As the RRBC team, we were so excited to run a full summer of overnight camps in 2022! The Lord blessed us with enough staff to run at full capacity and many of our camps were maxed out with waiting lists! We shared the Gospel with a total of 1129 campers, and 41 SLTs (Servant Leadership Training), which is the biggest number of campers we've ever had in one summer!
Having 1129 campers in our first summer back from day camps where we had roughly 350 campers in a summer was quite the adjustment. Our 75+ cabin leaders dedicated weeks, even their whole summer to serving God and children while sharing His Word in everyday activities. Throughout the summer, while serving, our leaders also grew greatly in faith as they partook in 82 chapel sessions and lead around 41 bible lessons with their campers.
Our campers come from various different walks of life. Many of them have grown up in the church, some having a solid foundation in scripture and some having little to no understanding of the Gospel. Then we have campers who have never heard the Gospel or had any biblical influence. But we also have quite a few who have come to camp for many summers and are excited to be old enough to take our SLT 2 program and start cabin leading! During this summer, our cabin leaders were able to have over 650 significant spiritual conversations about God and the Gospel with campers from every background!
How were we able to host so many campers you may ask? Well as many of you know, this past spring, we held a Grand Opening for Cyprus Lodge during our Open House event! Cyprus Lodge was an ongoing project that we got full occupancy of as of March 2022. This summer we had campers and volunteers staying in it, we used the chapel space twice a day, our campers had over twice as many washroom facilities to use and our Summer Team lounged during their time off in the new staff room. We thank God for the completion of this project as we could not have had as many campers with just the pre-existing facilities.
With the completion of Cyprus Lodge, that leaves room for a new Capitol Project! We have already started the construction of our new Zipline! Praise the Lord because the majority of funding is already in. We're well on our way for completion before summer 2023. Bush clearing and screw piles have already been put in place and the pieces of the towers are currently being constructed by Grunthal Welding. We're very excited to add this new attraction to our facility.
Please continue to pray for the ministry of Roseau River Bible Camp as we plan retreats for the coming year and summer 2023!