"Get Out, Get In, Stay In" by Elder David Trexler October 23 to 26, 2008 by Cathy Ingram
From October 23-26, 2008, the Deaf Eastern Autumn Revival Camp Meeting (DEAR) held its 8th straight year-long weekend camp meeting at Camp Blue Ridge (CBR) in Montebello, Virginia.
Moore than 60 campers attended the DEAR camp meeting in which they came from various states such as New York, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
The 2008 theme was ‘Come Unto Me.’ The guest speaker was Speaker/Director David Trexler of Adventist Deaf Ministries (ADM). He gave three presentations entitled, ‘Get Out’, ‘Get In’, and ‘Stay In’.
On opening night, the campers flocked to the Lodge building to hear DEAR Director Cathy Ingram, an employee of the National Park Service, give a PowerPoint presentation on various wild animals of North America, and they had fun guessing the names of them. Ms. Ingram wanted to educate the campers on the importance of preserving God’s creatures.
The campers attended a public forum, and Speaker/Director Trexler gave a report on ADM’s projects on Friday afternoon. Campers were given the opportunity to suggest several ideas/projects that would be brought up at the annual ADM meeting in the summer of 2009. Afterward, some of the campers went to the go-kart track whereas others attended Ms. Frances English’s craft-making class.
The Lord’s Supper was administered in the Lodge building to welcome the Sabbath on Friday evening. In addition, a baptism occurred on Sabbath afternoon. It rained all day, however, at precisely 2;00 p.m., it stopped raining. Daniel Patrick Foley a.k.a. ‘DP’ of Massachusetts and a student at Gallaudet University was baptized. David Trexler, along with the assistance of Paul Kelly, baptized DP in the cold lake. Miraculously, after DP was baptized, it started to rain again! Praise the Lord! Later on in the evening after sundown, the youth group performed a skit. A traditional candlelight vigil was given in the evening. Rosella Kelly, the DEAR’s Youth Director who is the daughter of Pastor Paul Kelly, led the candlelight vigil. After the program, we all had a fun time eating ice cream and playing a game, Musical Chair. On Sunday morning, everyone bid his/her farewell with the intention of making plans to return to Camp Blue Ridge again next year. The date for next year’s DEAR Camp Meeting will be announced soon.