the little camp chapel 3/20/06

the little camp chapel   3/20/06

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A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CLW CHAPEL

The camp chapel is a reflection of how things happen in the Lord's work....a sometimes confusing or disorganized series of efforts that all worked out together for a good thing -- a beautiful old building crammed with memories.

The chapel was the first building put up when Camp Living Water was established back in 1947. It was first used as the dining hall. Mrs Nell Brown labored in love in the "Miracle Kitchen" there for many years, feeding all the children that came to hear the gospel at camp. The camp bell was mounted right outside, and kids would come running at its sound, like they still do today.

The back end of the building contained DR Brown's study and a small library. A note in DR Brown's Bible during this time reads:

(date) Read through the Bible
(date) Read through the Bible
(date) Read through the Bible on my knees

The first round of repairs came early, in the mid-50's, when the cinderblock walls bowed slightly outward, making the roof sag. Four steel rods were placed across the ceiling to prevent further bowing and sagging. The building has been solid ever since.

About 1985, when today's dining hall was completed, the building was converted to a chapel. The back rooms were kept for a few more years....in 1994 they were opened up to provide more seating room and space for a stage. A built-in sound system was added.

Over the past ten years, a long renovation process was started on the chapel to make it more usable. The chapel kitchen was re-opened, and the ceiling was replaced, with cabinet-like casing around those old steel rods, and better lighting and ventilation. Alot of dedicated work by our Maintenance Director David Peck went into those efforts. He marshalled volunteers to help at various times.

In fact, all the work over the years has been done with lots of volunteer help. In 2001 the inside walls were repaired, with new windows, drywall, insulation, and at last, air conditioning!! No more roaring fans during chapel on hot summer nights. The drywall allowed us to show big-screen video on the walls, using our newly donated video projector....and for words to the camp choruses.

We also added a beautiful flower garden with benches where the kids spend their quiet time every morning during summer camp. The Chapel Garden is thanks to the dedication of a little old man who loved flowers, Mr Mark Mills. He came to us one summer, and said he often buys and plants flowers around his cabin, but he would rather spend his time and money planting them around camp, if he just had a place to stay. We gave him a room, and he went to work. The garden was his last project before going home to be with Jesus.

Early this year a team of electricians came and replaced the chapel fusebox. They couldn't believe what a tangle of old connections we had there!! A new power line was connected so that the electric service should be adequate for many more years.

The chapel continues to serve us well. It is used several times a day, all summer long, and most weekends year-round, for worship, youth meetings, Bible studies, and good old-fashioned preaching. There have been a couple of weddings in the chapel, and lots of other joyful occasions. The chapel kitchen is still used as the second camp kitchen, when the "big kitchen" is not available, and for handcrafts.

It is a simple and homely building, but with so much love and hard work poured into it over the years, and so many souls saved between its walls. We are proud to have it there at the front of the camp. We hope it will be there for many years to come.

Now if we can just give it a new roof and some good durable carpetting!!

(update June 2008 -- we got the roof replaced!! and new carpet!! all by donations of the Lord's people. We had our 60th celebration in the chapel last fall and it was very special to lots of people who came to worship and sing praises again in the little chapel. --

Joel