Carry Me Back to Dear Old Twin Rocks

In 1925, shortly after Twin Rocks Friends Camp was established (1918), a Summer Conference Song Book was published, with about 40 songs from our camp's early years. They are full of wonderful frivolity, and give a glimpse of Twin Rocks in its infancy.

Here are two of my favorites (please note that in those early days, Twin Rocks was the site of only one week of camp each year, held each August and referred to as "Conference"):

CARRY ME BACK TO TWIN ROCKS
Tune: Carry Me Back to Old Virginny
By: H.N. and M.E.B., Springbrook, Ore.

Carry me back to dear old Twin Rocks;
There's where the live young Friends should all pack up and go.
There's where we sing Saturday eve by the campfire;
There's where the waves gleam in sunsets golden glow;
There's where the boys are so brown, brave and handsome
There's where the cook is an angel, so they say;
There's where the girls are so merry and gladsome;
There in God's great out-doors swept by ocean spray.

Chorus:
Carry me back to dear old Twin Rocks.
There's where we all can learn of more service to be;
There's where we gain strength to meet all life's burdens;
Out at the Young Friends Conference by the sea.

Carry me back to Twin Rocks Conference.
There's where we were in days of Nineteen twenty-four;
There's where they teach us the plan of Salvation;
There's where we meet the friends we've known before;
There's where the classes are all so inspiring;
There's where the songs are about our redemption;
There's where we meet new friends from every quarter;
There in God's great out-doors swept by ocean spray.


OUR CONFERENCE HOME
Tune: Maryland, my Maryland
By: Hazel Newhouse

This is the place young friends love best,
Old Twin Rocks, our old Twin Rocks;
Our conference home far to the west;
Old Twin Rocks, our old Twin Rocks,
Beyond the bay of Tillamook,
Out there on Ocean Lake we look;
Oh fair it is our shaded nook:
Old Twin Rocks, our old Twin Rocks.

The ocean has a stirring call,
At the beach, down at the beach.
A fishing go, come one and all
At the beach, down at the beach.
A bathing in the ocean blue,
A boating on the lake with you,
A hiking in the morning dew,
At the beach, down at the beach.

At His command we will "launch out";
Conference, at conference.
Let down our nets, we will not doubt.
Conference, at conference.
In one short week of work and play,
We try to seek the Master's way,
And this shall be our dauntless lay
Conference, OUR conference.

Much has changed at Twin Rocks since 1925: 40 buildings today versus one then, 120 acres today versus three then. But I'm amazed by how consistent the purpose of Twin Rocks has remained over the decades: Encountering Jesus Christ on the Oregon Coast.

A special thanks to Sharon Hayden, whose family holds a long and close connection to Twin Rocks Friends Camp. Last week we received a donation of three of these wonderful song books from Sharon. Thanks, Sharon!

The Desire to Please You

Three mornings this week, Jamie Johnson sent Surfside Campers out to enjoy a "Solo Time" with God. In addition to recommended Scripture passages and reflection questions, Jamie encouraged campers to pray a wonderful prayer from Thomas Merton's "Thoughts in Solitude."

It gives me tremendous joy to know that our high school campers have been praying this prayer this week:

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude" (copyright Abbey of Gethsemani)

Nazarene Youth Upon the Cornerstone

For the last four summers (and 11 of the past 13), youth from Nazarene churches across Oregon have congregated for a week of summer camp at Twin Rocks.

It's a familiar scene, where groups outside the Friends denomination rent the camp for their own programs. We provide the food, meeting rooms, play fields, lifeguards at the lake, and clean cabins to sleep in. The renters bring their own cabin counselors, worship leaders, camp pastors, and recreation directors.

We love these partnerships, and enjoy seeing God at work. This morning I sat outside the Meetinghouse and listened to Clint Tafoya, a youth pastor from Colorado, speak to the 175 Nazarene youth and staff gathered inside. He shared from Ephesians 2:19-21, reminding campers that true meaning in life is found by building our lives upon the "cornerstone" of Jesus Christ.

What a joy it is for me to hear God's message proclaimed at Twin Rocks, even across denominational lines.

Servant Leaders

SLP Staff Members 2011

What a joy it was yesterday to hear members of our Servant Leadership Program (SLP) summarize the past five weeks to their parents. The SLP is made up of 10 high school students who serve Twin Rocks in a wide variety of ways: as junior counselors to elementary age kids, as behind-the-scenes workers in the dish room and elsewhere, and as "campers" learning to grow deeper in their faith with Jesus Christ.

Here are a few words I heard yesterday at the conclusion of the 5-week program:

• About Counseling at Girls Camp:
  "We gave several girls a Bible of their own and got to show them how to use it. We spent cabin times showing the girls how to find things in the Bible."
  
  
• About Counseling at Boys Camp:
  "God didn't need me, but he showed me that he was happy to use me in the kids' lives."
  
  
• About the SLP community:
  "I had no idea how much of a family we would become."
  "Even when we were working through something difficult we found joy and saw God in it."
  "I really got to know people on a deep level."
  "I didn't expect to be so attached to these people."
  
