This historical newsletter preserves the original copy. Dates, project plans, contact details, and giving instructions reflect its publication date. For current information, see Contact Dayspring or Giving.
Post 4 of 8
Post 4 of our 8-Part Series Reflecting on 2023 and Looking Forward to 2024
Filling puzzle pieces
Reflection
Have you ever put together a large puzzle? The term “large” probably means something different to each of you. My wife routinely puts together 500 piece puzzles. Her husband, on the other hand, considers puzzles that are 4-6 pieces challenging and rewarding. One of my older brothers and his wife enjoy puzzles quite a bit and have tackled 2,000 pieces. I was told this took upwards of one month so you better like the person you are working with! Fun fact and word of the day:
- According to Guinness World Records, the largest recorded puzzle (in terms of pieces) is 551,232. This would keep my brother and his wife busy for 23 years (assuming they could keep up their 2,000-puzzle piece pace).
- If you find yourself enjoying puzzles, consider yourself a DISSECTOLOGIST (a person who has a passion for solving jigsaw puzzles, and derives great pleasure from the process).
Have you ever heard the phrase “Our family wouldn’t be complete without our youngest child?” There’s the famous line from the movie Jerry Maguire – “You Complete Me!” Well, consider Dayspring Bible Camp to be a puzzle and the Lord is continuing to fit the puzzle pieces of this ministry together. In March of 2023, Dayspring welcomed a large piece of that puzzle in the form of the Dyer family. Caleb and Tina Dyer, along with their three children made the move from northern Ohio to Collins Lane. Caleb and Tina felt that the Lord was drawing them into camp ministry and prayed that the Lord would lead them to the place He wanted them to be. Several months later, the Dyers found themselves in a U-Haul truck moving their items 650 miles south to serve as the head of maintenance at Dayspring Bible Camp. Here is a bit of background information on the Dyer family:
- Caleb was born in west Tennessee and moved to Missouri, with his parents and brother, when he was 12 years old. You could always find him either working with his family in their janitorial business or outside splitting wood, tending his rabbits, in the garden, or playing in the woods. When he was 20 years old he spent a year at Mingo Job Corp learning carpentry as a trade and fighting wildfires on the search and rescue team.
- Tina was born in north Florida. She was one of seven children and moved around frequently and had many experiences. She lived in several states including Florida, Alabama, Texas, Ohio, and two different parts of Missouri. An interesting “nugget” – the first time Tina’s family lived in Missouri they resided in tents and a school bus for six months in the Ozarks while planning to build a house. Nugget #2 – When Tina returned to Missouri for a second go-around, she met Caleb at a civil war reenactment. They were married in March of 2008.
- Caleb and Tina have 3 children – Abby (15), Grant (12) and Isaac (10).
- They lived in Ohio for 8 years where Caleb worked for a private school as a maintenance technician.
We are blessed to have the Dyer family at camp and are thankful for the work they do on a daily basis. While they have proven to be a major “piece” of the Dayspring puzzle, there are many pieces that remain to be fit together. Are you one of those pieces? If you think camp ministry might be something that the Lord is calling you to be involved in (for a couple of days, a week, or the full summer), I encourage you to sign up to volunteer and attend our staff training on May 3-4. You can complete your staff application at: http://dayspringbiblecamp.org/staff/apply/.
New Programming
Projection
Dayspring continues the mission of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a lost world while also discipling children and families as they grow in their relationship with the Lord. As we continue in this ministry, we pray that the Lord guides us as we decide on what camps and programs will maximize our effectiveness as we move forward. In 2024, we will continue to offer a Junior and Senior overnight camp and will also host two weekly daycamps that target Arcadia Valley, Fredericktown and the surrounding communities.
NEW FOR 2024 – we will be adding a Junior High overnight camp. This week will be open to campers that are 11-14 years old and is scheduled for July 14-19. This week of camp will have a “Texas flavor” with both our director (Abel Philip) and speaker (David Thomas) coming to us via the Lone Star State.
If you have a child who would be interested in joining us, you can register at http://dayspringbiblecamp.org/camps/junior-high-camp/.
Future Updates
Keep an eye out for our next edition of ‘Reflections and Projections’ in which we look back at the newly renovated cabins on the hill (9-14) and look forward to plans for an improved waterslide!
Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
Date Issued: 3/18/2024 Sent via email and posted on Facebook
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