Fire Meeting

Camp Barakel has a lot of unique aspects for a Christian Camp, one of which is that we have our own Fire Department.  We have a history of fires and because of our isolated location it's hard for the Fire Department to get here in a timely manner.  We've accumulated equipment over the years, including a fire truck, water tank truck, and a fire bus that we carry personal turnout gear, like these guys are wearing.

This week we met to work on our SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) training.  In case of a fire, we have the equipment to send men into a smoky building to get anyone out of there using the SCBA equipment.  The fumes in a burning building can knock someone out in just a couple breaths, so we need this equipment to help us breath fresh air while searching for anyone that might still be in the building.  In the meantime we pray that we don't have any of these situations to deal with, but we still try to be ready to do whatever we can to ensure safety before the Fairview Fire Department shows up.

Last weekend was another Teen retreat (like every week in the winter) with Couples on the East Side.  Some friends from Battle Creek, the Penrod's, were up for the weekend.  It was really encouraging to be able to visit with them.  Now we are experiencing some really warm temperatures and the roads are an ice rink while we're hoping the actual ice rink survives the week.  Work continues on Crosscut with Dan Haines tiling, Mike Alchin installing lights, and Mike Baker heading up the bathroom partitions.

We have 3 more weeks of camp, all of them teens except a little dose of the college/career age in March.  The season seems to fly by and I find myself trying to pause and pray for the folks that have been here over the last 6 weekends.  Glory to God in the highest, Sing! Glory to God.