Camp Still Impacting Lives

Matt Miles • July 19, 2017

June is usually camp season for us here at CTF and this year was no different. We ended May with Genesis Week at Oil Belt Christian Service Camp in Flora, IL. This was our fourth year to partner with this camp and guide junior and senior high youth in their worldview development through Genesis. Having completed our 3 year rotation last summer, this year we started over again with Genesis 1. It has been great to see the growth in many of the campers that have been with us since the beginning of this outstanding camp. We study a little more than other camps and have the opportunity to do a field trip each year. This year we went to the St. Louis Zoo and studied created “kinds” of creatures. Our work through this camp is impacting lives of future generations as we are able to drive a Biblical worldview home summer after summer.

CTF was also the mission for the entire month of camp at Flaming Spirit Christian Camp in Oregon, MO. Each week we had the opportunity to teach Biblical worldview to campers. I was unable to attend all of the weeks, but the Lord provided great friends of the ministry to fill in when I was absent. Ryan Cox (11 th Cadre) and his family went to Sr. High week in my stead. It was Ryan and I who started Genesis Week in Illinois, so I knew this camp was in good hands. Not only does Ryan understand the importance of our ministry, but he has a great handle on the material we are called to preach and teach. I received outstanding reports from faculty and students alike about how well he (and his family) represented CTF in their presence and teaching times. I am personally very grateful to Ryan and Amanda for their passion and heart for this ministry. Rich Atkins (9 th Cadre) and Jim Brown (7 th Cadre) filled in at Junior week of camp with great response from campers and faculty as well. These men also understand the importance of our ministry and were able to drive that point home to the campers, impacting their worldviews. I attended the remaining four camps and took on the task of helping campers understand that the Bible’s history is accurate. The theme for all camps was “Suit Up” with the armor of God, which begins with the Belt of Truth. Helping the campers see that Genesis is truth helps them understand the importance of the first piece of armor the Lord provides.

It was a great camp season with numerous students’ worldviews impacted for the Gospel by studying Genesis. There were over 35 campers that gave their lives to Christ, with many sharing the importance of our studies in seeing the truth in the Bible beginning in Genesis. I praise the Lord each month for the faithful supporters of this ministry who continue to send us prayer and financial support. That support is not going to waste as we utilize it to impact lives for Christ. Thank you.

May 2026 Printed Newsletter

May 7, 2026
Washington the Soldier by Jacques Auguste Regnier, 1834

A Miraculous Shield part 2

By Ryan Cox • May 7, 2026
Washington the Soldier by Jacques Auguste Regnier, 1834
Picture of the Moon

Artemis... Is No God

By Matt Miles • May 6, 2026
Artemis - the Greek goddess of wild animals, the hunt, vegetation, chastity and childbirth. 1 While the Greek goddess may not be openly worshiped anymore, her name has now been irrevocably linked to the lesser light, just as her mythological twin brother Apollo’s was in the last century. Even so, it was not without Providence showing Who is really present in the affairs of men. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has been focused on having a prolonged presence in space with the work of the International Space Station (ISS), so until recently lunar exploration took a backseat. The Artemis missions of NASA have changed that. They began with the first launch in 2022 when an unmanned spacecraft orbited the Moon and returned successfully for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The plan for the Artemis program is to establish an ongoing manned presence on the Moon. In upcoming missions astronauts will return to the surface, marking another generation of Moon exploration. As we press forward, may we never forget the sacrifice of many lives throughout our ongoing space program, and may we remember it is only possible by the ordered design and engineered forces at work in creation by the Lord God our Creator. Many of you may have watched, as I did, as four brave astronauts were launched from the clutches of Earth’s gravity on April 1, 2026. It was hard to describe how proud I was as an American on that day. This country, founded on God-ordained rights and privileges, was the first and only country to place His image bearers on the surface of the lesser light years ago, and we are headed back again. We are literally doing what the Lord asked of us from the Genesis 1:28 mandate in studying His creation. As much as I know that not all who work for NASA have this worldview, there are several that do, praise the Lord! On Artemis II launch day, one of the four astronauts on board was our brother in Christ - Victor Glover, mission pilot.
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