Thanksgiving and Transitions
“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 106)
As another summer finishes at Beacon and we head into the fall season it is a time to reflect and look back with thanksgiving on God’s goodness through-out the summer. Plans for summer 2021 actually started over a year ago, but at that time it was only God who knew what was actually going to take place. As meetings occurred with the full-time staff and the Beacon Board, we tried to understand and predict the impact of COVID on the ability to run camp this past summer, while wanting to keep the ministry of Beacon at the forefront. Plans fell into place for a focused ministry to families through 4 separate weeks of Family camps, along with a brand- new outreach to the local community during 2 weeks of day camps for children and teens.
It is with much thanksgiving that the public health guidelines during the summer allowed us to run these camps. Our family camps reached out to over 50 adults and 70 youth/children and we had over 120 children attend day camps. In addition, some families were able to participate in Beacon Unlimited home projects. Families and children clearly heard the gospel and were challenged to grow spiritually and we have heard stories of the impact Beacon had on individual lives through-out the summer. God is good!
This summer was a particularly challenging one with the implementation of COVID protocols, however it is with incredible gratitude that we thank each every one of the full-time team and summer staff crew who worked tirelessly throughout the summer running programs, cooking, cleaning, doing administrative work and much, much more.
As we head into the Fall season, we are all aware of the ongoing impact of COVID as we enter the 4th wave. This has made it challenging to plan for fall programming at Beacon and at this time we are not planning any on-site camps or rentals during the next few months. Stay tuned for some other fun Beacon activities to do from home this fall. We are prayerfully anticipating that we can start 2022 off with our annual Beacon Family Day Event.
As God continues to lead and guide those who are involved at Beacon, many of you know we will be experiencing some transition over the next few months. Luke LaRocque has played an integral role in leadership at Beacon over the past five years as God has worked through him and allowed him to use his gifts for His glory. Andrew Nunn will be assuming the Executive Director position in early December 2021. We can all be in prayer for Andrew and his wife Marianne, who will be relocating back to Canada from Colombia. We know that God has continued to lead and guide throughout this transition.
During the next few months of transition and minimal Beacon programming you will notice a decrease in our social media posts and blogs. However, we ask that you continue to hold the ministry of Beacon up in your prayers as we know that God is continuing to serve his purpose each and every day.