My first summer at Deerfoot Lodge, I was surprised that the Guides and older campers pretty much brought their own backpacks.  I soon learned the DL back packs were in really bad condition.

While moving from Texas, friend and Guide leader Jeff Littauer was opening camp for me.  I arrived and staff training began.   DL was a wilderness camp.  I had never checked out the tripping equipment.

Yes, the back packs were in miserable shape.  The packs had served well, but now had holes, broken zippers, and missing buckles and straps – and there was no money to replace them..

When the mother of campers Aaron and Greg Welsh arrived, saw the mess we were in, she told me she would fix the packs.  Elsbeth and husband, Earl, left with a car full of essentially unusable packs.  When they returned to pick up their camper sons, it was obvious Elsbeth had done little else than sew patches and replace zippers and broken straps during the 2 week session.  Elsbeth had ordered the zippers and straps from the manufacturing company of each type pack.  When Elsbeth and Earl left with Aaron and Greg, they took more unusable packs with them.  When I went on my February recruiting trip I picked up repaired packs, and brought the rest of the packs for repair.

Romans 12:4-8 “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; 

Matthew 6:3 “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”

Few knew of Elsbeth’s service, her generous giving.

Let us go and do likewise!

One day a Deerfoot camper’s mom and dad came to DL to give, in memory of their son, a framed stained glass picture of a white sailboat on a blue lake.  Their son loved Deerfoot Lodge, and this beautiful, very simple stained glass picture was placed in a window at the kitchen end of the dining hall.

At age 12 their son had taken his own life.   From what I could learn, his was a close, loving Christian family, very active in their church. What happened did not make sense to anyone I talked to.

This tragedy came to mind as I prepared to lead the memorial service of a 90 year old friend, Doug Stanton.

When we bought our home in Greenville, I went to the Stanton Insurance Agency to purchase our home owner’s policy.  As I talked to Marge Stanton about the needed insurance, she drew a curved line.  I then drew a curved line.  The two lines were the outline of a fish – the fish affixed to the back of many cars.

Marge smiled and asked if I was a Christian, for this is the way early Christians would sometimes identify themselves.

Marge then invited me to the church where she, and her husband, Doug, were members.

When our family began to attend the church, we essentially knew no one in the community.  Our children were just beginning to attend new schools – never easy!  Doug Stanton, a soft spoken farmer, soon introduced himself. Doug’s family had been farming in Greenville for over 200 years. The Stanton family helped found the church, and helped with the building of the new sanctuary in 1872. The Stanton’s seemed to know everyone – including Dirk’s school teachers.  Dirk was 12. Doug was 60.  Week after week we would attend the church, and frequently Doug would have a conversation with Dirk.  Doug would listen, encourage, ask a question, listen and encourage…. Occasionally Doug would bring old pictures of Greenville and of their farm for Dirk to see.

Harry Auble was a retired wrestling coach, and he and his wife, Marge, were also church members.  Harry was a short, stocky man – and came across like the coach he had been for 40 years.   Harry also made it a point to get to know Dirk.

Harry would greet Dirk with a big smile; probably a laugh, and a firm hand shake…”How ya doing this week, Dirk?” Occasionally Harry would really talk with Dirk…..far beyond the greeting.

Doug was quiet….soft spoken.  And Harry – big voice, big laugh.  Both understood boys.  These men were an incredible support for a 12 year old boy new to his school, community, and church.   During college, and after, Doug, Harry and Dirk were friends.

Did the 12 year old Deerfooter I remember when I see the stained glass boat on the water have men at his church who demonstrated their personal interest in him week after week – year after year?

Yesterday was the fall festival at church.  I arrived with 6 containers of dahlias to be sold at the nature table (they sold for 25 cents each!).  I asked a high school student I did not know if he could help me take the flowers to the table.   Smile: “sure”.  I learned his name was David.  I saw him twice in the afternoon and greeted him by name – more smiles.  Later I sat across the table from a teenager sitting by himself, eating a hamburger.  He seemed mentally challenged as he proudly told me he helps his mom teach Sunday school – so he must be around church.  It is easier to be with people I already know – but I need to discipline myself to get to know these two young men.  David will be easy. The other young man will be a stretch, but perhaps more important.  I can do it.

Jesus said:   “Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me”  Matthew 18:5

Several times each summer I would be walking through the kitchen and Wazican, who was with the kitchen and other staff 12 hours a day, would greet me with a smile, almost a laugh, and say “Chief Chuck, we need to talk.”

