Favorite Posts in 2017

Looking Back

Well, I didn't post as many as I thought I would in 2017. However, I enjoyed preparing for and finally completing these pieces and thoughts throughout most of the year.

One of my first posts was to launch the #30for30Days YMCA Prayer Challenge. There were between 20-25 regular followers for the effort. If you'd like to know more, check out this from back in May: 30 for 30

Another favorite post has to be "Be Still". I happened to be out on the back porch one day and just enjoyed the quietness of the moment. Do you make time to just enjoy stillness?

About the time that the Y Prayer Challenge ended, I asked a young YMCA staff person if she would share some of her thoughts from her participation in the prayer challenge. Autumn Finney wrote a wonderful post and described how she sees this challenge. Read her contribution here Beyond 30 Days.

Remember the Total Eclipse back in August? That is all we were hearing about for weeks prior to the event. I wrote this post a few days prior to the big event: God's Display.

Finally, after a visit to a resident camp in November and seeing first hand how the camp had been damaged, yet been able to open for the summer camping season, I had to praise my friend Val Elliott and the staff at YMCA Camp Hanes. This is truly an amazing story and it's fun to know the people involved and to see the results of hard work. Did you read this? Exceptional Leadership

You can see on the right-hand side of any of my posts the list of labels. Check them out and look back at some of the posts from 2017.

Thank you very much for taking time to read "A Long Answer to Prayer". I hope you will check back often or even sign up to be notified of new posts.


What's Ahead

I'm looking forward to 2018 and all the things that God has in store for family, friends, and many organizations that I am associated with. May 2018 bring for each of you new joys and new hopes!

"His faithful love endures forever."

Until next time...

Chaplain Gray

Christian Leadership Award

US Mission Network

Terra Lynn Dearth accepted the FIRST EVER USMN Christian Leadership Award at a conference in Nashville Tennessee recently.

For 40 plus years one of the best opportunities for YMCAs to train staff was funded by the Walker Foundation of Long Beach California. Certainly not the only conferences, but for many years these were probably the only conferences conducted throughout the country at multiple sites for the single purpose of training Y staff in Christian leadership. Staff teams from a region would attend a weekend conference. Sometimes Ys from as many as six or seven states would attend a single conference. The Walker Foundation announced late in 2016 that funding for approximately 13 conferences held around the country would not continue beyond 2016. Here is what was happening around the country beginning in 1973. There have been over 50 different CLC sites, over 50 thousand participants and over 20 million lives impacted through the national effort to facilitate the YMCA CLC’s and Rag/Leather Programs. Remember that during this time period YMCA’s across the country were exploding with afterschool care and summer day camps. In fact, in the 1980’s one of the most popular YMCA programs offered at more Ys than any other program was summer day camp! So, it’s really not so hard to understand how many lives were touched by these conferences. And certainly, it is commendable that Kenneth G. Walker, father of R. Howard Walker supported the Walker Foundation in this movement for 42 years.

One of the reasons the conferences expanded and were held to common standards was Terra Lynn. She served in a full-time capacity for 37 years directing and leading the conferences. She developed standards for the conferences, trained the conference directors and eventually developed a team consisting of Walker Foundation Representatives as well as an advisory team that assisted in all facets of the program. She advanced the Rag and Leather Program, which by the way has been around for over 100 years! 

She traveled across the country to camps to personally see that conferences were meeting the expectations of the Walker Foundation and to continue to mentor and assist the conference planning teams. She put her heart and soul into seeing that the conferences would have a wide impact in the associations each served. Her leadership influenced many conference planning team members throughout the country. As new conference directors emerged, Terra Lynn was there to mentor them and guide them. I know personally that I had opportunities to develop my leadership skills through this program and her leadership.

In December 2016, Dearth also encouraged YMCAs to continue conducting training specifically for the same purpose. She said in a letter to all of the conference directors and key supporters “It is time for the next season to begin and the work of putting the C in the YMCA in our YMCAs to continue. The foundation has been laid and there are many tools available to you.” 

In fact, six of the CLCs developed enough funding to sustain themselves in 2017 and beyond, three other conferences have been developed specifically to train staff in Christian leadership this year and more are in development for next year.

