Over the last few months, concerns were raised about the air quality in some of the camp buildings due to visible mold that was discovered.  Shortly after our 2016 summer camp season air quality samples were tested from most of the camp buildings.  Those tests revealed that all of the dorms had elevated, but not dangerous, levels of mold spores.  A few dorms are worse than others. It has taken several months to gather all relevant information regarding the full extent of this situation and the proper steps to remedy it, as well as gather repair estimates. Several of the mold spores that were identified are known to irritate the respiratory system, especially in individuals with active asthma.  With all of this information and the knowledge that many children that attend Camp Rudolph deal with asthma, we feel it is EXTREMELY important that this situation be addressed IMMEDIATELY.

The solution is to follow the recommendations of the industrial hygienist who took the air samples and have all six dorms professionally cleaned for all mold concerns. In addition to this, we will need to replace all 180 camper mattresses to insure the mold had been completely eliminated.  The total cost of this solution will be $85,000: the cost of professionally cleaning all dorms is $45,000, the mattresses are $100 each ($20,000 total), and the rest ($20,000) to cover the cost of repairs to the buildings due to mold growth, prevent recurrence, and other facility improvements.

The camp’s Board of Directors and Management want to assure you that this situation WILL BE REMEDIED before these buildings will be used. Since there is a full and rapidly approaching Spring retreat season, the camp will secure a loan to help begin the project immediately. The Directors rarely seek debt as solution.  However, they do not want the cleaning to be delayed by a long fundraising process.

Please, prayerfully consider helping by making a one-time donation or by becoming a monthly donor to this important ministry need. Our goal is to raise as much money up front and fast so we can secure a smaller loan amount. Of course, after the loan has been secured we will be seeking to repay it quickly. How you can help?
1. Make a one-time donation of $1000, $700, $500, $100, or $25 to help us get started or set your own amount.

2. Email the camp at office@camprudolph.org to set up a monthly pledge of $100, $50, or $25 for 12 months to help us quickly repay the loan.

We know that God knows where the money is and our prayer is that He will lead those who hold it to give. Galatians 6:2 says to “Bear one another’s burdens…” We know that the more people we have donating to this, the easier it will be to overcome. Please help us bear this burden to ensure a healthy environment for campers as we make disciples through encounters with God in His creation.

Blessings,
Charlie Stephenson – Camp Manager

As the 40th anniversary of Camp Rudolph winds down the there is so much to be thankful for but especially YOU making this a great year for Camp Rudolph! God has truly blessed this ministry over the years and this year is no exception. The camp staff and Board of Directors prayed for God to bless this ministry for 2016 by allowing our camper numbers to increase in such a way that more campers would be changed by the Gospel message. Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Just as these verses indicate, it is only appropriate to give GOD the glory for this. So, to continue reflecting on Camp Rudolph’s 40 years of ministry, here is what God has done this year through its ministry:

Last year’s summer camper totals were at an all time low with only 387 campers in attendance. At the beginning of this year, a plan was set to raise $100,000 so that 625 campers could attend camp for $40 in 2016. The reasons for this goal were to help raise awareness for Christian camp ministry, to help build a financial donor base, to analyze cost reduction feasibility, and of course to raise our camper numbers. This was a huge step of faith as our regular sessions have averaged $200 per camper and we had no idea if we would even find 625 campers to attend.

As we started getting closer to the beginning of summer, we noticed that some of our camp sessions were filling quickly, but we had barely gotten over summer camp numbers for 2015. In addition, fundraising had been delayed due to the number of retreats from the Spring. However, as summer continued to advance, a couple of sessions were getting rather full and waiting lists soon followed. Middle School and Junior weeks reached over 130 campers each and High school week reached over 110 campers! As summer started winding down, the staff recalculated summer camp totals and found that the total number of campers was at 642 for the summer! That was 642 campers that came to Camp Rudolph to learn about being Fixated on Jesus!

Once all the dust had settled from Summer Camp and all the summer bills had been paid, something else pretty amazing happened. Despite the delayed fundraising efforts to cover the full offset for all the campers, it was discovered that between registrations and the fundraising that had occurred, ALL of the summer camp costs were covered!!! It was really an awe inspiring moment and the staff and Board had to look at the information multiple times to truly believe it had happened. Part of this result was from cutting a few expenses, but also because of the increase in numbers even though most were only $40 registrations. ONLY God could have provided in such a way!

There is more to be thankful to God for! We have hosted a total of 20 retreats this year (one of those is actually at the end of the year- Snowball Camp)! Many of these retreats had greater attendance than previous years, but also eight of those were in Spring! It has been a long while since the camp has had that many Spring time retreats. Additionally, not one retreat group canceled this year nor any of camp’s planned programs for that matter! This is truly a blessing as it helped tremendously with the overall budget for the year.

Speaking of that, as it stands now, budget projections for the end of year indicate ending in the BLACK even with reduced summer camp registration fees! Though not all of the ReDiscover Camp Rudolph campaign funding was raised, the Board of Directors has really grown in their leadership and fundraising efforts, as well as in numbers. The Board is currently in the process of breaking the campaign down to smaller goals that will be achieved over the next couple years and announced very soon.

The management, staff and Board really want to thank you all for everything you have helped us with this year. Without a doubt, God has used you to bless this ministry! For those of you who sent donations, attended a fund raiser, or helped us by spreading the word about camp this year, THANK YOU! For those of you who attended camp this year, THANK YOU! For those of you who volunteered at Camp Rudolph during summer or for retreats, THANK YOU! For those of you who offered up prayers on our behalf through the campaign or during the 40 Days of Prayer that we did on Facebook, THANK YOU! For those of you who have listened and offered moral support for us this year, THANK YOU! You all are a huge blessing to work with and incredible brothers and sisters in Christ. We pray that because of how great our God is that the ministry of Camp Rudolph will be able to continue for another 40 years as we continue to make disciples through encounters with God in His creation!