Elizabeth "Betty" Hazelhurst

10/26/ 1933-7/18/2008

Known as 'Grandma' around these parts. Betty was the ultimate cheerleader and a great encourager. We loved her so much; she will be missed greatly.

Many people wear thier religion as a trophy to be paraded around for all to see. Betty simply loved, just as Jesus commanded, "to love one another". She never wanted to be the center of attention or to make too much fuss about life's problems, she knew that as long as we stuck together and loved one another, everything would be alright.

We don't have to say 'good-bye' to this great woman, just "see you later". She left this earth in peace, and will meet us again in heaven.

LDS Week

So it is not offically called LDS week by Boy Scouts, but 1 week a per summer all the Northwest camps have a "monday start week". This is to accomidate those troops who want to worship Sunday and begin camp on Monday. Many LDS church troops sign-up a year in advance to secure this week. So out of 28 troops, 4 are non-LDS.

All that to say is, that it has been difficult to get participation from Scoutmasters. They take care of all of their spiritual formation 'in house' so they need little imput from the outside. For example I had 20+ scouts interested in my Chaplain's Aid program...this week I have 2. My interaction with scouts and leaders has been positive, just not as many opportunities as in the past weeks. I am trying to be intentional without chasing people off.

Keep the prayer coming!

Pics Galore

Twice in a week

I just had my 1st 'Christian' chapel Service. It went really well. I had about 25 kids and adults which is 10% of the total camp. That was my average last summer, so its good to see. The sad thing is as I go from camp to camp, talking about godly things the older (15+) scouts are not interested at all. At one campsite I was ignored, by all 25 scouts and leaders except 4 and not one of them was an adult. I got a little emotional leaving that campsite, I just saw in action the disconnection MY generation and the 'boomer' generation has had with God and their children. In my humble opinion, having 'faith' in Scouts seems to be an inconvenience for many. Now I'd like to add their are some great Christians here too, there is a very obvious line between the two. In some sites God is embraced and in others God is treated with mild neglect. Keep praying for these scouts.

Got to swim this week, and shoot guns! The water was a glacial 65 degrees, with a 60 degree wind chill. Once you get wet you can't escape the cold! Caleb was shivering!

I know i promised pics...next time...

We all made it safely

I promised myself that I would blog more while I am here and keep you all informed more than once a week...like twice a week. So....I am not as on top of it as I had hoped,but it is not because of laziness, I just run out of time. The day starts at 6am and I get to shower and bed around 10:30-11:00pm. I will do better this week.

Camp details:
We are at a Boy Scout Camp near Dufur, Oregon. We expect about 2,000 campers this summer. This week we have over 300 including staff. I just had my chapel service last night and it went great, except I forgot the second verse to 'Blessed Be The Name', but I challenged the Scouts to pray. I cannot mention or teach about Jesus specifically here but I am believing that the power of the Holy Spirit will convict these kids and adults to a deeper relationship with Christ. The simplest way would be for them to simply pray and allow God to do his work, and if God is who he says he is and can do what he says he can do; then prayer is enough. Cessie said that I balanced that line well and maintained my Christian integrity, and REALLY put God on the line to show up. So pray that those who take up this challenge will see some fruit early and often.

The kids are doing great, of course. They are picking up where they left off; playing with sticks and singing all the camper's songs. Plus, their is a lake for swimming and about 50 horses we get to ride. This is gonna be a great summer!

I'll post some pics later this week.