This year Camp Li-Lo-Li will be celebrating the 60th Anniversary since their founding in 1953. We have set aside June 29th at camp as a day of remembering and giving thanks to the Lord for all He has accomplished in this valley over the past 60 years.
Please visit our new page https://www.facebook.com/CampLiloli60thAnniversary and hit the Like button! While there, please add some memories of your times at camp. We are looking for stories that are funny, memorable, life-changing or created a spiritual impact in your life!
We are also looking for pictures of your times at camp, especially before and after pictures like this one. A few of you may have pictures of some of the old t-shirts or sweatshirts designs. Please post them!
We would also like to know where you are living now. Where in the world are our old Li-Lo-Li campers today! Here is a picture of a visit to Russia a few years ago.
Stop by and visit today!
Please visit our new page https://www.facebook.com/CampLiloli60thAnniversary and hit the Like button! While there, please add some memories of your times at camp. We are looking for stories that are funny, memorable, life-changing or created a spiritual impact in your life!
We are also looking for pictures of your times at camp, especially before and after pictures like this one. A few of you may have pictures of some of the old t-shirts or sweatshirts designs. Please post them!We would also like to know where you are living now. Where in the world are our old Li-Lo-Li campers today! Here is a picture of a visit to Russia a few years ago.Stop by and visit today!
This is Don Larter, number-two son of Vernon and Ethel Larter, older brother to David and younger brother to Ken. My dad, who has been with the Lord since around 1997, was Camp Li-Lo-Li's first Spiritual Director, back when the camp was located in Allegany State Park in the early 1950s.
ReplyDeleteMy only memories of camp as it was back then probably come from pictures, as I was only three years old when camp was founded by Mel Northrup and Colin Caldwell. Their God-imparted vision came to fruition as Christian volunteers from several churches partnered together to reach children for Christ.
It is safe to say that all my relatives, for four generations stretching back to my grandpa Ernest Larter, have volunteered gladly in various capacities at Li-Lo-Li. We all considered our labors to be an inestimable privilege because they were "unto the Lord." Without exception we would all say we received spiritually so much more FROM camp than we ever gave TO camp.
Only eternity, I suppose, will reveal fully what camp has meant to the thousands of kids--and adults--who have travelled the dusty road into Sunfish Valley to be campers or to serve as counselors, staff workers, directors, preachers, and teachers.
Nevertheless, on this side of eternity we know there are many exciting testimonies of how God has touched so many lives in so many ways. Children from a myriad of backgrounds have been saved, many of whom have gone on to serve the Lord as witnesses of His grace and love, in their families, at school, on the job, in their neighborhoods, and beyond.
Christians young and old have grown and matured in Christ, going on to serve the Lord in local churches, in cross-cultural missionary endeavors both here and abroad, and in ministries as unique as the people who serve in them.
Sixty years after camp's founding, it is hard to believe my wife Alice and I have lived in Pittsburgh for almost 30 of those 60 years! We are empty nesters now, but both our children--who were campers in the 90s--still live in Pittsburgh, and we see them frequently.
Though I wasn't able to be at Li-Lo-Li's fiftieth anniversary, my wife Alice and I may just be able to attend the sixtieth. My mom will likely be there; as will my aunt Mary and Uncle Ted Larter; my cousin Doug Larter; and of course Dave and Amy Larter and their daughters Sarah, Beth, and Alison, all of whom have served--or continue to serve--at camp.
In closing, I thank God for the many brothers and sisters in Christ who passed in and out of my life at Li-Lo-Li. I may not remember you all, but I am certain my life bears an indelible impression from having been served by you and from serving with you. What a blessing and a privilege.
Over the last 60 years, many saints have graduated and gone to be with the Lord. Many saints follow in their footsteps by continuing to serve at Li-Lo-Li, thus setting a good example for the next generation.
We praise God for His faithfulness and goodness, and we thank Him for Camp Li-Lo-Li!