Silcott Ministries

On September 2 - 5, 2011 I preached at Camp Manitoumi in Illinois for Family Camp 2.  I preached 6 times: two messages with ventriloquism and object lessons with a surprise ending and four messages to challenge the unsaved to trust Christ as their Savior and encourage believers to witness to neighbors and friends.  The weekend was filled with softball, gaga ball, swimming, and horseback riding.  On Sunday night after the service, we had a hay rack ride and ended the evening with a bonfire and marshmallow roast.

We have Sunday, September 11, 2011 open so we are planning on visiting a church near the camp.  This will give us an opportunity to do some cleaning and maintenance to the trailer,  and to repaint the flat bed on our truck.  It will also be a great time to make some phone calls for future meetings and get some well needed rest.  Please pray for our schedule as we seek God’s will for future meetings.    

On August 1 - 5, 2011, I had the opportunity to speak at the Treasure Mountain Bible Camp in Marble, Colorado.  This camp is located just below the marble mine that supplied the large marble used in The Tomb of the  Unknown Soldier and the marble used in our nation’s capital.  This week was Combo Camp for 4th - 12th graders.  Each morning at ten, I was able to give a Bible study and pray with the counselors as the staff had a challenge for the campers.  Then at eleven each morning, I preached to the campers with ventriloquism and object lessons with a surprise ending.  I finished each day with a message and another story with one of my friends.

Several campers made life changing decisions concerning living for the Lord and being faithful in church.  One gave a testimony saying that he learned that you do not have to be popular to have good friends.  On Friday as the campers were leaving for home I was able to fish in the camp’s pond that they stock with brown trout.  With the help of some campers, I was able to put six nice size fish in our freezer.

Senior week at the Black Hills Baptist Camp was held on July 25 - 29, 2011.  I presented my Bible study from the book of Romans in the morning and in the evening, I introduced each one of my ventriloquist friends right after supper.  After the counselors came down from their meeting, I preached.  Later, our missionary Daniel Grings shared some exciting stories from the mission field out at the campfire. 

We saw two trust Christ as their personal Savior and four others respond to various decisions of living for the Lord and full time Christian service.  Over sixty of the teens wrote a name of a friend that they knew was not saved on a card as a testimony that they would share the gospel with them in the next two weeks.  Please pray for these teens as they head back home and face the world and share the gospel with their friends.  It was good to see all my friends again and remember the joy of the Black Hills Baptist Camp.

On July 18 - 22, 2011, I spoke for the Junior week of camp at the Black Hills Baptist Camp in Mallo Canyon not far from the post office for Four Corners, Wyoming.  I attended this camp while I was growing up in Rapid City, South Dakota.  I presented my Bible study in the morning on the Sons of Proverbs and preached each evening through ventriloquism and object lessons with a surprise ending.  The missionary for the week was Daniel Grings and his daughter Sarah.

Eight trusted Christ as their Savior and six responded to the invitation to live for the Lord at school and at home.  One gave his testimony at the camp fire saying that he believed that the Lord would have him go to the Congo as a missionary.  Many of the counselors were pastors or pastor’s wives.  Please pray for these pastors as they continue to serve the Lord in the Northern Plains.

From July 10 -  15, 2011 we ministered with the First Baptist Church in Hibbing, Minnesota at Camp Swampy.  This church-run camp draws campers from Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota.  It sits on the bank of a beautiful private lake in the woods just south of Hibbing.  They have canoes, paddleboats, kayaks and a motorboat used to pull an inner tube.  After preaching at the church on Sunday, we headed out to the camp for a week of Junior camp.  I preached each day for the evangelist hour at 9:30 a.m. and spoke by the campfire on topics that covered the theme for the week. 

During the week I was also able to go out fishing each day to catch some bass to put some meat in our freezer.  The campers enjoyed watching me filet the meat and prepare the fish for frying.   We saw five campers trust Christ as their Savior and one came for assurance.  There were seven young Christians that responded to the invitation to live for the Lord and put Christ first in their lives.  Please pray for these young people as they head back to their homes and the pressure that they will face in the world around them.

We ended our ministry at Victory Ranch with another week of juniors, grades 3-6.  Although lower in numbers, we saw four campers trust Christ as their Savior during Junior II.  Eight campers also stood in the invitation declaring their intention to live for the Lord at school and back at home.   This was a big difficult decision for some of these young people: many came from broken homes.  For some, although their parents claim to be believers, they encourage their children to blend in at school by dressing and acting the same as their unsaved peers. 

In the morning Bible lesson we looked at the Sons Of Proverbs, a Bible study which compares and contrasts the attitudes of the wise sons and the foolish sons found in Proverbs.  Please pray that the campers will seek the characteristics of a wise son and not of the fool. 

As we left the rolling hills outside of Moreno Valley, our prayer is that the Lord will bless the camp as they get ready for the fall and winter months.

August 1 - 6 was a combined Junior High and Senior High week at Victory Ranch.  In the morning, I taught the Junior High campers the Bible lesson on “My Shepherd’s Staff” and Jane spoke on personal evangelism in the afternoon.  Pastor Jason Blunk of Ankeny Baptist Church and Faith Baptist Bible College spoke to the Senior High campers for the Bible Lesson and the Discovery Hour.  He also spoke for the combined evening service.   From the preaching of God’s Word, we saw four come to trust in Christ as their Savior.  One raised their hand saying that they would like to be baptized when they get back to their home church.   Ten campers raised their hand asking for prayer that God would help them live for the Lord when they get back home and before their friends at school.

Our young people today are facing lots of pressure from their friends and family to live like the world and fitting in to the world around them.  In Romans chapter 12 God pleads with us not to be molded by this world but changed from the inside out.  We should stand out and show the world that we are different and that we have hope in Jesus Christ that will last for eternity.  Please pray for these teens and the decisions that they made this week.   

We are in the beginning of a very busy summer ministry.  From June 20 through July 2, I was the evangelist speaker for the Junior 1 and Junior 2 weeks at the Raccoon River Bible camp.  Praise the Lord, we saw 3 Salvations, 6 decisions for assurance, 3 dedications and 10 other decisions.  Director Jan Kolar and I met at Faith Baptist Bible College while I was attending seminary.  So, it was a blessing to serve together.  Pray for him and his wife Judy as they continue their ministry at the camp.  They have several children who currently attend bible college. 

The camp is located on the Raccoon River just a few miles east of Carroll, Iowa.  Although we had rain, the flooding did not reach the cabins, but the mosquitoes were thriving.  Back in 1988 I was able to speak at this camp for the Iowa Scholarship camp for Awana.  As a result I have spoken for the Bible camp several times throughout the last 20 years.  And we will be back to this camp in 2014 as the Lord permits.