Future Plans

There have been a lot of questions coming from various friends and family about our future plans. In our last letter we hinted that we would be pursuing other options outside of Youthfront since the seminary piece of our journey is over.

While we care immensely about Youthfront’s ministry to students, we have found the kind of life required here does not match our family needs. So, for this and a few other reasons, we have begun to seek opportunities in other places. Most of our searching has been in the local church, but a few other things have caught our eye also. Our passion for ministry is the same, but the venue will change.

At Youthfront, some transition has already begun to take place. I have moved out of the formal Camp West Manager position into a supporting role for both camps, which will allow them to find the people they need for empty management positions and give me freedom to quickly and easily move into a new ministry role elsewhere.

This also means that we will be moving out of the manager’s house at Camp. In May last year, we bought a fixer-upper in Midtown. We had not done much with it, but over the last couple months I have been spending Saturdays and personal days to get it ready.

Currently, our plan is to remain with Youthfront until God reveals what specific ministry organization or church I will be going to next. When this becomes clear, we will be ready to go.

Thank you for your support and your prayers. I hope you will continue to support us through this transition. Whenever our path has a clear line, we will do our best to update you as soon as possible.

Also, I realize you may have questions. I am always free to talk to you. You can call, email, or stop by and see me anytime.

Kid Corner

Isaiah smiles all the time! He is the happiest baby we’ve ever seen. We like to cuddle, hug, and kiss him all day long. For halloween he was a pumpkin, I (Abi) was a cat, and Anna was a butterfly.

Another Leak

“We’ve got another leak Jon.”

“Where is it?” I asked cautiously.

“Outside cabin 6,” the voice said.

This is the fourth time this year that we have had to dig up the ground to repair an in ground water leak. The weather has been really hard on our underground plumbing.

Thankfully, I rarely have had to do it alone. This time, I got so spend a lot of time with Jeff Birnbaum and David Wilson. For two days we spent a lot time in the bottom of a hole, brushing off PVC pipe (to find the pipe), then making the repairs.

I look forward to the day, when digging up pipes in a muddy mess, is only a memory. But I will always miss the time with guys like Jeff and David.

Pray for them as they help with the ongoing maintenance of facilities. They are incredibly helpful and work for very little. They are a blessing to Youthfront, to camp, and to us.

Working with guys like this makes a difficult job seem easy

Youthfront in the Fall: Blessed and Busy

What happens in the “off-season” at our camps is a little surprising to some.

In the “off-season”, we host retreats at our camps. The first fall retreat happens on the first weekend after camp ends. From then on, almost every weekend till Thanksgiving is full with church groups.

The groups range from 25 to 250 people. In the summer, we have camp for 5-1/2 days, with around 50 summer staff to pull it off. In the fall, we have “camp” type of atmosphere for about 2 days , with 2 staff and a bunch of volunteers.

We love to serve churches in this way. Camp has had such a huge impact in all of our lives, and we are eager to help churches experience those same benefits.

The day after a retreat is usually spent cleaning up. Every building has to be vacuumed, and every bathroom needs to be cleaned.

In the “off-season”, we do projects. The only truly down time for Youthfront Camps is from Thanksgiving to February 1st, which means its the only time for larger projects. During this time we usually do major repairs on buildings, service all of our ATVs, catch up with our supporters, and fix the things that have been driving us crazy all year. Its busy, but its a different kind of busy.

In the “off-season”, things are quite (mostly). This is probably my favorite part of the off-season. When campers are gone things get really quiet. There is a lot of walking with no one in sight. It is common to see no one for days. This gives us a lot of time for thought, prayer, and song. We still have a lot to do, but no one looks at us funny when we walk around talking or singing out loud. The “off-season” is good for our spiritual lives.

All in all, I will miss not only the summers, but also the off-seasons at Youthfront Camp West. They have been always busy and blessed. As we look forward to the future of our ministry. The off-seasons will be something I miss for the rest of my life. The land, the beauty, the people, and the solitude.

The Kid Corner (by Abi)

In this picture Daddy is giving us horsey rides.  A couple minutes after this picture, Anna and I fell off laughing.

We love our new brother.  He is so cute!!  Sometimes, we play with him under his gym and give him kissues and hugs.  Isaiah seems to like us too.  Sometimes, he kisses us back and will even smile at us.

We also like to help Mama push him in the stroller when we go for walks.  When my cousin Elie comes over she likes to help too.

Daddy gives me airplane rides sometimes.

Degree Completion

Most of you know that one of the primary reasons I took the Camp Manager position at Youthfront was to complete my Masters. As of the end of May, I have my Masters in Biblical and Pastoral Studies from Bethlehem College and Seminary (BCS) in Minneapolis.

The degree came a bit unexpectedly. BCS has been in the process of becoming accredited over the last several years. This year, they were given rights to grant the degree from the Minnesota board of Higher Education. Students who had a certain GPA and completed a certain number of hours at BCS were allowed to receive the degree on the basis of their work (even though the classes were taken 5 years ago). After much prayer and consideration, I decided to accept the degree.

