September Newsletter 2025

 

Hello from Ridge Haven! We just reached the end of our 2025 Summer Season. We've had almost 7,000 guests on both campuses from May - August of this year, and served them with over 80 summer staff members. The Lord answered so many prayers this summer, and we leave the summer with peace and joy for the work he accomplished here. Summer highlights include: Twelve weeks of summer camp in Brevard Eight weeks of overnight camp at our Cono Campus in Iowa Three weeks of Family Camp! Interested in joining us at camp next summer? Our 2026 Summer Camp dates will be posted on our website in October and camp registration will open in early November. We would absolutely love to have you or your family join us! SUMMER STAFF TESTIMONY "Throughout this summer I saw the Lord at work through and in my campers in so many different ways. One of the ways I saw that happen with many of the girls was their desire to know more and grow closer to the Lord. At the beginning of many weeks all of the campers were so excited for all of the camp activities and games, but as the days passed they began to get more and more excited about going to session and hearing God’s word shared and about sharing what the Lord was teaching them.  It was so amazing to see their desire to learn more about the word of the Lord as they were continuously hearing more of it being spoken over them throughout the week. It was amazing to get to watch this growth happen for so many of them, the Lord never failed to reveal his love and grace week after week with each cabin.”  - McKenzie, Summer 2025 Brevard Counselor Do you know of a high school or college student who is interested in working on our staff next summer? We will be opening staff applications for CSIs, Operations Staff (including infirmary staff and photographer positions), and Counselors in October. More information and a link to apply will be posted on our website then! CAMPUS UPDATES Construction on our Family Cabins was underway this summer and they are nearing completion, we can't wait to have these new additions to our lodging options.  We have also commenced working on our new lake which marks the beginning of a significant campus expansion project that we are so excited about! Crews have been hard at work all summer on the foundation and pad of our new Chapel atop of Keyes Summit and they will begin construction on the building this week!   Construction of our new pool at our Cono Campus was finished early this summer and campers and staff alike were so excited to have such a nice break from the Midwest heat in the pool! 2025 GAP YEAR & MINISTRY INTERNS We’re excited to introduce our new Gap Year and Ministry Intern staff in Brevard as we head into the fall! Both groups are part of our Explorer’s Project, with several interns returning after serving on our summer staff for a few years, while others have joined us for the first time this summer. Click here to learn more about our year-round Retreat Staff—those who live and serve on campus and are dedicated to welcoming and supporting every guest this fall season. Do you know of a recent or upcoming High School or College Graduate who would be interested in doing ministry at Ridge Haven? We are now accepting applications for Gap Year and Ministry Intern positions that will start in May 2026. Check out our website for more information! KEENAGERS ADULT CONFERENCE OCTOBER 20 - 24, 2025 Our annual Keenagers Conference is an exciting and spiritually refreshing time for adults amid the extraordinary fall foliage of the Western North Carolina mountains. It will be an experience you won't soon forget! Call 828-862-3916 or click here for more information. We are thrilled to announce that Pastor Wallace Tinsley from York, South Carolina will be speaking at this year's Conference! Wallace and Ruth Tinsley live in York, South Carolina where Wallace serves on the Board of Released Time Bible Education for York School District #1 and where he serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Consummation Ministries. Visit our website to read more about Wallace and Ruth! PRAYER FOCUS As we head into the Fall, we would appreciate your prayers for all who come on campus over the next few months. Pray for safety and an impactful time of reflection and Gospel learning while they are here. Please join us in praying for our interns, for them to find this ministry life-giving and for a community that can support them well. Please also pray that the Lord would provide both full-time and part-time event interns at Cono to help us lead weekend groups and coordinate our summer activities.

PARTNER WITH US Would you like to partner with us here at Ridge Haven? We always have opportunities for people to volunteer, donate, or support our ministry, and we would love to talk with you more about how to do that. Click the link below for more information about how to make an end of year donation, or email ridgehaven@ridgehaven.org for more ways that you can partner with us. Donate Click HERE to visit our website and learn more about what's going on at Ridge Haven.   FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Website Facebook Instagram

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82 Kids on Campus This Week!

 This week we have 82 on campus for camps … next week is only 53, but hey, we love it. The picture below is from one week ago, our first week of full summer camp. Kids had just played "The Greatest Game Ever."

Please pray as we are meeting with new families re: their kids joining us this fall. We are not going to do elementary school this year as we have a group of 4-5 families that are going to use our campus for a homeschool coop. In exchange, the leader who was a science teacher is going to teach our science once a week.

 

This summer has been amazing… the Lord has so provided.

Thank you all again for your prayers, vision, support, and care, 

Wallace Anderson, Exec. Director, Ridge Haven Cono

_________________________

Workers Volunteering

Volunteers in the last weeks have been insulating the camper cabins. These folks are from a group called "Sowers." What a blessing they are.

School will be opening for a second straight year in the fall.

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

Why I Still Support Cono

 Mary Anna and I still love to support Cono because kids are still the focus. This is a picture of the day camp kids during the month of June. Praise the Lord for each one of these young souls, hanging out on the rock that I climbed as a kid over 60 years ago. And THANK YOU to those are already supporting. - Andrew Belz

And I loved this one I got from Cono, with this caption:

"Day campers learning what a testimony is..."

and workers still volunteering...

Ed and Linda Comers building a pallet shelf for the campus. They are one couple

of several traveling volunteers who come to help.

This is our first summer having eight full time Camp Summer Interns (CSI) at Cono for all eleven weeks of this summer's day camp and full camp. Here are the interns at Colfax Center PCA Church's 150th Anniversary, also with Wallace and Paige Anderson, and J Abels, a friend of Cono.

 

School will be opening for a second straight year in the fall.

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

The Cono Reunion has been rescheduled for the Summer of 2022

 Due primarily to lack of registrations, the Cono Reunion has been rescheduled until the summer of 2022, probably in later June or early July. We hope for renewed attendance then – in a year when we're not coming off Covid, and perhaps when people are more free to travel for a reunion. If you know of someone who should see this email, please feel free to forward it to them. Thanks for your interest and support, and we apologize for any inconvenience! Write us at friendsofcono@gmail.org.

Camps are in full swing this summer.

You can always give to support

young people at Cono.

This is our first summer having eight full time counselors at Cono for all eleven weeks. School will be opening for a second straight year in the fall.

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

Share this email with others and encourage them to register and come.

Our Contact Information
Ridge Haven Cono (www.ridgehaven.org)
215 Ridge Haven Road
Brevard, NC 28712
828-702-9510

A Hopeful Word from Ridge Haven Cono

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:

Give online at www.ridgehaven.org/donations
Call us at (828) 862-3916
Mail a gift to 215 Ridge Haven Rd. Brevard, NC 28712

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, 

Wallace Anderson   
Email: wallace@ridgehaven.org | Cell: 828-577-7295  
www.ridgehaven.org | www.facebook.com/ridgehaven

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