin, AND shark sections of the swim area)!  And although the frozen lake is fun, we wouldn’t mind the temperatures warming up a bit.  Feel free to join us as we pray for those who don’t have homes to keep them warm and for protection over our facilities in this winter weather!

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Let me begin by saying God did some amazing things at Cascades this summer.  Not only was this summer filled with fun, but more importantly it was filled with the Lord moving in the hearts of campers.  Many campers made lifelong decisions, asking Jesus to be their savior – and even more campers refocused their eyes on God while at Cascades.

We are currently in the last week of our summer programs at Sunrise Ranch, while Brightwood Station and Camp Timber Rock finished up two weeks ago.  Things haven’t slowed down since May and probably won’t start to slow down until the end of October – but as always, we are excited that Cascades is continuing to be a place where God meets His people!

Thank you all for your prayers throughout the summer and we ask that you would keep the ministry of Cascades Camp and Conference Center in your thoughts as we continue to serve God by serving all of our guests into the Fall, through the Winter  and Spring, and on into next Summer!!

Here are a few photo highlights from this summer:

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As we promised in the brochure, campers at Brightwood Station this summer will be given a cool Offroad Safari Tour during their stay at Cascades!  Brightwood Campers can get excited for the ride of their life in this 2 and a half ton army truck as it snakes through “uncharted lands”…who knows, you may even spot some wildlife along the way!

Get more info, or register for Brightwood (here).

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“Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
 he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD…”

Hosea 6:1-3a

These few short verses at the beginning of the sixth chapter of Hosea are so rich with meaning.  I am not going to pretend that I have anywhere near a comprehensive understanding of what all is being said within them, but no doubt, they are worth exploring and learning from!  As sinners we wander from God (Isaiah 53:6) and here comes the call to return to the Lord.  Our lives are torn and rampaged – they fall short of the “perfect life” that we have envisioned for ourselves.  We fail, we lose friends, we don’t get the job, we lack – He has torn us – but in so doing His promise is to heal us.  

I must admit that I struggle a bit with the concept of God tearing us that He may heal us, but I do know that our Creator God is Sovereign.  He is Omniscient.  Outside the realm of time, God knows all, and is faithful to work for the good (Romans 8:28) that ultimately only He can fully know because He is not constrained by time as we are.  He can see all things as they have been, are, and will be, and has complete knowledge and power to work things for His glory. In this there is comfort knowing that He will  heal us.

Then there is the call to know, to press on to know the Lord.  It is worth noting that we must press on to know the Lord. Knowledge of God does not come easily.  It comes through a dedicated pursuit, and often comes after brokeness – being torn, struck down – then once we are healed and raised up, if we choose to seek God’s wisdom as it relates to our brokeness, we can learn from these experiences (Philipians 3:8).  But we must press on to know Him, that is our call, that is what gives us life.  For when we know God, when we truly know Him and the gift of His Son, we cannot help but walk according to His purpose, constantly returning to the Lord when we stray, but living only to know and glorify Him.

I pray that we all would spur eachother on to return to the Lord, to let Him heal, revive and raise us up, and in the midst of all this to press on to know the Lord, always.

Blessings,

Claudia

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• God’s Presence - Currently we have 11 permanent staff, 2 interns, and 7 summer staff working at Cascades.  Pray that we all would continually seek God’s presence throughout our days, working solely to glorify Him!
• Summer Planning - Right now there is a lot of planning for Bible Studies, decorations, games, schedules, work projects, menus, and so much more going on.  Pray that God would be the guiding force behind all our planning.
• Projects - Over the Memorial Day Weekend a few of our staff worked on the Deep Woods Chapel staging, but there is still more to do there and the Climbing Wall construction is steadily underway.  Join us as we pray for speedy and sturdy construction of these two larger projects.
• Summer Staff - Again, we ask you to lift our summer staff up in your prayers.  Ask God to shape their hearts and prepare them to grow as they serve Him humbly.  Pray that they would come to Cascades ready to pour out God’s love on all the kids, campers, and guests that they are working for!

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We are in the middle of our first family camp of 2009, the Memorial Day Campout.  The weather has been gorgeous and everyone seems to be having a great time at the waterfront, on trail rides, doing the Rubicon Challenge, eating s’mores, and hanging out with friends and family!

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