Spring has sprung here at THE OAKS! We have been blessed with a rainy winter (rainy to us, at least), and things are looking pretty green around here because of it! Trees are in bloom and we also have some beautiful flowers springing up around camp and in our area. We always savor this time of the year because in a couple of months things will start turning brown again and will stay that way until next year.

March ended up being quite busy! It started off with me making a trip to Cleveland, Ohio for my sister, Bethany’s brain surgery. The surgery went great and she is at home and recovering well. It was a huge blessing to be able to go and be a support to her and my parents, and to see some of my extended family as well! Please continue praying for Bethany and my parents. This surgery was part of a blind experimental trial, and so for five months they will not know if the device implanted in her brain is turned on or off (to test for the placebo affect). Once the five months is over, they will turn it on and the trial period will continue for another year. Praise the Lord that the surgery went well and everything is going as planned so far.

A couple of weeks ago, Jared attended the Christian Camp and Conference Association (CCCA) sectional conference in Prescott, Arizona. He was one of the seminar leaders, leading a 5-hour seminar on media and website design for Christian camps. Despite being sick, the seminar went great and he was able to connect with media people from several other camps. A nasty form of the flu has been ravaging our staff here, and we were both down with the flu for almost two weeks! Thankfully, we are feeling much better now!

We spent Easter weekend up north in Stockton, CA, where several of Jared’s aunts and uncles live. We spent Easter with them and Jared’s mom, two sisters, and brother. It was one of those rare times when all his siblings were able to be there, and it was great to spend time with them and his mom! The weather was PERFECT, 80 degrees and, of course, sunny! Above is a photo of all the siblings!

The last couple of days we have been enjoying our annual OAKS staff retreat! We didn’t go off-camp this year, but we had a lot of fun playing paintball (Jared), watching paintball (Kim), going to eat at a fancy French restaurant, and spending the next day at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, where we went on a hike and then to the observatory. The most exciting part was that on Monday night at the French restaurant, Jared and I got inducted as official World Impact missionaries, after being missionaries-in-training for the last two years. Another couple and Megan, our summer camp director, were also part of the ceremony. Here is a photo of all of us during the ceremony.

I have been working away on the mural in the new Childcare Center…at the bottom are some photos of the latest progress.

A few ways you can be praying for us over the next few weeks are:

• Continued wisdom for our program staff as we interview and hire summer staff. Praise the Lord that our positions are filling quickly with some really solid people!
• Wisdom and strength for Jared as he prepares for the upcoming Outdoor Ed season beginning on April 21^st.
• Continued prayer for my health and our baby’s health!

BABY NEWS! Our pregnancy is still going well! I am at 16 weeks now…our baby is the size of a large apple! In a month we will be having another ultrasound and will find out if we’re having a boy or a girl! We are so excited! Thanks for praying for us as we start this new adventure!

We are long overdue on an update, so here it is!

The last month and a half has been full!  For the holidays, we went back to Indiana and got to spend a lot of precious time with family and friends.  It was a wonderful, relaxing time for us and God even provided us with a little blizzard before we left!  Here is a photo of my dad and I after a snowy run together, and of my parents’ house during the snow storm!    

The weeks after we got back were spent preparing for our annual Winter Teen Retreat at THE OAKS, which took place last weekend.  I think this is becoming one of my favorite parts of being at THE OAKS!  Like last year’s retreat, this year’s was amazing, and God did so much in the lives of the teens in such a short amount of time!  We had almost 250 teens come this year, coming from various parts of Los Angeles, Watts, Fresno, and Lancaster.  Many of them we knew from summer camps in the past, the Leaders in Training program, or Neighborhood Impact.  Our theme was “What’s in a Name?” based on Isaiah 43:1.   The idea behind the theme was to get the students to think about labels or nicknames that had been put on them in the past, and how that has shaped who they are today.  They were then encouraged to surrender those negative labels and nicknames, and to take on a new name and identity as a child of God.  During the weekend they also studied the significance of names in the Bible, and the various names of God. 

