REPORT OF THE BOARD OF VICTORY VALLEY CAMP
TO THE 102nd ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Victory Valley is a missions outreach of the Bible Fellowship Church with an impressive rate of return. Over 50% of our 1985 staff had been campers here at Victory Valley. They returned to serve the Lord in a ministry that was so helpful to them in the past. Included in that number are reliable young people from Bible Fellowship Churches, which made up 58% of the summer’s staff. One of our chief ambitions is to be a continued help in the growth of these young people.
The following statistics given an overview of the good summer program that we had this past year and also give evidence of the Lord’s blessing.
1984 Statistics 1985 Statistics
584 campers 586 campers
36% from BFC 40% from BFC
30 salvation decisions 74 salvation decisions
42 staff members 40 staff members
56% BFC staff 68% BFC staff
50% of the staff were old campers
During the past year Jim Thornton, Director of Victory Valley Camp for the past eight years expressed to the Board a sense of God’s call to pastoral ministry. Jim terminated his responsibilities as Director of Victory Valley Camp at the close of the 1985 camp season. He and his family have been greatly used of the Lord at Victory Valley Camp and under his direction the camp has made significant progress. We praise the Lord for Jim and Debbie Thornton and take this opportunity to express our appreciation for their years of faithful service to Victory Valley Camp and to the Bible Fellowship Church.
At the May 8, 1985 meeting of the Victory Valley Board, Phil Atkins was approved as the new Director of Victory Valley Camp. Phil officially began his responsibility as Director on September 1, 1985. Pray with us that God will bless him as he labors here at the camp. Phil and his wife, Karen, are both graduates of Liberty Baptist College. Karen Atkins is a “daughter” of our Emmaus Bible Fellowship Church.
Donna Meng has been appointed as the Program Director of the Camp. Donna has served the camp in various capacities for a number of years.
Paul Clymer who was elected to the Board for a three year term at last year’s Annual Conference was unexpectedly taken home by the Lord during the year. The Annual Conference will need to elect someone to fill his unexpired term.
The VIP Program is growing as the ever increasing financial needs grow here at camp. Forty-eight individuals now give ten dollars a month, equaling $120 per year, or more to help this ministry stay effective and strong. Won’t you consider becoming a Valley Interested Person? Drop us a line and we will be glad to explain the program to you.
Registration day was different this year. Paying a week in advance alleviated the long registration lines. A county fair was held in the cabin area to introduce camp to the new campers. Clowns, pony rides and lots of fair games amused the families of campers until the time for camp to begin.
Conquering giants was the idea behind this year’s children’s camp Bible material. As Joshua went through the land of Canaan, we went with him. He conquered lands and peoples, we learned to conquer and defeat giants of fear, self-sufficiency, hesitation and dishonesty. The Jr. High Camps enjoyed the study of how to develop a Christlike character through Bible study, prayer and self-evaluation. During Sr. High week, we taught electives on Goal Setting, Personal Evangelism and Building Relationships.
Sitting on a platform about 55 feet in a tree, everything was downhill from there. With the safety line attached, you are ready to go. Now you have to muster up the courage and nerve to get off the stand. Off you go. The first few seconds is a free fall of 15 feet until the pulley catches and transports you along the 250 foot line. It is invigorating, it is challenging, and it is fun. That is our newly completed ZIP LINE, the finish to our upper ropes course.
The time has come for the camp to go through a face lift. Projects have been slated for this year to repair and replace some of the more obvious physical needs of Victory Valley. Some of the projects already completed are the shop roof, the nature room roof, paddock gate, barn door, steps beside the dining hall, and other minor projects. We are also completing an overhaul of the kitchen equipment, by replacing the dishwasher, sinks and cupboards. Additions to the camp program have been a new treehouse on the south side of camp, a zip line for the upper ropes course, sheds for archery and ropes course electives and a ceramics program that campers enjoy greatly.
Retreats and rentals for the non-summer months are continuing to be arranged and interest in the camp continues to spread as more contracts are made. The camp is a beautiful place for all types of gather-
ings any time, all year long.
The summer dates for the 1986 season are as follows:
Children’s Camp July 6-12
July 13-19
July 20-26
July 27-August 2
Jr. High Camp August 3-9
August 10-16
Sr. High Camp August 17-23
Adventure Week August 24-30
The Board views two major projects as essential for continued progress at the camp in the coming years.
The first is the purchase of additional property to give room for expanding our ministry and to protect us from the expanded building of new homes in our immediate area that will have a negative impact on our future growth and ministry. Land adjoining Victory Valley Camp is now available for purchase.
The second project is the construction of a large pavilion for rainy day activity.
These projects would be of tremendous help to our year round program.
Our goal is to accomplish these two projects with incurring as little debt as possible.
We, therefore, appeal to the Bible Fellowship Churches to consider Victory Valley Camp in their giving. It is our desire for churches to view the ministry of Victory Valley Camp as a “home missionary” ministry worthy of their support.
Dana E. Weller, Chairman
Bryon Bray, Secretary
John H. Herb, Treasurer
Bright N. Heist
Calvin L. Reed
John Vandegriff
Clayton E. Weber
David L. Weller
Phil Atkins, Director