“Lord, we really need a camp ranger for Flag Mountain.” I had begun saying this prayer daily since the moment I had finished thoroughly evaluating the mounting facility projects at our South Dakota camp. I wondered how we could complete the necessary work without a summer ranger.
At the office one day, I told my wife, Lynnette, how I wished we could have placed an ad in OUTLOOK Magazine for a camp ranger. However, we knew the ad deadline had already passed, we didn’t have an ad budget, and the next ads wouldn’t run for nearly three months—too late for us. We sadly realized we’d probably have to wait until next summer to get a ranger.
Suddenly, Jodi Dossenko, our conference communication director, called to say she had an unusual question to ask: OUTLOOK needed to fill last-minute ad space within the next couple of hours before it went to print, and did I possibly have anything I could advertise? Yes, yes I did! We said a thank-you prayer, quickly composed an ad, and asked God to bless.
A month later, we were at Andrews University recruiting summer staff when a tall gentleman
approached us to ask if we still needed a camp ranger. He had seen the ad, had previously worked at Flag Mountain Camp, and had always wanted to be a ranger there. He needed to check with his boss to get time off, but he would love for it to work out.
Praise the Lord, it did! God blessed and multiplied our ranger’s efforts. All summer, Ranger Nathan Roe tackled a variety of projects, so our facility could continue to be a place of ministry for many years to come, and in his “spare time,” Roe taught campers blacksmithing. Amazing!
When it comes to camp ministry, God works daily miracles to provide for His kids. Our ranger was prayed for, and God answered through a post-deadline ad. We serve an awesome God!
Ted and Lynnette Struntz serve as youth, camp, and club ministries directors for the Dakota Conference.
