"The Day After" by Elder Jeff Jordan October 25 to 28, 2007 by Cathy Ingram
This year, the DEAR (Deaf Eastern Autumn Revival) Campmeeting entered its 7th straight year at Camp Blue Ridge (CBR), located at the Blue Ridge Mountains in Montebello, Virginia near the National Park Service’s Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah National Park. The Blue Ridge Parkway’s meadows, mountains, valleys, and old farmsteads are magnificent sights to behold.
A total of 60 campers attended CBR and they came from various states: New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Connecticut.
This year’s theme was ‘The Day After’ by Jeff Jordan. Pastor Jordan is from the Southern Deaf Fellowship in Atlanta, Georgia. He gave three presentations: Friday morning: ‘Signs of Christ’s Second Coming; that same afternoon: ‘Events between the Present and the Second Coming (i.e., the Beast will force the people to worship the Beast instead of Christ); and during Sabbath sermon: ‘Jesus’ Second Coming and the New Earth’. Pastor Jeff gave the audience a great comfort by telling us not to worry about the great tribulation that will come soon but to thank the Lord that His second coming will be the greatest event in the history of the world!
Thursday afternoon a few campers arrived. That evening we were in the Lodge building and David Trexler the DEAR director gave an opening and welcoming introduction. Being an amateur ornithologist himself, a PowerPoint presentation on birds was given out and we had fun guessing what bird was shown on the slide. Afterward, we had fun chatting with old and new faces.
That Friday afternoon we had planned to go to the go-kart track, however, it rained all day and a song fell on everyone’s head:
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed Nothin' seems to fit Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin' So I just did me some talkin' to the sun And I said I didn't like the way he got things done Sleepin' on the job Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin' But there's one thing I know The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me Raindrops keep fallin' on my head But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red Cryin's not for me 'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin' Because I'm free Nothin's worryin' me
While it rained, everyone had fun that afternoon. After lunch, we had lots of fun playing games in the Mess Hall such as Music Chair, Elephant, and a touch game called Telephone. On Friday evening we had the Lord's Supper in the main Lodge building to welcome the Sabbath.
On Sabbath after Jeff’s sermon and just before lunch we all gathered for group pictures. That afternoon some of the campers went sauntering near the CBR hiking trails, others stayed in the Mess Hall playing Bible games and the rest went canoeing at the pond. In the Mess Hall that evening the youth group performed skits and afterward, we had our traditional candlelight vigil. We wrote our confessions on a small piece of note paper and discarded them in a small brown cardboard box. Then the lights were turned off and each one of us lighted our own candle. The room shone brighter and brighter. We could see that the glow of the candlelight represented Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world. After the candlelight vigil, we all had ice cream and apple cider.
Sunday morning we had brunch and the Camp Blue Ridge Store opened for those who wanted to purchase souvenirs and snacks for their trip back to dear ‘Home Sweet Home.’
David Trexler was this year’s DEAR Director, his very first and last. For those who wondered why it’s his last year as the DEAR director, Pastor Trexler has been called by the Lord to be the new Director/Speaker of the Deaf Adventist Ministries (ADM) in Mesa, Arizona. We thanked Pastor Trexler for his hard work while he ministered to the Deaf Adventist members and non-Deaf Adventists in the Metropolitan Washington area and to many other deaf people throughout North America.. Thank you David and may God be with you on your mission to ADM.