God really used this theme to speak to many of the students, as so many in the inner city are stuck with labels and stereotypes based on their part of the neighborhood, their race, or what family they come from.   He also used our speaker, Marcos Gamez, and various dramas to speak to their hearts directly about the issues they may be facing in the city.  At the end of the first session, dozens of teens came forward to accept Christ for the first time.  The second night, dozens more came forward as representation of turning from old labels and names that the world has given them, giving up strongholds in their lives, and turning toward identity in Christ.  This photo is of all those that came forward the second night. 

I had the chance on Saturday to walk around to the different activities during the students’ free time.  It was so much fun to see them having a blast, and letting go of all their inhibitions.  THE OAKS is a place where they are free to be kids without the pressures that so often face them in their neighborhoods.  Some of the activities they enjoyed during the weekend were paintball (our newest addition to the adventure activities), high ropes, leap of faith, flag football tournaments, pottery painting, crocheting, graffiti contests, Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution, skatepark, Camp Grounds Coffee and a lot more.  Here are some photos of them enjoying some of the activities.   We cannot take credit for these wonderful photos--the credit all goes to Doug Peters, a World Impact missionary in L.A. who volunteered his photographic talents for the weekend!

So that is a summary of our life for the past month and a half, but I’m forgetting one important piece of news that is truly an answer to prayer!  We are going to have a baby in September!! Yes, I am pregnant!!  I’m only six weeks along, so right now our baby is only the size of a small lima bean.  We understand that there is a risk involved in sharing this news so early, but we want to do it so you can be praying for us as we begin this journey!  Please be praying for a healthy pregnancy and baby over the next 7 ½ months, and for us as we prepare to be parents!  We’ll keep you updated as we go.

Please also be praying for our program team at THE OAKS as we begin our heavy season of recruiting, interviewing, and hiring summer staff.   It’s hard to believe that time of the year is already here!  Pray that we will have wisdom to discern who God is calling to serve here next summer.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

We hope this update finds you well and ready for the holiday season!  Jared and I have managed to keep pretty busy this past month, with a lot of traveling and holiday events!  Here is our last month in a nutshell:

ACSI Convention in Anaheim, CA

We attended a two-day ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) convention as exhibitors in order to reconnect with teachers from Christian schools that attend our Outdoor Education program, and also to make new connections with schools who may be interested in our program.  We ended up talking with quite a few administrators and teachers, which was really encouraging.  We also met some staff from other local camps that were also exhibiting at the convention.  Reuniting with some staff from Alpine Camp (a camp near Lake Arrowhead where Jared worked for a few months after college) and spending an evening with the Peters’ family (World Impact missionaries in L.A.) was also wonderful!

Recruiting Trip to the Northwest!

The day after we returned from ACSI, we left for a long trip up north!  Our first stop was in Stockton, CA, where we spend Thanksgiving with some of Jared’s family (7 out of the 9 of his mom’s siblings were there with their families!).  His family is always a blessing to be with.  During that weekend we also swung over to San Francisco to visit Jared’s aunt and uncle who work with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in inner-city San Francisco.  We ate some yummy Pakistani food and got a brief tour of the area where they minister.  It was really neat to get a feel of the culture in San Francisco and to get an overview of another ministry’s approach to urban ministry.  The need in their area (called the “Tenderloin” ) was overwhelming to me and brings John 4:35 to mind:  “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.”  San Francisco, as in all of America’s inner cities, is so ready to be transformed by God’s saving power!

After Thanksgiving weekend we drove up to Oregon and Washington, where we visited four colleges:  George Fox University, Multnomah Bible College, Northwest University, and Seattle Pacific.  It was so fun to reconnect with a few summer staff from last summer, and to make new connections for this coming summer!  We were encouraged by the response we got from each school, and now we’re praying that God works in each student’s heart to lead him or her to serve here, if that’s in His plan!   While driving through the Northwest we also got to see more friends, family, and supporters along the way. We ended our trip in Bellingham, WA, visiting Jared’s mom and dad and enjoying more time with them.  Then we made the 22 hour drive home, all in one shot!  God was very faithful in protecting us as we drove through torrential rains and hurricane-force winds!  It was just as bad as the rain on our honeymoon, for those of you who know about that crazy adventure…

Holiday Parties!

