End of Summer 2024

Another update? Already?! I know, we’re impressed over here too. Haha! Really, our goal is to keep you all in the loop of what’s happening here at Ironwood more often – ideally, about once every six weeks. You are crucial to our ministry (truly!) and we want you to feel as involved as possible without you actually being here (though you could also just come visit). But we also don’t want to overwhelm you. So this is our compromise.

Anyway, a lot has happened in the last month and a half! Here are some of the quick highlights, then we’ll jump into the stories:

• Hot and humid summer with two weeks in a row over 110
• Brad’s crew (Bucket Brigade: at least 14 people) moved over 500 five-gallon buckets of sand (find out why below)
• They also found a newspaper that was 25 years old!
• Kitchen made 56,498 meals
• Cleaned out a closet at school with materials from at least 15 years ago
• Saw over 40 young people accept Christ as their Savior!
• Over 320 life-changing decisions were made by campers this summer!

One of Brad’s big projects this summer was to redo some flooring and install air conditioning in our director’s home. He and his wife were gone for nine days, so it was the priority for that week. The crew (along with other summer staffers) was able to get the majority of the project done before Mr. Sam and Cindy returned!

The Longevity team has continued to work on the Ministry Connect house and SR65. They have also been working on adding metal to the paint booth. Brad’s team changed a little when we switched from first to second session, and he even added a person. He has had several summer staff and Leadership Live add on to his crew during the custom weeks of camp, and he’s definitely kept them busy! Also, a volunteer who comes out when his daughter goes to Horsemanship was able to come for the third time this year. He is always a big help to Brad.

I mentioned in our last update that we were in need of someone to help out at the school in a full-time capacity. Well, I am thrilled to say that God went above and beyond by providing a family to work at ICA this year! Some of their kids will join us as students and one will be in Pygmy Post with our little ones. We are looking forward to getting to know them better.

School prep has been slow and steady for me. We have had several parents come volunteer their time to clear out closets, reorganize bookshelves, move furniture, and collate work pages. And that was just in my classroom! I missed two of my work days with a sick toddler, but I am so grateful for the community at ICA that hops in and helps out so often. We have the best school family – even the kids hopped in to help!

I am teaching several new classes this year and taking on the responsibility of being the elementary homeroom teacher. We are hopeful that this is still less responsibility than I had while training to do administration.

Finally, our little man is growing up! He tells us the same few stories over and over, he loves tractors and other big equipment, and he is going to be devastated when all of his new friends are gone. He has helped out with wiping tables, vacuuming, and even digging holes throughout the summer. The absolute epitome of a camp kid! We are considering adding a private/password-protected area of this blog to share more about him and his little brother when he comes. Could you fill out this poll so we know if people are interested in that option?