Before summer camp began, we were giving regular updates on the lodge. Recently, however, we have been a bit negligent in keeping you posted. Here are a few updates.

As you probably remember, a friend of the camp gave some $25,000 matching gifts. We met the first three gifts fairly quickly. The fourth, however, is still not met. For multiple reasons we would like to get this fourth matching gift completed as soon as possible.

We told some people that we were expecting to have our groundbreaking in August. Although we did not have enough money to finish the lodge, our goal was to get it under roof. We had a fun and exciting day planned, but unfortunately, we encountered an unexpected challenge. When we installed the utilities, we brought a six-inch water line all the way from the public water supply on Route 253 to the lodge site. This water line was going to supply the water for our fire suppression system. The water company was concerned that if we had a fire, it would take so much water that it would drastically reduce the pressure for the rest of the community. Because of that concern, they have denied our request to have the lodge use their water for the fire suppression system. Our architect is now setting up a hearing and requesting approval of a much simpler fire suppression system that requires much less water. Because we are using metal studs and concrete floors on both levels, it seems very reasonable to our architect that they would approve the simpler and less expensive system. If they would approve this proposed system, it would be a huge blessing. If not, we will consider some options of pumping out of the lake or putting a huge storage tank up on the hill.

As of now, assuming that we get all the approvals, we are planning to start on the lodge early next spring. Please pray with us for God’s perfect leading.