Please pray for us as we discover what the accomplishment of this goal means for us and our future.

Some Sights and Sounds of Camp

The sounds of camp are many: the gush of water crashing at the bottom of the water-slide, the low growl of distant ATV rides, kids laughing and singing, a basketball bouncing, kitchen pans clanging, the dish machine’s high pressure water spray, mowers, and pool pumps, the rhythmic beat of a drum paired with a well played guitar, voices of worship leaders, and words from a speaker. As long as I live, I will always associate those things with camp. 

My favorite part of camp, the part which seems to be the most beneficial to our students, is the relationships and discussions they have with their cabin leader and peers. You can see and hear them happen every day here. In fact, the way we structure camp is designed much around creating an environment that is conducive for spiritual growth. We do this by blending relational discipleship, community spiritual formation, and the proclamation of Scripture. 

We have the special privilege and responsibility of presenting God to them in a way that they understand. Then, we get to help them process what the reality of God means for them individually and as a community. Kids get to wrestle with questions, appropriate Scripture to their lives, and see it lived out in the lives of our summer staff as they love and serve one another in community.

Here are some more sights and sounds of camp:

WORK WEEK

Vacuums in an empty dining hall: Before camp got started there was a lot of cleaning to do.    This normally happens during what we call "work week."  It is one of the final weeks before camp starts.  We get a lot of volunteers to come down and help us get ready.

An Empty Swimming Pool:  Before campers came this year, we repainted the pool with the help of some volunteers.

A Blob floating in the middle of the lake:  Every off season we pull our exciting water activity out of the water to have holes patched and annual service done.  In the spring, we put it back in right before camp starts.

More volunteer help:  This year Anthony Heating and Plumbing came down and helped us service every one of our air conditioners.  We are so grateful!  We could not do camp like we do it, without volunteers like this.

 SUMMER STAFF ORIENTATION 

Summer Staff arrive:  After work week, the rest of the summer staff arrive.  The Dining Hall turns into a noisy, fun place filled with college students from surrounding areas.  We have staff from MU, KU, K-State, Miami of Ohio, MNU, and many others.

Ropes Course Repairs:  Right around the time that summer staff arrive, I had to do some repairs on the ropes course.    in this case, I installed a new strand-vise to our two-line bridge.  

Mini-excavator rumbles:  Right before the first day of camp, we had an in-ground water line break.   So, semi-frantically we rented some equipment and dug up the ground to repair it.

 CAMPERS ARRIVE 

A filled Chapel:  Finally campers arrived.  Our chapel is very full when they gather in there every night to sing, and listen to the speaker for the week.

More Volunteers:  After the first week of camp, we had a large crew of volunteers come in to help us paint our cabins.   WITC (What If The Church), a non-profit volunteer-recruiting organization, assembled well over 100 people to come out and help.  Paint was donated, and they brought their own ladders and sprayers.  It was an exciting day.   

Midnight Madness: One of the theme nights for Hype (our fun event time), is called "Midnight Madness".  Everyone wheres glow bracelets and necklaces, we blob at night, the waterside is lit up with neon lights, the disc golf baskets have lights in them.  We even have a neon-lit basket ball.

Water-slide Frogs: In the morning, this is a common sight on our waterside.  For some reason, like to hang out on our waterside.  Its actually a bit of a nuisance, but a good picture nonetheless. 

Shaving Cream wars: During our pre-adolescent weeks, we have shaving cream wars.  Its a favorite for our campers and cabin leaders.  If you have never tried this, you should!  (Just make sure you don't have the kind with aloe or menthol)  Afterwords, they get sprayed down with the fire hose.  

More Shaving Cream war.






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Joy, Fear, and Discovery: Emotions of a Growing Family

Joy: Our third child, Isaiah Jonathan was born on May 5th. He arrived a healthy 7 pounds, 11 ounces.  The labor was relatively easy (as far as I could tell). Isaiah came quickly once the heavy labor contractions started which allowed Amanda to deliver without an epidural. 

There was a lot of excitement in that room as my first boy was delivered. Instantly, life felt different. We were no longer a family with just daughters. Even speaking the words “my son” landed heavily on me.  When I walked back to the waiting room to get our girls, I said, “Abi and Anna, Isaiah came out of Mommy’s tummy! Do you want to see him?”  Ecstatic, they ran with me to meet, in person, their new baby brother. They had been very connected to Isaiah before he was born. At home, they were always interacting with Amanda’s tummy. They would talk to Isaiah, pray for him, sing to him, and hug and kiss him. But now he wasn’t in her tummy any more. The realization was fascinating and joy filled. 

Soon after, the rest of our family came in to see and celebrate our little Isaiah. There were so many happy noises: laughter, chatter, cooing and giggling. It was so fun to share this joy with our family.

Fear: After the birth, they moved us into another room for recovery. Amanda seemed to feel relieved that Isaiah was out and in our arms. Neither of us had any idea that in the next hour, Amanda’s life would be in jeopardy. There was peace and joy for a moment, but soon we would enter into the scariest moments of my entire life.

