Lantern and Compass Project

Clarity and Direction

News

AT Station Winter Retreat

Winter was warm and fuzzy during the Ability Tree AT Station winter retreat. A group of campers and chaperones came together from New York to Oklahoma. No traveling involved since this was our second virtual retreat. But this didn’t deter the camp from having fun. Again we got to meet everyone in their home environment and meet some of the special family members in their lives. The weekend was a mystery as we tried to figure out the theme for 2021, it had been taken!! But how, who, when, where? What were we going to do? Fortunately, AT Special detective Burt Macklon was on the case.  We played games, had group BINGO (a camper favorite) saw our medical team in action and learned from our recreation team how to make a HUGE mug of cocoa. But most importantly we were able to spend time worshipping and learning more about God during our service times. In the end, through all of the activities the theme was recovered. 2021 brings with it “FREEDOM”. Freedom to be who God created us to be and to walk in faith and discover our purpose as we serve HIM! What will 2021 look like? Stay tuned for the next episode of AT Station.

Prayer Answered Because of Food

Food is a basic need for everyone and we have been blessed to be able to serve alongside The Good Shepherd Ministries to give a little food encouragement to the community through Drive-thru Food Box blessings. Over the 4 months we have been blessing people with food boxes we have seen how God is using that physical food encouragement to also provide spiritual encouragement.

During each event our team has opportunity to pray with every car that comes through to receive a food box. During one of those prayer times a young woman requested prayer that she would find a job. She returned the following month and shared that God had answered her prayer from last month and had provided her with a job. God’s answers to prayer are not always so obvious but we must remember that just because we don’t see how God has answered our prayers doesn’t mean He hasn’t. God ALWAYS answers prayer.

As we continue to provide opportunity for people to touch the lives of those in their community it is our prayer that everyone would be more open to receiving the message of God’s perfect and boundless love for us as He faithfully provides our every need.

We will continue to encourage people through our Community Food Box Blessing events and continue to hear how God is touching lives.

Making Connections

The box was filled!!! I gave one to a family down the street who asked about churches in the area. I have invited and sent online service links for their 5 year old. In God’s time. I’m already thinking about families for the next time.
Beth Reyes
TGSM family member

Blessings by the Mouthful

Over the past three months we have partnered with a local church to provide “Food Encouragement” to 412 families by providing large 35-40 pound boxes of food to people who signed up to participate in our Drive-thru Community Food Blessing events. We had people from Ohio to Pennsylvania sponsor the cost of boxes and numerous local people who picked up the boxes to deliver to families who could be encouraged by food, friendship or a meaningful connection. There were also families that signed up to receive a box and came to our Drive-thru event to pick up the box themselves. Volunteers took the time to pray with each family, putting God front and center in all of it. Please continue to pray God uses these boxes and food blessings to reach the lost and encourage families as we continue to expand and provide food encouragement in the upcoming months!

Virtual Camp Awakens

To say that 2020 brought change is perhaps an understatement but what didn’t change was the excitement of coming together for a week of camp. For the past 4 years we have taken a team as part of the staff for Ability Camp, a physical camp for individuals with special needs, 18 years and up. This year was the first online camp, launching AT Station, an online gathering space for Ability Tree events geared for individuals with and without special needs. 

Despite transitioning from a physical to virtual experience this year, campers were still able to interact with one another, take part in art classes, play bingo, exercise, participate in all camp activities and hear God’s word through dynamic speakers and it was all done online through video. Sure, it looked different but it didn’t change the fact that relationships grew between campers, chaperones and most importantly with Christ.

If I could use one word to describe the Ability tree camp experience I would say, ‘Heaven’. What a joy to be part of a camp where everyone is so encouraging, accepting, gracious, excited and full of love. I would encourage anyone to take advantage of the opportunity and serve at Ability Camp or be part of AT Station events. If you’d like to be part of the next camp experience, complete our Volunteer form and a real person will get back with you. In the meantime a picture is worth a thousand words. Take a look at just a few.

  • BINGO!!
  • Art Class
  • Art Class
  • Photo scavenger hunt
  • Art class
  • Abilities Got Talent Night
  • Photo scavenger hunt
  • Theme Night Party
  • Official AWAKEN t-shirt
  • Photo Scavenger Hunt
  • Theme Night Party
  • Organized exercise
  • s’more night
  • BINGO!!
  • Photo Scavenger Hunt
  • Photo Scavenger Hunt

Virtual Camp Behind the Scenes

We’ve been making preparations to be part of the team conducting a virtual camp for special needs adults. This would have been our fifth year working alongside Ability Tree as we gathered in Pennsylvania at Refreshing Mountain Camp but this year is going to look a bit different. We are taking camp to the cloud and transform the experience to reach even more campers. Our team has been creating the raw video for various segments of the camp week and then sending them to Ability Tree staff to edit. We are typically responsible for building the campfire and you can’t beat this team as they get ready for S’MORE night.

We visited Inglish Homesteaders and captured some video of their farm animals for the virtual petting zoo. My favorite was the Jake Turkey strut.