  
• About Relationship with God:
  "Most rewarding? Being able to look back and see how much I've grown in my relationship with God and as a person."
  "It was an atmosphere where I was really encouraged to grow in my relationship with God."

In follow-up to these comments, a couple of parents stood and shared:

• "I'm blown away by how much he's grown in five weeks!"
• "I can't thank you enough."

I'm deeply impressed by these 10 young people - by their maturity, by their willingness to serve campers and one another, and by their strong commitment to following Jesus Christ. And I'm grateful for Interns Scott Bay and Emily Smith who spent hundreds of hours preparing for and implementing the SLP program.

Post-It Note Prayers

Some of the "Post-It Prayers" from Tween Campers

Last week at Tween Camp, we had 240 middle schoolers in attendance - an all-time record. During one class taught early in the week by Associate Director Joseph Thouvenel, campers were encouraged to write a prayer to the Lord on a post-it note and place it on a window.

After class, I wandered over to the windows to peruse the prayers. I was amazed by the depth of the content displayed in the prayers. A few made me laugh, like the one which said "Please help camp to be more fun than it is now." Others made me hurt for these dear young people. Several caught my attention:

• Help my mom get well so she isn't in pain anymore.
• I've been confused about my life. My friends have been telling me to do the opposite of what my heart is. I just really need guidance.
• Heal my heart.
• Dear God, Please be with me and my friends back home so that we can see each other and begin talking again. Amen
• To stop making the same mistakes.
• I pray I survive this week.
• For me to listen to God more.
• Please help me become more confident in myself. And help me not let my fears of not being wanted hold me back.
• Dear God, Can you help my mom not get thrown out of the house that she is in?
• This week I pray that God will reveal that I am unique in my own special way and I don't have to be like everybody else.
• Help me get more friends!
• I hope my parents do not get divorced.
• Dear God, please help me become the person you want me to be.
• God, please help my attitude towards my family.
• To have clear/clean skin.
  
• Help me to really enjoy reading my Bible.
• I would like to be strong enough to overcome my homesickness.
  

Perhaps as you read this, a few of these prayer requests capture your heart. If so, maybe you can take a moment and say a prayer to the Lord for the person who wrote that prayer. Thanks!

The Message of the Meetinghouse

Overhead view of Meetinghouse under construction in 1928

This morning after breakfast, I pored through a stack of old Twin Rocks photos recently donated by a friend of the camp. The images dated back to the 1920s, and showcased the tremendous physical changes enjoyed by the camp throughout its 93 year history. One photo in particular caught my attention - it was of the Meetinghouse under construction in 1928.

My interest in the photos distracted me from my day's agenda, so I was late arriving to a Girls Camp chapel session in the Meetinghouse. As I settled into a seat at the back of the Meetinghouse, the old photos were fresh in my memory.

Soon the girls were singing these words:
I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began my life was in His hands

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls and hears me when I call

A bit later, camp speaker Elizabeth Sherwood shared from John 10:10, where Jesus says: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Girls Camp 2011 in Meetinghouse

I couldn't help but think about the thousands of campers who have been in the Meetinghouse over the past 83 years, and the consistent message which has been proclaimed within its walls.

Those who raised the trusses for the Meetinghouse in 1928 certainly wouldn't have imagined the Powerpoint slideshows, video projectors, or wireless microphones which would one day grace the building. But they certainly would have resonated with the message - that we have a Maker who knows our name and desires that we, through Him, might live our lives to their fullest.

What a joy it is to see the continued proclamation of Jesus here at Twin Rocks Friends Camp.

Girls Camp 2011

Rugged Country Plants at Twin Rocks!

Twin Rocks Summer Staff Miranda Cooper & Rebekah Cammack
Planting Donated "Rugged Country Plants"

I am ever so grateful for the many friends of Twin Rocks Friends Camp. It's sometimes hard to believe the generosity of so many people who come together to make the ministry of Twin Rocks successful.

This month I'm especially grateful for the family of Sean & Rebecca Currans. Their family holds a long and rich history here at Twin Rocks, so when they chose to close (at least temporarily) their Rugged Country Plants nursery based out of Milton-Freewater, Oregon, the Currans chose to donate more than 12,000 plants to the camp!

Many were bushes and shrubs, including plants like twinberry, spirea, and mockorange. They also sent several varieties of wildflowers, including blanket flower and penstemon.

And this is the perfect year for Twin Rocks to receive thousands of native plants, as we are in the process of restoring the land following last summer's installation of a new road around the perimeter of camp. Twin Rocks' Grounds Coordinator Joel Thomas is ecstatic, noting that this gift has saved the camp thousands of dollars and enabled him to begin reestablishing a natural camp landscape much faster than earlier projected.

We couldn't be more pleased. What a gift it is to have friends like Sean, Rebecca, Levi, Hillary, and Hannah Currans. Thank you!

Summer Staff Members Kimmee Hoecker, Tim Engle, and Rebekah Cammack