Fred loved learning and music. Growing up on a farm “just over the ridge from Wanake,” Fred enjoyed the outdoors and was intrigued by nature. He enjoyed seeing things grow, playing the clarinet, and puns!
“I used to wonder,” Fred recalled, “what went on up the mysterious lane labeled ‘Camp Wanake.’ I finally learned ‘what went on’ when I attended the Senior Two Week program; and I was hooked! The experiences that week got me thinking about the ministry.” Wanake’s small group, decentralized camping provides opportunities for campers to make deep connections with God, others, and themselves. In this open, accepting, loving environment, where counselors listen, there is time to live in a Jesus-centered environment and discuss how to live as Christians outside of camp. Here at Wanake hearts and ears become open to God’s call to ministry.
After graduating as valedictorian from high school, Fred went on to study Chemistry at Case Western Reserve University. “The following summer, while doing an internship with the Hoover Company,” Fred remembered, “I found myself with two weeks off in the middle of the summer when the Hoover plant enacted a two week shut down for cleaning and repairs. Knowing I was free, Wanake’s director, Mel Moody, asked me to be a volunteer counselor for the Senior Two Week program and it nudged me closer to ministry. And Mel invited me back the next year, too!” Wanake offers people in their late teens and twenties the unparalleled opportunity to practice living their faith in Jesus and take on leadership, while sharing their faith with children and teens in word and action. Fred decided to answer God’s call to ministry and enrolled in seminary following college graduation.
“The year I was on summer staff (between college and seminary),” Fred reported, “was one of my prime learning experiences in how small groups can be a vehicle to let God’s love change lives. I never forgot it! Wanake is the biggest single factor in my being in the ministry, and its impact upon my personal growth is immense. It is still my favorite place to ‘retreat.’ Inevitably, I come away feeling like a whole person again – the back of the woods is great for getting all those fragmented pieces reoriented and glued together again!”
Wanake’s impact on Fred has made a powerful impact on the five congregations he served as pastor for a combined 40 years and his commitment to Wanake and visitation ministry well into his seventies.
Your generosity allows Wanake to continue to be a channel through which God nudges people to consider His call to ministry.
