Yesterday, family members and friends of Dale and Ida Baugh came together and put in a hard but very rewarding day's work on Prayer Island.  They raked up many bags of leaves. They cleaned and sealed all the new stone work of the seating areas which now look even better. They scraped old paint and got one coat of new paint on the iconic swan fountain. In addition, the family together raised $500 which they donate towards the needs and care of Prayer Island.  What a blessing they were. 

I have no doubt that dad, granny and grandpa, Dale, Danny, Bob, Dr Forbes, Christopher,  and hundreds more of Dunklin alumni were peering down from heaven and smiling with hearts of joy.  As God purposed for Adam and Eve to tend the garden, those that served yesterday in the garden, offered their sacrifices of sweat and perhaps even a few tears as they dedicated this space in memory of a very loved one,  unto the Lord. 

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My gratitude to all. 
Dean 

Beautiful additions and projects completed this past week on Prayer Island @ Dunklin Memorial. Link
Also, looking for volunteers willing to devote some time on a weekly or monthly basis to help maintain the landscaping of God's special island in the middle of a City of Refuge. Please get in touch with me if you are interested.
There are many ministries that are placed on our hearts to support and what a privilege it is to give back to God what He has blessed us with. Dunklin will always be one of those chosen places for me. But I have on my heart to bring up up a need for the island itself. As a beautiful and peaceful place of healing and restoration, a place to sit quietly and listen for the voice of God, it has been dedicated and transformed in many ways over the years. But it is a substantial garden and we could really use the additional help of a professional to deal with lawn, plant and tree care. Recently we have lost several large palm trees to either disease or pest. In some areas, the once lush lawn has turned to weeds.
So an idea was brought up that if a number of people would donate a small amount on a monthly basis we could hire a professional company to help the Camp's own crew to improve and maintain the grounds. This would probably be a non tax deductible gift but I will double check on that.
if you want to find out more, please feel free to contact me. Thank you!

Great time with Jay and his band of volunteers from Grace Place yesterday.  Despite the threat of cold and rainy weather, over us was it just beautiful.  Got some new plants in, raked up fallen leaves and generally spruced up the place. Early this morning before dawn, I had a blessed quiet time with the Lord on and around the island while enjoying the beautify of this place and his presence. 

What a wonderful day we had again on Prayer Island. Jay and his group of wonderful ladies and men spent hours raking, planting (even one handed), and even risking their lives on the high seas (Lake Elijah) to pull up some overgrown cattails. Though not up to it's former glory (grass is not doing too well and some plants have been lost or trimmed down), it is coming back and now has some fresh new color as we get ready for Easter Sunrise service. The area around the cross has been redone. New grass and new benches now surround the center of the island and what represents the center of our new life in Christ.  The older benches had rotted and were dangerous to sit on but the new ones will last a lifetime.  For those that donated the former benches, I plan to have the plaques that didn't fare so well also replaced and a new memorial sculpture made to attach all of them and even more as needed. 
Check out the updated photos. 

This past Saturday, Jay brought some familiar and some new folks from Christ Fellowship Singles group to work and give in service to the God of the garden.  And work they did.  By the time I got there, they were already hard at it raking the fall leaves and hauling off debris left over from the quite needed but severe trimming that the Dunklin landscaping crew had begun already last week.  While I was initially shocked at the changes, I accepted that this temporary pruning was for the ultimate health of the garden. I began to see that there was a greater lesson in this for us as well. Routine weeding and feeding are required to have a beautiful garden, but once in a while, perhaps just before the change in seasons, trees and shrubs have to be cut back in order to prepare for even a greater growth in due time. The old and dead growth is removed so as to let the sunlight in to nourish the soil and the plants living below the trees.  It is no different in our own lives.  What we often see as painful and of no sense, may be a situation loving applied to us so as to remove the dead and unproductive areas in our heart or spirit, making room for God to then grow us and shape our character to more faithfully reflect that of the Lord.  

Before they left, plans were already being made for their next Prayer Island Workday. What a blessing. Thanks to all!