From all of us at THE WILDS and THE WILDS of New England, we extend our very best wishes to you for a Christ-blessed New Year! The year of 2008 has certainly been a rollercoaster ride which makes us so grateful for the faithful friends God has given us. Ken Collier says that “We cannot possibly imagine another ministry blessed with so many wonderful ‘up’ friends in this ‘up and down’ world.” Thank you for your encouraging prayers and gifts during this ever-changing year. 

Amidst all the change, we are eager to share with you some amazing blessings of 2008. This year we have seen God answer prayer after prayer for both THE WILDS and THE WILDS of New England.

THE WILDS in North Carolina

We had the privilege of serving over 21,000 campers at THE WILDS with 79 different camps of 26 varieties. Our mission was to “present the Truth of God with the love of God so lives may be changed to the glory of God.” 

During this past summer over 600 young people, both juniors and teenagers, professed Christ as Savior or dealt with assurance of salvation. Over 5,000 campers were given biblical instruction in an area of a specific need.

THE WILDS of New England

In August over 200 junior age campers attended THE WILDS sponsored camp in New England. This was our second summer of camping there, and God changed many hearts as dozens of decisions were made for Christ.

Now for the exciting news that should encourage each of us to pray even more fervently! Through a series of God-ordained events, we now have two signed contracts on the table.

• We have an option for the purchase of our Meredith property that has been exercised and should close by January 10. In our uncertain economy, this is a huge blessing as God seems to be using this sale to help us begin ministry more quickly elsewhere in New England.
• We also have a purchase contract on an existing campsite in southern New Hampshire, 30 minutes southwest of Concord and 30 minutes west of Manchester. This 110-acre campsite will enable us to start summer ministry immediately as the property is zoned, permitted, and able to serve up to 119 campers per week.

We plan to have five weeks of camp in the summer of 2009:

• Teen Camp One (Mike Shrock) - June 8-13
• Teen Camp Two (Keven Brownfield) - June 15-20
• Teen Camp Three (Ryan Dupee) - June 22-27
• Junior Camp One (Bob Roberts) - June 29-July 3
• Junior Camp Two (Ron DeGarde) - July 6-10

Your prayers are being answered. Please pray that we will be able to close on both contracts in January to begin preparing for summer camp. God is so good. Obviously there is much work to be done, volunteers to be organized, and start-up costs to be raised. I cannot adequately explain how important your continuing prayers and support of TWNE are at this very important time. Your generous year-end gifts are always very humbling and sincerely appreciated. The need is especially significant this year. At this time next year I anticipate that we will be rejoicing about what God has done during five special weeks of summer camp at THE WILDS of New England. May you have a joyful time of celebrating the goodness of God as this year comes to a close. God bless you!