Last week we had our annual Christmas dinner for THE OAKS staff!  Here is a photo of the whole bunch (this is missionary and full-time staff only).  This community feels like a second family to me and Jared, and has been a huge blessing to us!  And although we live together, eat together, and work together, we can still have fun together! 

Last night was THE OAKS’ annual Community Christmas Dinner.  The purpose of this event is to reach out to the rural communities around us and share Christ with them.  We had at least 200 people come, many of whom have made this an annual tradition at Christmastime.  At the bottom is a photo of the wonderful choir from Church of the Lakes (a tiny old country church in our town).  

This is what we have going on this next month that you can be in prayer for!

·         Holiday traveling to Indiana from December 23-January 2

·         Preparation for our Winter Teen Retreat (250 teens from the city) happening  January 19-21

·         Involvement with Neighborhood Impact in Lancaster, CA and involvement in a Bible study at a local juvenile hall detention camp.

Thanks for all of you who read these updates and do pray so faithfully for us.  Your prayers are indispensible.  We hope you have a great Christmas and New Years! 

Jared & Kim (AKA “The Merry Meidals!”)

We are a little bit overdue on this update…sorry! Life at THE OAKS has been keeping us super busy the last couple of months! Here are a few of the things we’ve been up to…

A visit to Indiana! We headed back to Winona Lake, Indiana for a couple of weeks at the end of September. During this trip, our focus was on connecting with supporters and sharing about the work God is doing here at THE OAKS. We still cannot believe that this is part of our “job”…to spend time with family and friends sharing our excitement about our ministry! The trip was very refreshing and encouraging and we ended up seeing more people than we had even hoped! The biggest blessing was just going away knowing that our ministry is covered in prayer by so many people—some we don’t even know personally! We were overwhelmed by that encouragement. Thank you to those of you who are so faithful in praying.

We’ve shared with many of you that God continues to confirm our calling with World Impact at THE OAKS. One of the ways he has confirmed this is through His provision of our financial support, via many of you! Thank you to those of you who have been so faithful in giving.

While in the Hoosier State, we also got to have a mini reunion with some past summer staff in the area! It was great to hang out with Tanie and Matt, Becky and Matt, Adam, Brad, and Karen! Here is a photo of our little “reunion” at Courthouse Coffee.

Camp Grounds Coffee Opening! Well, Camp Grounds Coffee is now officially opened! Last night we kicked off the opening with a grand opening party for staff and for the World Impact directors that are holding meetings at the camp the next few days. I am so excited about this new ministry and the opportunities it will provide for people to sit down and have conversations in a non-threatening environment. It was neat to watch the staff hang out and bond together last night for hours, with no entertainment except each other! To the right is a photo of two girls that are on hourly staff in the dining hall...enjoying their coffee! From now on the coffee shop will be opened every weekend for the guest groups that come, and during the week as requested by guest groups. Please pray that it will not just be a place where people come to get coffee, but that they will experience God in a new way through the service they receive and the conversations they have. As I have seen it put at another coffee shop, we want Camp Grounds Coffee to be a place “WHERE COFFEE IS THE THING AND CHRIST IS THE KING!” Kind of a corny saying, but that’s our goal!

Neighborhood Impact in Lancaster, CA! Jared and I have been getting involved in a ministry that our church in Lancaster (the closest city to us) started a couple of years ago. This ministry has a philosophy almost identical to that of World Impact, and is reaching a local urban neighborhood in many different ways, with the ultimate goal of planting a church. Jared and I have been involved in the Bible clubs for kids that take place every Tuesday afternoon. Last weekend, our church and another local congregation banded together to serve the community in a tangible way…by cleaning up the streets, painting almost 50 homes, and painting a local middle school. This article featured in the local newspaper explains all that went on in more detail. It was so exciting to see 1000 people come together for the purpose of serving and sharing God’s love. Another neat thing about Neighborhood Impact is that it has used THE OAKS to facilitate growth in some of the teens that attend the youth group—last winter a group of teens came to our Winter Teen Retreat, and this year they plan on coming back! We hope to be able to offer more facilities and programs to this ministry in the future.