I am reminded of something Pastor Rick Warren said, “When you spend your life pointing people to God, miracles happen.” Ladies and gentlemen, Terra Lynn has done just that, and I know that miracles have happened during her watch. Congratulations Terra Lynn.

"His faithful love endures forever."

Until next time...

Chaplain Gray

Exceptional Leadership

This is a story of restoration, victory, and tremendous leadership. Camp Hanes Executive Director Val Elliott faced maybe his greatest challenge in May of 2017. He accomplished what some will say was the impossible. However, they don’t know Val. 

Setting the Stage

Here are a few things you should know before we get to the challenge. Val Elliott graduated from The Citadel. This is a significant fact in this story. If you are familiar with this institution, you’ll recognize and understand what I am talking about. According to the Citadel’s website “The Citadel strives to produce graduates who have insight into issues, ideas, and values that are of importance to society. It is equally important that Citadel graduates are capable of both critical and creative thinking, have effective communication skills, can apply abstract concepts to concrete situations, and possess the methodological skills needed to gather and analyze information.”

Val and his team work well together. They lead in a Godly way. They take burdens to the Lord’s altar, they seek His guidance for camp themes, and honor God through the many activities and elements of the camp’s life.

Camp Hanes has a rich history and one that dates back almost 92 years. So opening camp each and every summer is a big deal!! Camp was set to open on June 11.

Devastation in Less than 30 Minutes - May 24

On May 24, an EF-2 Tornado cut a half mile path of devastation and destruction through camp. There were 125mph winds and this lasted about 30 minutes. Every building and structure at camp was damaged. Thousands of trees were downed.

Restoration - Follow the Path

Bruce Boyer, a retired YMCA executive writes about the theme for summer 2017. “YMCA Camp Hanes sets the tone by adopting a theme for each summer. This year’s theme is Follow the Path. This theme was chosen well before the tornado touched down and became prophetic. It is based on a verse from Proverbs that says, ‘In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps’ —Proverbs 16:9.” You can read more about this challenge and the Christian emphasis at this camp in an article by my good friend Bruce Boyer here: 

https://usmissionnetwork.org/god-guides-our-steps-on-the-path/. 

As the storm calmed and eventually stopped, Val and the staff stepped out into a scene they will never forget. Val’s Citadel training kicked in instantly. For two days, beginning immediately, they began to assess the damages. Critical thinking became a key. Special resources were called in to assist while ‘offers’ to assist started pouring in. Val and his team developed an effective communication plan. Everybody wanted to be able to speak to the director, but the team knew that was not going to be possible and was part of the communications plan. They set an overall plan in motion which utilized  Val’s methodological skills. 

I visited camp not too long ago and in several conversations Val explained how the team of contractors and other resources met every morning to review the plan of the day. They met again at lunch to pray and to continue to work as a team. They set a priority to open camp on time. When everyone first heard that priority, heads were shaking. That’s less than three weeks!!! Val’s leadership again kicked in. He reassured everyone that camp would open and Camp Hanes would be EVEN BETTER. They adopted #CampHanesEvenBetter for much of their communications plan. Local news began showing up and throughout multiple interviews, Val’s confidence and exceptional leadership was evident. 

Support Poured In

There was a reason support was so intense. There is no doubt in my mind that God provided special gifts, talents, and resources to honor the good and faithful work of this staff team, and no doubt the prayers of many loyal camp friends and staff. Bruce Boyer wrote “The outpouring of support for this mission oriented camp was off the charts. God has blessed YMCA Camp Hanes bountifully.”

Camp Hanes opened for the summer on June 11, 2017, just less than three weeks after a terrible tornado ripped through camp!

Servant Leadership

Val Elliott was educated at an exceptional educational institution using a military lifestyle. He learned principled leadership from the day he stepped on campus. If you called Val a hero for his exceptional accomplishment, he would deflect that term just like some of his classmates would if they had accomplished a difficult mission serving their country in the military. Val would tell you that he was just ‘serving the Lord and others in the Camp Hanes community’, making it possible for kids lives to be impacted by a resident camp experience. That’s the kind of person he is - a true servant leader. He knows that a successful effort here brings Glory to God! There is no doubt that God guided the steps on this path of restoration for Camp Hanes for the summer of 2017! 

Congratulations to Val and the staff at YMCA Camp Hanes! 

"His faithful love endures forever."

Until next time...

Chaplain Gray