Immediately I knew Wazican was going to tell me something I needed to hear. If it was between meals, he would leave what he was doing and we would walk out the back door of the kitchen.

Still with his smile/laugh, Wazican said “Chief, the guys knew Hutch was a mess, (20 support staff had bunks there) but it was not too cool to go up there and throw the clothes on the floor into a huge pile in the center of the room! Chief…!!!! It was your first visit after you warned them. If you had just put the stuff on the floor on the closest bunk, they would have gotten the message. If they didn’t, then go make your pile!”

“Chief, the DL staff really wants to play Camp-Of-The-Woods in basketball! The Camp-of-the-Woods staff says we beat them in soccer twice, but could never beat them in basketball (they run a basketball camp). Can I take our basketball players over Friday, right after lunch? I think we can beat them!” And we did.

“Chief, when ____ drove a maxi-van to the island bridge (Never drive to the bridge!) to drop off Island staff laundry and got stuck in the mud and rubbed the side of the van against a tree, he knew he was in trouble!

Why come down on him so hard? He’d learned his lesson. The damage was done.”

“Chief, some of the guys are getting in pretty late on their days off.”

“Chief, let me have____ in the kitchen for a session. Don’t send him home. I think I can get him to be on time, to work harder. Let’s not let anyone go home without having a good experience at DL. He needs a lot of help.”

Wazican knew my heart, and I knew his. We both wanted DL to be a great place for the DL staff and campers, a place where young men would have fun and learn a lot about all kinds of stuff – about life. We both knew godly young men are not born that way.

Life is short! Pride is awful!

I want to hear God say “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Who wants you to be their “Wazican”? Have you accepted this responsibility?

For whom should you be a “Wazican?” Can you do this while building your relationship with the person?

Who should be your “Wazican”? Should you ask people in different areas of your life to be your “Wazican”? A trusted friend from church? Your spouse? One of your kids? A person who really knows you from work?

Invited feedback is much easier to receive than correction we need, but would like to ignore.

Living In Partnership With God requires that we live in partnership with people.

I think I had to do this last year too.

I do not anticipate being able to prepare and send an In Partnership With God every week.

This past weekend Sally Jo and I were at DL. On at least one future weekend I anticipate we  will be at DL for a Lone Eagle Ceremony.

On a future week Sally Jo and I will be assisting with staff training at Moose River Outpost in Maine where Craig Boronow is the Director and Seth is the Director of a Rapids Rafting and Rock Climbing company.

We already know we will be in NYC for another weekend….and so it will go.

I already have 2 or 3 in mind,  so…you can watch for them.  If you miss one, let me know and I will send it to you.

chuck

Our grandchildren’s toy box is an old, gray, wooden trunk.   Heavy tin protects each edge; the handles and strap hinges were hammered into usefulness.  This trunk was used by my father’s aunt, when she was a missionary from Germany to the West Indies.  My dad’s grandparents and parents were Christians, and my dad became a Christian.

My mom’s father sold his successful lumber company to become a student at the Moody Bible Institute.  My mom was raised to know and love the Lord.  My parents were medical missionaries in China, where I was born. We have many items in our home which remind us of those China years.  I received the Christian life and faith my parents taught me.  Mom regularly read me Christian children’s books and helped me memorize many verses and Psalm 1 and Psalm 23.

Our family of 6 worked at being together every night for supper.   If there was an athletic practice….the family waited. Having eaten, my father would read the Bible to our family.   This was the same pattern in Sally Jo’s home.  Many times, when I would go to pick her up for a date, I would sit at the table until Dad Hoppe had finished reading the Bible. Our families were active in their churches.   Beginning in high school, Sally Jo and I took time alone with the Lord to read and to pray.   In college we both taught Sunday school classes.  At each of the 7 Christian camps I attended, the Christian faith that I had been taught at home was reinforced.

This was the spiritual foundation I brought, as a counselor, to Christian camping, and I looked for a solid spiritual foundation when selecting the Deerfoot summer staff.  Every person seeking summer employment completed a staff application – even the 85% whom I knew through their previous summers at DL. After reviewing their applications and checking their references, I would check my sources including college faculty, DL families, and pastors.  Those hired without previous DL experience were usually the close friend of a staff member.  When interviewing, I assumed nothing.  My questioning was intense.  I honestly tried to “scare them off!”

Through this process I met some incredible young men who had not grown up in Christian homes, but had worked hard to build the foundation in themselves which others received at home.  It was a heavy responsibility to select a staff able to present, clarify and reinforce the Biblical knowledge and personal relationship with Jesus Christ in a way pleasing to the Lord.   With only 3 weeks of staff training, it was impossible to teach the needed Biblical foundation.

