WSS September and October '09 Ministry Report

'I thank my God upon every remembrance of you' and praise Him for His handiwork in this place. Our three children have been abundantly blessed; we stand grateful for the opportunity given them to minister here--to grow in Christ and to mature into the young men and lady He wants them to be. Everything--from the staff to the teaching of His word--has been utilized mightily in their lives. We praise God with you!-- parents of summer staffers

Thank you. Your home is the heart of home. And we're thanking God that White Sulphur Springs is also the heart of home--He is the heart of our homes!-- weekend retreat group guest

Priority Obj. 1.2

Implement a mentoring program by which OCF will reproduce itself across generations

Wright-Patterson AFB OCF and Chapel had a great retreat weekend over Labor Day, sitting under the amazing teaching of Dr. Bruce Fong. This was one of the largest WPAFB retreats in recent memory--75 folks travelled the 5.5 hours to experience the beauty and love atmosphere of WSS. Also, it was a great blessing to host our fellow OCF Field Staff at the annual conference held this year here at WSS. It was a special time of building one another up in our faith and taking in a good bit of relaxation and informal discussion. We also benefited from helpful information and instruction by our home office staff on how better to gauge the work of the ministry. We always look forward to these times when we get to know better all of our brothers and sisters on the OCF field staff.

Priority Obj. 2.1

Proclaim the Gospel throughout the military society by the example of our lives, particularly our military excellence. Provide members with the necessary tools for an effective ministry outreach into the workplace

Naval Academy mids and Coast Guard Academy cadets come to us over the Columbus Day weekend and were energetically challenged in the gospel by navy chaplain Lou Rosa, father of one of the mids. Extremely practical exhortation to "walk the walk" before one's peer group was at the heart of Lou's messages. It was a blessing to have Bryan and Sheri Burt with us as well as Jim and Carolyn Groves. Also, the OCF Council held its fall meeting in the Johnson Room during October.

Priority Obj. 2.5

Exhort, equip and encourage members to seek opportunities and implement efforts that reach beyond the local fellowship to affect the larger military community for Christ.

We hosted the OCF Volunteers for a two-week work period, 21 September to 2 October. These faithful servants did an amazing amount of work to beautify, repair, construct, landscape, paint, sew, upholster, and have lots of fun and fellowship in the process. This is one way retirees can keep plugged in to military ministry. Also, the WSS Advisory Committee met in September, discussing the progress of the Heritage House project and the imminent move of the ministry to the new facility in early 2011. Both these groups of seasoned saints greatly add to the health of WSS and are a great example of effective personal ministry beyond the local fellowship.

Priority Obj. 4.3

Successfully execute the OCF Growing and Building Campaign, achieving all Phase 1 and 2 objectives

We have continued to brief various guest groups on the Heritage House project and the opportunities to sponsor a room or contribute to the final push for funding. In particular, five groups heard my pitch: Wright-Patterson OCF Labor Day retreat, Christ Reformed Pres. Church, USNA/USCGA retreat, BCC men's retreat and NCR OCF Fall Retreat.

Other Ministry Highlights

During the Burke Men's retreat recently I was privileged to present Aaron Thomas with an OCF coin plaque in recognition of his ten years of faithful service at WSS. Aaron serves as our maintenance and horse director. He got the WSS horse program up and running in earnest when he came on staff after his college years and two years of specific training in horsemanship at Lost Valley Ranch in Colorado and Miracle Mountain Ranch in north east Pennsylvania.

Dailey Chandler, WSS Youth Program Director, was busy these two months conducting two Jr. AO's and several team-building facilitations of youth events, including Immanuel Christian School's two wilderness retreats, Youth Leadership Bedford County, and Bedford County Technical Center students. He also led the adult commencement retreat for Leadership Bedford County, a chamber of commerce program.

Karen Henderson, of Spring Canyon staff fame, worked with us voluntarily for most of the month of September, working hard, filling in where needed and just generally spreading around the love of Christ through her gentle and uplifting spirit. We were sorry to see her leave since she had won all our hearts.

2Lt John Orosz, USA also served with us for a temporary period these two months while awaiting his first assignment in the Army at Ft. Sill, OK. He left in the latter part of October, and we miss his hard work as well as his engaging and fun personality. Our cooks are still finding his little thank-you notes John left in various hidden spots in the kitchen.

We also hosted several other civilian groups during these two months, including the Grace Berean conference, Franconia Alliance Church, Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church and Burke Community Church men's retreat.

Prayer Requests

Praise God for the progress on Heritage House: construction contract signing, contractor mobilization, approval of site permit and erosion control plan. Pray for all OCF members to become stakeholders in "declaring His power to the next generations."

Pray for Don and Barb Pensyl to experience God's grace, strength and peace as they deal with Don's lung cancer and Barb cares for him. Continue to pray for Brenda Piirto, WSS Advisory Committee member, as she battles cancer. Pray for Linda and Cal Dunlap as Linda recovers from cancer surgery.

Pray for God to bless the Heritage House Ground Breaking ceremony on 11 November (Veterans' Day), that God will be glorified and many more will catch the vision for participating in the push to finish the fund raising. We still need about $750K. Pray for construction crews as they begin excavating the foundation and raising the steel structure, for protection and for a sense of the Lord's presence as they work and come in contact with WSS staff.

Pray for our OCF members who are separated because of deployments. Pray for protection and spiritual growth for all our troops and for victory in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pray for many who have and are experiencing PTSD as a result of combat tours.

Pray for the WSS Winter Retreats, that guests will encounter the Lord Jesus Christ in a new way and be led to burn brightly for Him.

Please pray for our son, H, to do well in his PA program at GWU. Pray for him to seek and find Christian fellowship.

Rejoicing in Christ our Savior,
Clay Thomas