2013-01-23

Cook's Short Order Update


** Just a Note
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Sunday we had the honor, not only of presenting our ministry at our home church, New Harmony, but also of sharing the time with our ministry founder, Ben Smith. Ben spoke on things that have happened in the last year, like the new office building at camp and the blessing that the body of Christ is. Michelle and I recounted things from this past summer that impacted us. We want to thank our Pastor, David Gidcumb, for allowing us this time.

It was encouraging to get feedback both during the presentation and at our display table. We appreciate those of you who have chosen to be involved in our ministry through prayer and donations.
http://www.campdavidozarks.org/about-us/that-aint-right


** Not Fair
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Children whose parents are incarcerated have many questions and many things they don't really understand. Just because Mom or Dad got arrested for doing something wrong does not mean the child understands. Often, when a parent is arrested in view of a child, the child is not told where the parent is going. The officers may not know at that point. These children are left wondering and confused.

That's not fair.

Please help us help these children by supporting us with prayer and gifts.


** Please... pray
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- for strength and discernment: we feel stretched in many directions
- that we will be able to schedule presentation and recruiting visits in churches
- that we will always be a ministry to our children
- for wood for our furnace


** Praise the Lord!
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- that Bryan is with us for a few more days
- for encouraging friends and times at our church
- for time to present our ministry in our home church
- fun time in basketball for Kaitie and Caleb this weekend
- a new regular supporter joined our team - THANK YOU!


** Looking Ahead
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Our latest update letter should be in the mail this week!
Banquet for Hope - CDO's annual scholarship fund raiser
Time

2013-01-16

Cook's Short Order Update

Just a Note

This past week evangelist Ken Freeman shared several nights and Sunday with out church. Challenging words. Friday, he met the students in an assembly at the high school, and challenged them to make wise choices. As I picked up the students from the high school, I asked them what they thought of Mr. Freeman. Responses were positive, so I invited them to be my personal guests at church the rest of the week. Several showed up on Saturday night! Get that? Teens showing up at a church on a Saturday night! During the invitation many people made the decision to give their lives to Jesus. One young man, from clear in the back, left his friend, and made the decision to become a Christian! He was one of the teens I invited. Praise the Lord for the opportunity to invest in these lives, for a few minutes a day during January.

That Ain't Right

There are, on average, 9000+ children of prisoners within 50 miles in any direction from your current location.
There are more than 1.7 million children of prisoners within the United States.
Few have ever had a personal visit with their incarcerated parent.
Almost 1/2 of all prisoners are parents of children under the age of 10.

That ain't right.

Please help us help these children by supporting us with prayer and gifts.

Please... pray

- for our support, so that soon we will be able to give our full attention to CDO
- that we will be able to schedule presentation and recruiting visits in churches
- that we will find a place closer to camp
Praise the Lord!

- that Bryan is with us for a while
- for a beautiful place to call home
- for smoke in the chimney - HEAT!
- for a great week with our church family!
- another family who has joined our team of supporters!

Looking Ahead

Finishing update letter and mailing list update
Banquet for Hope - CDO's annual scholarship fund raiser

2012-12-24 Short Order Update

Cook's Short Order Update

Notice anything different? The format? It's because we are using a new email format. If you want to try it out just email us at

bruce@campdavidozarks.org and let Bruce know. You can unsubscribe at any time.

** Just a Note
God has interesting timing. In the last couple days He generously supplied extra donations in our mail box and we were breathing thanks to Him. Then, He decided it should be spent on vehicle repair as our van has asked for a gasket replacement and new alternator. Several hundred dollars later, our horse is ready to carry us places again. We thank God for providing what was needed in advance of the need.

We have been blessed with several new supporters. A few individuals have contacted us this month saying they will be helping with our support beginning in January. One is a story of God's providence through the years. In short, someone we supported years ago is now on our support team, both through prayer and finances.

** That Ain't Right
Names changed for safety.

One day this summer, Michelle watched and listened as Grange told a much younger boy, Ty, that he should be with his counselor. Ty didn't see the need. After some conversation Grange insisted because it would be safer that way. Ty still didn't understand. Grange, not knowing who Michelle was, told Ty that, "You don't know what this lady might do." Ty laughed because he knew Michelle. With concern in his voice, Grange said that Ty might not be safe if Grange's dad, or someone like him, came up the driveway at camp. Grange is just a teen.

That ain't right.

** Please... pray
- for our campers - Christmas and New Years Day are tough times for them and their single parent moms/dads
- that we will soon be at full support so our attention won't be so spread out
- that we will find quality staff for this summer
- that we will find a place closer to camp

** Praise the Lord!
- that Bryan is with us for a few weeks!
- for time to refresh as a family last week
- for a beautiful place to call home - THANKS friends!
- for wind in the trees around our home
- several new supporters

** Looking Ahead
New Update Letter coming to your box this month - if you have moved please let us know your new address asap.
Banquet for Hope - CDO's annual scholarship fund raiser

2012-12-16 Cook's Short Order Update

We have been working for a couple weeks (among other critical things) on a different email format. We hope to send it out this week. We appreciate your patience as we get this new format wrapped up.