Here are a few topics we covered during staff training:  daily and weekly schedules, camp songs and games, learning to prepare and lead cabin devotions, how to give a testimony, how to lead a camper to Christ, the 11 instructional areas, Life Guarding, Wilderness First Aid, and CPR for the Professional Rescuer, the 4 book One Minute Manager series, and the books How to Really Love Your Child, and Bringing out the Best in People..  Returning staff did most of the teaching – what better way to learn than to teach 50 peers with high academic standards!   I would help staff prepare – and then critique the results.  Fun…until I had to teach my five or six subjects in an exemplary way!   The staff would also take a 3 – 4 day High Peaks hike.  Each week we would participate in the Breaking of Bread service, and we ended staff training with a camp fire and banquet night. As you read this, the 2013 staff is in training.

I know that many of you who read this were “my” campers and staff members.  I believed each of you desired to be and build godly men.  You confirmed this verbally.   In preparation for summer camp, I worked at encouraging and equipping you to be a godly man, and encouraged and equipped you to build godly men through preparing and leading great devotionals, helping with their Bible reading – and teaching your campers how to swim, cook over an open fire, and to hike small and large mountains.    How are you doing as a father?  Are you passing on what you received?

As we live In Partnership With God, we continue to live in this life changing cycle.  We need to receive, to change, and to share.  I continue to work at this.  Saturday morning I led a study for 15 men – comparing what the Bible says about Baptism with our church’s theological position and practice.  During the day our grandsons were here.  Sunday I sang in the church choir, and on Monday morning, in my devotions, I continue my study of John’s gospel.

I was 7 years old when our family went to a conference at Winona Lake, Indiana.  When I learned that the conference had a day camp, I wanted to be part of it. My parents gave me this opportunity – which started my life long enjoyment of summer camp.  My Mom and Dad were delighted with my interest in “going to camp” and over many summers gave me the opportunity to attend at least 6 camps.

In 1929 Dad Kunz worked with a British pastor to establish Pioneer Camp, 160 miles north of Toronto, Canada.  The following year Dad Kunz founded Deerfoot Lodge.  My father was a Deerfoot counselor and camp doctor (he was in medical school) in 1932 when Deerfoot was on the Kunjamuck River, and then again in 1933 when Deerfoot Lodge relocated to Whitaker Lake. My father must have learned about Pioneer Camp from Dad Kunz.

When I was 9 and 10 years old, my parents gave me the opportunity to spend 6 weeks each summer at Pioneer Camp.

At Pioneer I was given the opportunity of learning to swim – and to learn campcraft, canoeing, archery, hand craft, and other camping skills.  It was at Pioneer that I was given the opportunity to go on my first canoe trip.  Time and again my counselor, Mitch, and other staff members, gave me the opportunity to try new things, learn new skills.  These special people knew how to move from my comfort zone to my stretch zone – where I gained skills and/or new information.  Soon my new stretch zone experience became part of my comfort zone.  As my skills developed, my self-confidence grew.   At Pioneer I earned my basic in swimming, and gained the self-confidence to swim down the lake – it was a mile.  In August 1950, when I was ten years old, I received an 10” X 12” certificate that I still have:

The Royal Life Saving Society

This Elementary Certificate Awarded to

CHARLES GIESER

Pioneer Boys’ Camp

FOR PASSING THE ELEMENTARY TESTS OF THE SOCIETY IN LIFE SAVING,

SURFACE DIVING, SWIMMING, AND THE RESUSCITATION OF THE APPARENTLY DROWNED.

After 6 weeks at Pioneer Camp, weeks of encouragement and affirmation, I really did arrive home a different person.

When I became Deerfoot’’s new Director, I had never seen Deerfoot in operation.  What I found was that the purpose and program at Deerfoot Lodge were almost identical to what Dad Kunz had helped organize at Pioneer Camp.  Even the awards patches I earned at Pioneer were identical to the awards patches campers and staff could earn at Deerfoot Lodge …and they were presented in the same way – before the entire camp.

As the Director of Deerfoot Lodge I was given the opportunity to help staff move from their comfort zones into their stretch zone.   As understanding and skill levels grew, their self-confidence grew. Though less measurable, staff members gained leadership skills, counseling skills, learned to prepare and give good cabin devotions.

Staff members can be given the opportunity to become godly young men, only because God’s people have given to Deerfoot Lodge their prayer support, wisdom, hard work, money for operating and scholarships, encouragement, and equipment needed for many purposes.   Staff members are only at DL because of the gifts of their parents: food, shelter, bicycles, school clothes, swimming and/or piano lessons, and summers when they had the freedom to be at camp.

