From the Program Director –

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! As we prepare to jump into another amazing summer full of Bible Study, Family Fun, Christian Community, and the Joy of fellowship around God’s word I’ve had the opportunity to pause and reflect on the impact that Mount Carmel has had on so many. In addition to thanking God for all of the ways He has blessed campers I’ve taken some time to reflect on the ways that serving at Mount Carmel has profoundly changed my life and the lives of so many that I worked with as a counselor and now as the program director.

In the fall of 2019, I accepted the call of a lifetime to serve as the Program Director at Mount Carmel, I met the woman who would become my wife, and for the first time in my life, I started to consider whether God was calling me to go to seminary. None of those things would have been possible without people like you making it possible for me to serve you as a summer staffer at Mount Carmel.

In 2016 when my previous summer plans fell apart I remember dreading my arrival at Mount Carmel. When I moved into the the infamous staff housing, “THE U”, I vividly remember calling my parents in tears asking them to let me just go home. I thank God they didn’t let me.

It was through my experiences as a counselor at Mount Carmel that my faith, long made dormant by the influences of peers, struggles in college, and the business of an achievement-based identity was re-awakened. It was at Mount Carmel that I heard the Word Proclaimed day after day and saw my peers living out their faith with integrity. It was through serving at Mount Carmel that my faith was renewed in a healthy way that opened doors and introduced me to my best friends who were by my side through thick and thin united in Christian community. It was through serving at Mount Carmel that God made His presence known to me and sustained me when I traveled through the darkest chapters of my life. Without the opportunity to serve here, I would never have considered going into full-time ministry, but because of my time as a counselor, I heard God’s call to ministry.

Of course, this hasn’t been just my experience. Just to name a few staff alumni who are now serving in full-time ministry or attending Bible College or seminary there is: Tim Knorek, Ben Sides, Kierra Blackstad, Blake Wright, Beth White, Emma Wollan, Luke Wollan, Sam Hoff, Gage Thalmann, Micah Johnson, Madi Johnson, Steven Wagner, Trevor Wersal, Courtney Corrente, and many more who left their summer experiences better equipped to service in lay leadership in their home congregations. Each of these people had the opportunity to try on leadership, live out their faith, and proclaim the good news.

Whether it is through your presence and participation as family campers, through your prayers, or through your financial contributions none of us would have have been able to be blessed like we were through serving you at Mount Carmel.

In order to continue this important work we are asking you to partner with us in participation, prayer and in financial support. Each summer staffer costs Mount Carmel $3000 and we are challenging you as a family, as a group of families, or as a church to commit to adopting a summer staffer and sponsoring their work and development at Mount Carmel.

Once you commit to supporting a summer staffer in participation, prayer, and sponsorship we will connect you with them so you can hear their prayer requests and learn more about their experience and areas of growth throughout the summer and their year. It is our hope that you can continue to pray for your sponsored staffer throughout the year.

In Christ,

David Blackstad