Kanes Up In Canada

Billie and I met while serving on Summer Staff in 1994.  After that summer, we didn’t return to camp for many years, but we had fond memories of our time spent serving the Lord in Northwest Ontario.  I became an elementary teacher which meant that our family had time in the summer for traveling to visit family, working in the garden, and picking up odd jobs.  One spring I was thinking about what our family should do for the upcoming summer, and God brought Camp of the Woods to my mind.  I remembered that when we had been on Summer Staff that sometimes families had volunteered and served at camp in the summer.  Billie had other plans though, so we didn’t go to camp that summer.  Each spring for several years, God would remind me about camp, but there were always reasons not to go back.  Finally, I told Billie that I would stop asking her about camp and would instead ask God to change her heart if He wanted us to go.  The following spring, John and Fawnda Cofield, former COTW missionaries and the past director of camp when Billie and I were on Summer Staff, stopped by our church on their way North to spend the summer at camp.  I was out of town with all the boys, so Billie was on her own as they asked her about returning to camp with our family.  Later she prayed about returning to camp, and God made it clear that we should go!  That summer was the first of many that our family volunteered at camp.  At first we helped out wherever there was a need.  Then Adam took on the role of Program Director, overseeing the summer activities and staff.  Billie became the baker in the kitchen as well as helping with the Tuck Shop.  We came for two weeks, five weeks, six, seven, then eight.  Camp often ran winter camps over the winter school break, so we came for those.  After several years, God laid the need for following up with campers during the school year on Adam’s heart.  Did God want our family to move to camp to join the ministry full time?  It took several years of seeking God together, but God confirmed his plan for our family.  After almost twenty years of teaching and putting down deep roots in our community in Indiana, God was calling us to full time ministry at Camp of the Woods.  With the support of our church family and many friends, we were able to gather a team of financial and prayer supporters to partner with us.  We moved to Canada in the fall of 2016.  As we look back we are so thankful for God’s faithfulness in preparing us to serve Him.  And we’re looking forward to serving here as long as the Lord allows!

Adam Kane

Program Director

Camp of the Woods

www.cotwcanada.com

The Kane Family (2016)

From Left to Right: Evan, Ethan, Alex, Schyler, Billie, Adam