2012-11-27 Short Order Update

Cook's Short Order Update
Finally, a few moments to write an update.

Thanks giving. Giving thanks. Time with family and friends. We enjoyed a feast with our staff (and some additional family and friends) at Camp David of the Ozarks. Later that evening we helped serve a feast of thanks and worship and food at our church. Saturday was just our family, just the six of us helping prepare the meal, making the house look warm and homey, sharing the day as family.

While we are being stretched in ways that are uncomfortable to painful, God has shown Himself to care for us abundantly. Seeing God's care is where we want to find ourselves, even in the discomfort.

Please pray as we minister this weekend in Rolla. The city is hosting a parade and Camp David of the Ozarks will be in it. What a great time to share in the community.

We rarely ask you directly for anything but maybe that's wrong. If we don't ask, you won't know our needs. So, let me share some things and ask you to pray diligently that God will supply.

We are currently at 22% of our needed monthly living expenses. Bruce is seeking part time jobs that allow us the flexibility to serve at camp during retreats and take trips for recruiting and fund raising, Please pray that we will find work that alleviates our financial burden. While we are thankful, the substitute bus driving is not very substantial.

Michelle is seeking to start a business producing homemade crafts and such. While we are not counting on this for living expenses, it could help when things are very tight. Pray for God's blessing as we plan.

Please know that when God graciously supplies our support need we will budget for these things just like anyone else. In the mean time, we believe our God will meet these needs through people who can't support us on a monthly basis.

We hope you won't see any of this as complaining. God has been so good to us. We have a warm home, we have free heat (takes some work getting the wood cut and stacked), we have food, we have a vehicle that runs great, our kids are serving God joyfully. We are able to obey our Savior because we love Him.

Thank you, each of you who gives and prays, for being so faithful to us through our 3 years of full time ministry. We love you.

Bruce Cook

Staff Ministries Director

Camp David of the Ozarks

573.364.2786

For Michelle (my best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (17), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Find out more at

www.campdavidozarks.org

2012-11-07 Cook's Short Order Update

There we were, in the emergency room, wondering, "How are we going to pay for this?"

Our support raising trip has been exciting. Several hours from our first stop in West Virginia our van electronics quit. It's quite noticeable while you are climbing a steep hill, cruise is on, CD is playing, and all of this quits. We shut everything down and nervously proceeded. A few hills later it happened again, only this time, the engine died as well. 70mph, full van, no power steering... I put the van in neutral and restarted it. It worked! So, what's going on? We will make it?

We sent out a request for you all to pray. You did. Praise the Lord for technology! God provided and we made it safely to Mount Tabor Baptist Church, Beckley, WV. We shared our burden for serving with Camp David of the Ozarks and rested Sunday afternoon. After the evening service we visited with some friends, ate way too much and came back to the church apartment.

For no apparent reason I began coughing (heavy upper respiratory congestion) and itching in my hands. My hands and feet began swelling quickly. This has NEVER happened before so we decided to seek medical attention. I was given allergy medications and steroids and sent home. By Monday morning the swelling was mostly down. But the van was still being really cranky.

It turns out that one of the bolts on the battery cables was stripped. Replaced that and Chevy Astro seems to be happy.

I am spending most of Tuesday and Wednesday hanging out at Appalachian Bible College visiting with students. Pray that God will send us (CDO) many great young people to serve as counselors next summer.

We spend the evening with Bryan last night, sharing our ministry in Fellowship Bible Church tonight, enjoying WV Thursday, heading to Indiana on Friday, sharing our ministry in Pine Ridge Bible Church Sunday and World Missionary Press on Tuesday.

Happy Birthday to our middle child, Caleb. He turned 17 on our way here. We celebrated his life by attacking him with silly string and a cookie cake in the van. We love you, Caleb!!!

Thank you for being faithful pray-ers,

Bruce Cook

Staff Ministries Director

Camp David of the Ozarks

573.364.2786

Michelle (my beautiful best friend), Bryan (22), Nate (20), Caleb (17), Kaitie (13), Seth (10)

Find out more at

www.campdavidozarks.org

Special Update - 2012-11-01

We are sending this as a special request for prayer. We are leaving for West Virginia Saturday, God willing, but have a small mountain of stuff to accomplish for this trip to be worthwhile. Will you pray that God will give us efficient thinking, and help us discern what is really important in the next 2 days?

Thank you for partnering with us,

Bruce for Michelle, Nate, Caleb, Kaitie, Seth