Nearly three dozen staff and Associates attended the 2015 Staff Conference and

RV’ers for Christ Rendezvous, Oct 25th – Nov 1st at Palomar Christian Conference

Center, high atop Mount Palomar in Southern California. Some came early and some stayed

late – in fact, some are still there, working diligently to fulfill our promise to bring the long

awaited Kerrigil Lodge and Meeting Hall Project to completion.

The week of beautiful weather began with two days of sessions for the 14 CWCf missionary

staff present, and a few RV’ers who wanted to sit in with us. The focus was “Building Lives

and Promoting Christ in Construction” – enlarging our vision of CWCf ministries.

Several of our missionaries were honored for their years of service:

Jim & Jean Hodges, 45+ years Dick & Vi Avis (in absentia), 40+ years Duane Atkinson, 30+ years

Dennis & Darlene Korneychuk, 25 years Robert & Verna, and Rob Atkinson, 15 yrs Dave Williamson, 10+ years

Seeing that just these who were recognized represent over 300 years of missionary service,

it’s clear that many of us will need to be replaced in this ministry within the next decade or

so – please help us to be on the lookout for new recruits!

Wit and wisdom apropos to construction and RV living from Red Green (of Canadian public

television fame) was a big hit at our evening sessions, as were the sermons by Alistair Begg

(both courtesy of YouTube.com). Another highlight was our visit to the Mount Palomar

Observatory, about 15 miles away on the mountain.

We enjoyed good fellowship and made new friends while we worked on the lodge rooms on

the lower level of the building, which has been being built at a snail’s pace over the last six or

more years. The “camp food” was excellent, and we got to see first-hand the ministry of the

Conference Center as a couple of school groups, numbering into hundreds of students, were

on campus for days of science and natural studies, and spiritual retreat. The only drawback

was that it was hard to hear ourselves think (much less talk) at some of the mealtimes!

Jim Hodges shared the draft version of his memoirs/history of CWCf for our enjoyment and

feedback. Long-standing Associate, Jim Larson, was on hand to help reminisce as well. We

wrapped up the week by sharing the Lord’s Supper together on Sunday morning.

The previous Rendezvous was in 2012, and many attending Palomar asked that we not wait

three years for the next one. Some pushed for another gathering in 2016! Watch for it!

Overdue Rendezvous Held

Way Up Down Yonder

It costs CWCf about $80/man-day to help

ministries like Palomar Christian Conference Center

bring their dreams to reality! Your financial partnership makes Kerrigil

Lodge and other much needed facilities like it possible across the Nation!

www.hardhatsforchrist.org

Merry Christmas

Ten minutes after we arrived at Palomar Christian Conference Center (PCCC—or “the Camp”), Lane, the Camp’s maintenance manager exclaimed, "I am so-o-o glad you are here! God has answered my prayers: the RV’ers for Christ are here!"

Later as we visited, Lane humbly confessed that he lacked the expertise for a building of this size and scope. Fact is, he’s an experienced equipment operator, and after 14 years at the Camp a very capable all-around maintenance manager. But, as others at PCCC related, what the Kerrigil Project really needed was a single individual who could devote himself to overseeing this tremendous task. Between a shortage of help, money and expertise, the building progress had slowed to a crawl, even though the Camp urgently needed the additional meeting space the building will provide. Each year they were turning prospec-tive groups away because they didn’t have a second large meeting room to accommodate their numbers. The stress was considerable for Lane and he had been praying often, asking the Lord for help. And now, He’d sent CWCf’s RVers!

The building of Kerrigil Meeting Hall has an erratic history. The architect drew up the plans 8

years ago. They broke ground 7 years ago and poured the footers just as the economy tanked. Donations for the project seemed to dry up. The footer became a

low dam, holding “a vast mud puddle”. Eventually a friend of PCCC, a contractor, took it on himself to get the founda-tion slab poured. There was more waiting for funds and extra help before, at last, some framing began. Several volunteer construction groups came over the years, providing shots of extra manpower, but only for short

durations. Occasionally the maintenance staff would get a break in their ongoing work around the Camp and could make some progress on the building. When we arrived the building was mostly weathered in, with most of the electric wiring run (though nearly all of that in the lower level had to be redone due to changes on the plans). Evaluation of the “as-built” status of the work revealed many tasks were either completed or started, but not according to the plans. They desperately needed a project manager and more ‘hands-on-deck’!

Lane, frequently praising Jesus, began meeting regularly with CWCf’s Rendez-vous project coordinator, Dave Armstrong. Lane’s wife, Hilda (second in charge at the Camp kitchen) attests that his stress about Kerrigil began to melt away. As identification of “tasks completed” and “tasks remaining” began to occur, and with a very capable team of CWCf workers steadily at those tasks, things rapidly began to take shape. The CWCf coordinator providing needed connection between the Camp and the construction team and also the several contractors and local building officials. The entire staff at PCCC repeatedly thanked the team and praised the build-ing progress. They are quite pleased with our involvement and contribution to the advancement of the Camp’s ministry. Lane acknowledges the benefits of a construction team coming in to stay long term, as opposed to a short term focus on just a single aspect of the overall project. The RV’ers (Ready Volunteers) from CWCf are committed to getting this building operational ASAP, and the Camp can see the level of commitment among our team members. The Team understands that CWCf’s ministry to PCCC furthers and enlarges the Camp’s ministry to thousands of youth and many church groups having retreats. The end result of our construction efforts will be an immediate positive impact on the urgent need to spread the Gospel of Christ and to encourage and edify God’s children.

Rendezvous Project at Palomar Christian Conference Center--a Huge Answer to Prayer

This time of year we are reminded how “truly, it is

more blessed to give than to receive”! Why not

continue to be blessed in the New Year by

joining us on one of these projects?

Woodland Park Chapel in OR.

Heritage Bible Church in WA.

Mountain States Baptist Church in CO.

Rowena Baptist Church in OR.

Good News Evangelistic in OK.

Valley Shepherd of the Nazarene in ID.

Please contact Robert Atkinson, Project Manager

at 360-423-5022 or RobertA@hh4c.org

Last month, one of

our students sent us

a photo. Brittney was

proudly standing on

the wheelchair ramp

she had just built for her

‘Nana’. The caption read,

“I could not have done

this without you. Thank

you !”