A nurse helped Amanda into the bathroom. Then suddenly, I heard her grab her phone and call the desk. “We have a bleeder!” she said franticly. Within seconds Amanda was back on the bed and about 8 other nurses and a doctor came into the room. They started pushing around on her tummy, kneading it like dough. Amanda was hemorrhaging (bleeding internally).

I did not understand what was going on at the time. All I knew was that Amanda was bleeding and they were having to do a lot of very painful things to her to make it stop. Kneeling there beside her bed, as I held her hand, I prayed to myself repeatedly, “God please don’t take my wife! Save her! Please, please, please!” I will spare you the details of the procedure itself. Suffice it to say, it was a very painful, emergency procedure done without any sort of anesthesia. After what felt like hours, they finally got the bleeding stopped. Amanda, had lost a lot of blood, but she was still here.

After the crowd of people left, I held Amanda and thanked God as we cried together. We were grateful she was still here and grateful for our new son. 

 
Discovery: After a couple days in the hospital, we headed home. Amanda was sore, but it seemed like everyone was going to be healthy.

When we got home, the girls LOVED their baby brother. They were so fascinated by him. Abi wanted to feed him a bottle. Anna brought toys. They were discovering and re-discovering what it meant to have a a real baby in our family. They would lay by him, and stare at him for long periods. All those things they did to Amanda’s tummy prior to birth, they now wanted to do with him in their arms.

There were a lot of emotions surrounding the birth of Isaiah, and we’re thankful for them all. God has been gracious to us in granting us such a wonderful family.

I can’t help but think about God’s creative relationship with humans when I think about children. When God finished the work of creating people, he looked at his creation and “behold it was very good.” And when God brought Jesus into the world, there were hosts of angels announcing the good news that his son had arrived.

An Update on Amanda

Hey friends and family.  I just wanted to thank you for praying for us.  The delivery of our new baby went really well.   However, after the birth, Amanda had some bad hemorrhaging. It was actually quite scary for us.  Thankfully, they were able to get the bleeding stopped after a VERY painful procedure.  She is quite sore, but seems to be recovering.    

Please pray that the rest of her recovery would be quick and relatively painless ... and thank God for such a handsome, happy, baby boy!  

Grace and peace.

Jonathan

The birth of Isaiah Jonathan Philgreen

Today at 4:15pm Isaiah Jonathan Philgreen was born. He was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long. Thank you for your prayers.

A Couple Prayer Requests

I have a couple prayer requests for you my friends, family and curious ones.

1.  Camp is very quickly approaching and the time is closing for completing last minute tasks.  Unfortunately, if you have not heard there has been a string of injuries on our camp management staff.   Because of the huge amount of work that needs to be done, we have been frantically trying to maintain pace with volunteers and non-management staff so that we will be ready.  Please pray that God would heal our management staff quickly and completely.   Also pray for volunteers.  We have all kinds of jobs that could use help:::  skilled and unskilled, any day of the week.  If you would like to volunteer, give me a call or email me and we'll get you set up with something to do.   Please pray!

2.  We are very close to having our baby.  I don't know when exactly, but we have been on the verge for the last several days.  Please pray for protection over the baby and Amanda.  Pray that she would deliver quickly and without complication.  Also, since we live about a 1/2 hour away from the hospital, please pray we get to there with adequate time, but not too much time.

Next time I write here,  I will most likely be reporting the birth of our new baby.

Thanks for your prayer and support.

Mowing Season

Our grass is beautiful! Since we did some planting and fertilizing in the fall, we have a really healthy stand of grass now.    It was definitely worth the work it took to make it happen.  Other than the dandelions and a couple bare spots our field looks really good and ready for some soccer or ultimate frisbee.  It also means we have mowing to do.    

On Youthfront Camp West Property there is about 40 hours worth of mowing every week (not including trimming and edging).  During camp the grounds crew does it, but during the fall and spring, that responsibility is split between me, my assistant, and the camp community.  Believe it or not, I really enjoy sitting on a mower for several hours.  It gives some good time to think and pray for camp and about the various decisions and responsibilities in my life.  

Do you feel the same way?  Are there any activities you enjoy that allow you to think and pray as you do them?

  

Kite Flying

Click on a picture, to go to a larger slide view.

First Try.  Going great!

Um.... Stay away from that tree!

Stuck.

Fifteen minutes later, we're back up.

Now we're flying.

Anna

Abi

A Kid Update

The lent season has been so much fun with the girls.  We've been trying to find ways to build up to Easter.  One of the ways we've don it is by doing a paper chain.  Each day is counting down to the Jesus rose from the dead.  The girls look forward to each night as they take a link off the chain.

Anna recently discovered mud.  It was interesting enough to her that she decided to take a little dip.

On St. Patrick's day, we practiced our tradition of green popcorn, green eggs and ham, Dr. Seuss, and the Quiet Man.  Anna loved it!

 Our girls love to read books.  Everytime they're at Grandpa and Grandma's house, they ask Grandpa to read to them.

Another fun thing our girls do a lot of is dress up.  I'm not really sure where she got that t-shirt, because its definitely not mine.