| Sunset Lake Camp: Donors Rally for Camp Scholarship Fund | Email | Print |
by Sunset Lake Camp staff; Source: Sunset Lake Camp
[News]
It was Friday morning at Sunset Lake and the camp administration faced a difficult decision. The camper scholarship fund had run dry and there were eight more applicants waiting for funds. At the end of business hours that day Sunset Lake would be forced turn away these campers due to a lack of funds.
Since Sunset Lake Camp established its camp scholarship program in 2008, God has provided miraculously for this fund with as much as $18,000 donated each summer. In its four years of existence, Sunset Lake has not once turned away a camper because of financial reasons. But on this Friday morning all that seemed about to change.
At 6:45 a.m., the camp director, David Yeagley, stopped by his office and placed a last minute post on the camp's Facebook page announcing the camp's need and inviting their supporters to phone in their pledges. Fifteen minutes later, at staff worship, he shared the problem with his 75 staff members.
"One staff member spoke up immediately," recalls Yeagley. "’This doesn't sit right with me,’" he said. "’We need to pray.’" And so the entire staff broke up into groups and brought the need to God. Before staff meeting was done, a pledge sheet began to circulate. By the end of breakfast, at 8:30 a.m., the staff had pledged over $1,000 dollars for the camp scholarship fund.
As the office opened up that morning the phone began to ring. Pledges of support poured in from all over the country. People from California, Michigan, Arkansas and all across the Washington Conference called to say they had seen our Facebook post and wanted to help. People shared the post with their friends, others posted the need on their pages and the word spread. By the end of business hours that day, Sunset Lake Camp had received more than $3,400 in pledges; more than enough to cover their needs.
"The phone calls we were dreading to make that day turned out to be ones filled with excitement, tears of joy and campers jumping up and down as we shared the good news of what God had done," says Tammi Baker, Sunset Lake administrative assistant.
But God wasn't done. That Sabbath several churches took up special offerings and others individuals gave donations. One church member even pledged the profit from his garage sale. The result was several hundred more dollars for the scholarship fund.
"The ministry of Sunset Lake Camp exists to lead each camper to Jesus and to show the world that we serve an awesome Creator-God who is powerfully at work in this unique setting," says Yeagley. "I am humbled by what God chose to do through our staff and Facebook friends."