New Life Ranch

Yesterday morning at 5:00, 23 campers along with 4 sponsors left Christ Covenant Church for New Life Ranch outside of Colcord, Oklahoma which is just a ways from Tulsa. These kids ranged anywhere from 3rd to 12th grade. They are either from CCC or the ever popular Wichita County GAP group. Sponsors who took these kids in 3 vans are Youth Minister Kevin and his wife, Jill , Matt Martin and Scott Hahn. They were to arrive at camp at approximately 4:00. Camp will not end until the morning of Saturday, the 12th. These kids couldn't wait to get started!

Though the kids are not allowed to receive or make phone calls or to use the computer, people are encouraged to send EMessages (personal email). And, believe me, the kids love to hear from us! If you are interested in writing to someone there including our daughter, Leighlyn, please follow these simple instructions:

1. Go to www.newliferanch.com

2. Slide down the left side of the page until you find SEND YOUR CAMPER AN E-MESSAGE. Click on it. A page will then appear that will ask you for your camper's cabin. Since we do not know what camper he or she is in, hit the square for DO NOT KNOW.

3. Just under that, type in your camper's first name. Below that, type in the camper's last name.

4. After that, you can type your message. Please keep your message including spaces down to 2,000 characters. (I learned the tough way that if your message is over that limit, you have to delete letters and or spaces. LOL!) You DO NOT have to send a message that long. And you can send as many messages as you want to. DON'T FORGET TO SIGN YOUR NAME AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR MESSAGE. The kids will want to know who sent the message to them.

5. When you are finished, click on SEND.

Your message will go straight to the office. It will be printed and given to your camper at lunchtime.

And, as I just said, send as many messages as you want. It really helps with the kids who are homesick. Leighlyn appreciated hers so much from 2 years ago, that she folded them gently and saved them. She just brought them out again a couple of days before she left yesterday.

Thank you so much for taking time to do this!!!

VLE-B