Just as I have given of myself and what I know to staff members, staff members are able to give of themselves, and what they know to campers….who may become Guides who may become Counselors who may become Section Chiefs, who may become Guide Leaders who may become Camp Directors.  The circle of giving continues.

May Deerfoot Lodge be a model of what we should do with the gifts we receive as we live In Partnership With God.

I Know the Lord Wants Me to Be Happy!

The staff member’s voice and body language, as he gave the 7:00 AM staff meeting devotional, underlined the superficial message:  “Don’t Worry!  Be Happy!  Life atDeerfoot Lodge this summer will be wonderful…easy!  We’ll have a ball!”

Who hired this guy?  He must have been a young, 1^st year staff member at the beginning of the summer.   When he finished, I remember saying that we should be happy this summer, not because Life at the Lodge would be all fun and games, but because we were serving our Lord and Savior.  Things would get really tough/challenging for many of us – not fun!  Regardless of the circumstance, we should be happy in the biblical sense:  enjoying well being and contentment – because we believe we are doing the good works God had prepared for us to do.

This devotional, given years ago, came to mind this past Memorial Day work weekend, when 115 came to DL to work!  The dining hall roof was to be re-placed; logs were to be peeled for the log cabin currently under construction.  More screen doors for cabins were to be built – Peter Stark’s doors last!  The fuel tanks and their roof and containment tank were to be moved to behind the maintenance building.  (Russell Naysmith brought his huge excavator from NJ – the roof was cut free from the base and carried to position.  Then the cement slab with 3’ cement block walls was carefully pulled and lifted to its new location).  There were many trees to be cut and split, particularly in the Woodsman section, the result of several storms during the previous 9 months.  Camper cabin screens were to be replaced, log stairs to be built.  The work list was long!!

Saturday’s temperature was between 32 and 37 degrees.  It drizzled or rained all day – except during lunch when it snowed for a brief time.  At times the wind was strong.  The weekend was like summer camp when it rains.  The program does not change very much.  And so the workers, soaking wet and cold, continued to replace the roof, peel the logs, cut and split wood.  And at the end of the day, do we really think 115 people were able to get hot showers?

Were the 22 men “ha, ha, happy” when they went to the Hutch cabin to crawl into sleeping bags that had been absorbing moisture and staying cold through the day.  It was even tougher to go back to a bunk in a Woodsman cabin, crawling into your damp sleeping bag, knowing the wind might blow in rain during the night as it had during the day. Throughout the weekend there was talk about the lousy weather – but I do not remember anyone complaining about their work or their housing assignment.

During the Breaking of Bread service we shared, we sang- we worshiped the Lord, enjoying well-being and contentment.

The food was excellent as usual – even though Chef Shawn Barnett did not arrive until Saturday afternoon due to flight problems.  Breakfast at 7:00 AM and everyone was on time.  Break at 10:30 – many kept working through the break.  Lunch at 1:00, and people were late.  Break at 4:30 – many kept going.  Supper at 7:00…and again, many were late.  Having the facility ready for the staff and campers was the focus.  The weather was the challenge to overcome.

The Deerfoot experience, particularly for the staff, develops a mental toughness!  I remember a staff training hike when many of the High Peaks trails were streams of water or swampy ponds.  I was wearing moisture absorbing socks.  They absorbed moisture to the place where my feet were in pain; my circulation was being cut off, my toes turned blue.  We pushed through the situation. Counselors can get a cabin full of problem campers – sometimes it is the campers themselves and the problems they bring.  At other times…it is the chemistry of the cabin.  Two weeks of dealing with situation after situation – but never quitting.  At DL we continually learn about physical, mental and spiritual toughness.

The Lord does want me to be happy – if this happiness is defined “enjoying well being and contentment”.  At DL the staff and campers sing “I’m so happy in Jesus every day”.  This can be true in a very significant way, when we live “In Partnership With God”.

Which is more important?  To have a Director of Food Service/Chef who provides excellent food, meal after meal, or a man who builds godly young men?

This is not a theoretical question!  Twice Deerfooters who became Directors of Christian camps have asked how I feel about their keeping maintenance men who know the facility but not Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

At Deerfoot Lodge every staff member has two jobs.  One is doing the work of his job description. The other?  Building godly young men.  The excellence of the how the Camp Director leads the camp and the consistency of his Christian living should encourage the Facility Manager to improve the quality of his work and the excellence of his Christian living, which should encourage these things in those who work for him.