Please be praying! Here are some ways you can be praying for our ministry over the next month:

• Outdoor Ed camp next week with 80 kids!

• Wisdom and direction in planning for different programs and events coming up

• That God will use Neighborhood Impact to transform lives in Lancaster.

Thanks for your encouragement and love! Keep in touch!

 We are in the middle of our fourth week of camp at THE OAKS--Junior High week!  We are so excited to see what God does in the lives of the inner-city teens that are here.  Junior high teens--while they can be seen as being challenging to work with--are in the midst of a lot of changes emotionally and physically.  This is a crucial time in their lives in which they could either swing toward God or away from Him.  That is why we are excited--because we offer them the chance to turn their lives toward God and away from the negative pressure they face in the city.  Our theme this summer, "Stand Firm" (based on Ephesians 6) is so relevant to our campers and God has already used it to change many lives!  

The past three weeks we have had first through third grade kids and fourth through sixth grade kids.  It has been such a joy to see these kids change throughout each week.  We've had kids coming from a variety of urban backgrounds: foster children in the San Francisco area...kids living in hotels on Skid Row...kids attending World Impact's Christian school in South Central Los Angeles.  Whatever their background, they all face similar struggles and have the same need for Jesus.  It is so great to see the impact that being at THE OAKS has on their lives...many of the kids made commitments to Christ for the first time, and many more affirmed their desire to be leaders for Him when they return to their neighborhoods. 

You are probably wondering what exactly Jared and I spend our days doing!  Well, Jared is the boat driver (when we don't have another one) so on the days he  drives the boat, he takes care of prepping it, gassing it up, and driving it to Pyramid Lake where we take the kids tubing and jet skiing.  When he's not  driving the boat, he is assisting with teaching nature classes to the kids and helping out our media intern with her tasks of taking video and photos of all the camp activities, and running sound at our evening firecircle program.  I help out in an arts and crafts class in the morning, drive kids to and from different off-camp activities, and work on a lot of different office projects.  In between all those things, we are both working on preparing for non-summer programs and projects, like Outdoor Education, recruiting scheduling, and coffee house plans!  So we  definitely don't get bored!  

 One highlight of this week for me was seeing thirteen-year-old Julissa in the crafts class I have been helping in.  Julissa was a third grader at THE OAKS four years ago when I was on summer staff as the Arts and Crafts Director!  She was in one of my crafts classes then and I have always remembered her.  It has been so neat to spend time with her this week and to get to know her as the teenager that she is now.  It is so exciting to see how God uses THE OAKS to minister to kids year after year, and to see how their experiences up here really do have a lasting impact on their lives.  Please pray for Julissa as she goes back to Fresno at the end of the week--pray that she will stand firm in her walk with God as she grows into a young adult. (The photos to your right are of Julissa and I; the top one was in 2003 and one below from yesterday!)  

Well, I know we say this on every update, but THANK YOU for your prayers and support.  When we came on staff a year and a half ago, we had raised about 60% of our ongoing support.  Despite the fact that we did not have our support met by pledges, each month we have ended up receiving above and beyond 100% of our monthly support needs!  This is due to YOUR faithfulness in giving to us, and we are so thankful!  It is also yet another confirmation that God has called us here and will continue to provide for our needs.  Thanks for your help in building his kingdom in the inner city!  

P.S. One more exciting bit of news...Jared and I have a new addition to our family!  Two-month old Oolong Thumbs Meidal joined our family two weeks ago.  We rescued her from the animal shelter...and yes, she is a polydactyl cat just like Espresso (she actually has 1 1/2 thumbs on each front paw.  She is loving her life with us so far, and she and Espresso are best friends already!

Our post last month began with the statement that Spring was officially here at THE OAKS...well, now, one month later, summer is officially here! Eleven of our almost forty summer staff are already here, and we are working like crazy to get ready for another season of summer camp. But with all our thoughts about summer, we don’t want to forget to share with you what God did through Outdoor Ed the last month! It was a very busy month of Outdoor Ed, as we worked with 5th and 6th graders ranging from urban poor all the way to the wealthy suburban. It was a great season--many students were moved closer to the heart of God through His work in the program. One highl