We waste our quarantine if we think that
“beating” quarantine means staying alive
rather than cherishing Christ.
Satan’s and God’s designs in our quarantine are not the same. Satan designs to destroy our love for Christ. God designs to deepen our love for Christ. Quarantine does not win if we die. It wins if we fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean us off the breast of the world and feast us on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help us say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8) and to know that therefore, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
— adaptation of chap. 6 of “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” by Dr. John Piper (Crossway), using the word quarantine for cancer
Today at Ridge Haven Cono
Dear Friends,
While the normal everyday ministry looks different right now, we are excited to have discovered the ministry potential of utilizing social media to provide focused encouragement to our Ridge Haven community.
We've been connecting with campers virtually by hosting live online camp sessions for families at home. These sessions include games, worship, and a message from “Uncle” Pastor Archie Moore. (If you have a moment, check out our YouTube channel!) We are grateful for the opportunities to bring hope and joy as so many are experiencing fear and loneliness.
An exciting virtual offering for our campers is the introduction of video “jam sessions” for kids interested in playing music together. These sessions will be led by our staff member Wesley, who's been a camp leader at Cono, started playing guitar as a summer worker and now leads worship at his college campus ministry. From his own experience he sees the value of introducing campers early to how music can minister to others.
We are grateful for the signs pointing to our campus ministry resuming soon—we know that gathering in Christian community will mean all the more after this season of isolation. In fact, please pray with us that our churches will once again become the center of family life—rather than school and sports. To support this opportunity for priority shifts within our church families, we are making Ridge Haven available to the needs of church youth groups in any way we can. Hopefully this time of crisis will bring us back to what is really important, our kids and their spiritual growth.
In the meantime, we are pleased that we have been able to maintain our full-time staff. We've been hard at work on all the many maintenance projects that kept being pushed the back-burner.
As you can imagine, this has also been a challenging time financially in the wake of losing the entire spring retreat season. It has been a focused effort to make it work – we have taken pay cuts, put a spending freeze on non-essential items, and cut costs wherever possible. If you are able to give a gift to support us during this time, we would be incredibly grateful.
To continue partnering with Ridge Haven Cono:
We also ask that you join us in prayer for our summer camping season. As expected, some adult groups have chosen to postpone their events. We are now eager to see how this opens up the ability for us to host even more youth groups. As mentioned above, we think that this season is providing an opportunity for the church to regain her place in the center of Christian life.
Lastly, please read the amazing letter (above) we received from a camper recently – it gave us such a boost.
In the unknown, we are finding rest in what is known! We are in our good heavenly Father’s hands and each passing day is part of His perfect plan. May He use this to restore His church.
Gratefully,
Donate online HERE to keep Cono serving young people.
Designate for Ridge Haven Cono
Mailing address for checks written out to:
RH Cono, 215 Ridge Haven Road, Brevard, NC 28712