Setting our hearts and minds to being godly men may greatly reduce our sinfulness, but we will continue to sin.  This being true, part of living the Christian life is acknowledging our sin before God, and before the people we have wronged.

One summer I decided campers and staff might find life easier if there was less caffeine available, particularly in the form of Coca-Cola.  This decision turned out to be much harder on the staff than on the campers.  Wazi and others questioned the wisdom of my decision, but, chain-of-command – they would live with my decision.

Shortly thereafter Wazican asked if he could have a few minutes with me.  I could tell he was upset about something.  When we were alone he told me he had been hiding Cokes in the walk-in cooler.  He knew this was wrong, said he would get rid of the Cokes immediately, and asked my forgiveness.

The kitchen staff knew Wazican was hiding the Cokes in the cooler.  They learned how Wazican came to me and admitted his deception.  Wazican was God’s man – and his words and his actions spoke the same truth.  One evening each week, after the dishes, pots, and the kitchen were cleaned, the kitchen staff would get together around the fire-pit at Wazican’s cabin.  It was easy for Wazican to move from daily living to Christian living, as for the Christian, these are the same.  The kitchen staff experienced Christian community at the kitchen level, and they experienced the larger Christian community which is Deerfoot Lodge.  Community encourages our right relationship with God and men.

(My decision did not seem to produce any good results!    Bad Idea!    Coca Cola came back!)

Wazican has probably forgotten the Cokes in the cooler. I have not, for his example of integrity has challenged me to be a man of integrity – many times.

My guess is that we have forgotten the many times we have done what is right.  How we work and live does affect others.

A few weeks ago I was on the playground at our grandson’s school.  As we walked across the grass playing field he found a pencil, picked it up and ran with it to the leader of the after-school program.

Which is more important?  Our job description work or our building godly young men?  Both are essential!

How we do our work is obvious.  May how we live our lives be only the tip of the iceberg of how we live In Partnership With God.

I called Dean Dover/Wazican to double check the correct meaning of Wazican – his chosen Lone Eagle name.  Wazican means Great Northern White Pine.  Dean said: “I chose Wazican because I would like to be as a Great Northern White Pine. I desire to stand straight and tall for the Lord Jesus Christ, and to shelter and care for others – being a Christian, not just on Sundays, but 365 days a year.”

Deerfoot Lodge is known for its great food!  96% of the campers indicate this on their camper questionnaires.   For years the man behind the consistently excellent camp meals was Wazican. Wazican knew how to encourage his staff of 11, order the food, prepare about 144,000 excellent meals each summer, while staying under his food budget.  Every time we went to the dining hall we expected, and were served, great food.

The reason Wazican worked so hard to prepare the quality meals was not for personal recognition.  It was to help Deerfoot Lodge be a place where campers and staff wanted to come to be taught how to be godly young men – and be encouraged to continue to be God’s men, long after they left Deerfoot Lodge.

Wazican’s top priority, his real joy, was building godly young men – inside of and outside of the kitchen.  Wazican worked at being God’s man – at doing what was right before the Lord – every time.

It was the Sunday morning after Session IV.  The campers had left, and the staff had come together for our last Breaking of Bread service of the summer.  To my knowledge every person present had received God’s free gift of salvation.  Every person there had been seeking to live a godly life, and through this, had encouraged others to be godly people.  We had prayed that God would use us for His glory.  And He had!  It was an incredible summer.

We were together to celebrate the reality that Jesus Christ had died on a cross, had given Himself as a sacrifice for our sin.  With grateful hearts we sang hymns, read Bible verses, and many shared how our lives had been changed through the work of the Holy Spirit during our summer together.

When we came to the Lord’s Table, as we bowed our heads and hearts before the Lord, we became very aware of our sinfulness and God’s sinlessness.

Yes, the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness) had been evident in our lives – but not consistently, and we knew it.  Galatians 5:22

Yes, we did focus of what was true, and noble, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable, and excellent, and praiseworthy—but not consistently, and we knew it.  Philippians 4:8

It was in this context that Wazican prayed in full voice with deep emotion:  “Lord, teach us to hate our sin!”

To this day I will pray: “Lord, teach me to hate my sin!”

After years of being a Food Service Director/Chef, Wazican is now responsible for the care of the international students who attend Houghton Academy.  When they arrive at the Academy, most do not understand what Jesus Christ has done for them through His death and resurrection.  The way Wazican earns his living has changed, but his deep desire has not changed.

Wazican seeks to live In Partnership With God.  For those who know him, this is evident.