A Lifetime of Love

Birch Bay Ranch is the most important place in the world to me. For twenty years I have been at this camp, surrounded by God’s glory and the love that follows those who serve him. My entire life has been dedicated to this ministry. I have never known another home and I have devoted every summer to working here for as long as I can remember. I have seen so many children and staff gain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and grow in every way.

For my entire life I have had the unequivocal privilege of calling this place home. The amazing thing about this place is that I am not alone in that regard. Beyond the people who live here year round, there are so many who have come to know BBR as a second home. To me, a home is a place where one can feel loved, feel comfortable and feel at peace. Birch Bay Ranch has always been filled with such love that it is often overwhelming. Throughout my life, I have been uniquely blessed in that I have been constantly surrounded by people on fire for God, people who have passion and love overflowing. These people have shown me God’s love and many have stayed in my life to become role models of what serving God looks like. I have learned how to be loved and how to give love by modelling myself after the amazing people who come out here. And I have watched that awe inspiring love get poured out onto the campers.

Like I said, I grew up here. I watched the camp grow, develop and change. When I was 5 years old I remember crying in the arms of my mom because I had to go to bed and couldn’t sing God songs at campfire. I remember playing hide and go seek with my brother on the super wall before it was put up. I remember having devotions in the now tuck shop. I remember hauling the old tuck shop to the grandstands every Friday for the rodeo. I rose from the tag-along honorary staff member, to being and assistant cabin leader, to getting a class of my very own to teach horseback riding, to being one of the leaders of the Ranch. I recall countless campfires where I laughed and had such an exciting time learning about Christ. I can never forget the sheer joy of a camper coming to know the lord. How many get to witness the awe inspiring sight of a hundred kids with their heads bowed in prayer? How many people get to have their family grow each summer as new staff come and end up having a place in your heart?

This year in particular, I remember meeting the new staff at staff training and feeling like I had gained so many new friends after the first week of camp. Then the North Pointe Missions Team came out for the second week and I wondered how I would get along with the influx of new people. Surely becoming friends with and coming to love so many staff and campers would mean that my heart was as big as it could possibly be. God is amazing because after only a week my heart had grown to accept these new people and we were quickly friends. I am reminded each summer of God’s bottomless love because I get to experience it in my own life as 800 campers and 50+ staff make their own places in my heart each and every summer.

 

Every year I hear the staff speak about how honest they can be out here. I share that sentiment. When you are outside of the camp limits, so often it feels like you have to protect your true self by putting on masks or putting up fronts. Birch Bay Ranch calls you to leave those masks and fronts at the gate. It allows you to come as you are, and be accepted as you are. That acceptance has caused me to build a strong character. I have strong convictions and strong morals due to the atmosphere of this camp. Out here it is okay to speak your mind and have questions about faith, God, and Christianity answered. Birch Bay has prepared me for ministering to my friends and to those I meet in the world because it taught me how to let Christ shine through me unbridled and unmasked. This place has helped me grow in my faith, and for that I am eternally grateful.

At Birch Bay Ranch I have grown a relationship with God. Personally, I have learned so much about God at summer camp and throughout the years. It is amazing during summer camp to see God through the eyes of the speakers at campfires, the staff at devotions, and the children at WAG time (What About God). Every single day I spend out here I grow as a person and as a Christian. When I think back throughout my life I think of how every day I grew. I grew physically but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And I got to watch growth happen in those around me. I was amazingly honored to be allowed to speak at many of the teen camp campfires this past summer. I was overjoyed and deeply grateful for the chance to preach the message to kids. I was teaching them about concepts like sin, God’s love, redemption and salvation. I was so awe struck watching them grow spiritually. To directly see God working in their hearts is an experience I will never forget. At campfires the staff, children and I got to laugh together, learn together, cry together but mainly we grew together.  Praise God for his amazing wonder.

Birch Bay Ranch was donated by the McCaughey family in the 1960s. I am forever grateful to them because they started a legacy of compassion, generosity and love. They gave generously just as God does, and that spirit is maintained every year as the staff give out Christ’s love generously to the children that come here. I am a product of that generosity. Everything that I am today, was influenced by this God-filled place that I and so many others call home.

Garrett Fraess