The rains came down and floods came up.  Actually, it was more like a river redirected straight through Camp Rhino which included our house.:)

Around 11:45 pm on Saturday, I walked toward the living room to witness water coming under our back doors.  I was glad I didn’t go to bed at my normal 10 pm time that night. Amy and I immediately took action to try and stop the rushing water but to no avail.  Soon, every floor in every room of our house was under water. Eventually, we redirected the river of water to flow through our living room and go out the kitchen door on the other side of the house.  You could say about our house, “A river runs through it.”:)

Most of the water is down, but parts of the camp property are still flooded.  It rained again last night but we put sandbags out so no water came in.  I believe the worst part of the rain has passed. 

Large sections of our fencing were knocked down and need to be repaired.  Every cabinet and built-in closet in our house has to be replaced, along with the doors & floor trim. We will be busy cleaning the entire campgrounds up until the camps start.

Prayer Requests & Praise

• Please pray for Camp Rhino. Our Winter Camps begin on June 17th. We’re working hard to get the property ready in time and pray the Lord does great work in the hearts of our workers and campers.
• On the day of the flood, many came out to help clean up between church services. It was overwhelming to receive so much support.
• Fairview Baptist Church in Athens, TN, brought a group of 23 people, and they were a tremendous blessing to all of our churches and ministries during their time here. Pray that the Lord continues to use their trip to impact even more people as they minister back home.
• Please pray for our daughter-in-law, Ashley Southard. She and our son, Chase, are returning to the States from South Africa, hoping to determine the cause of her blackouts and blurred vision.

Quick Updates & Needs

• We praise the Lord that $11,000 was given toward the purchase of a new 15-passenger van for Camp Rhino and the Rhino Youth Home, which is badly needed. The total cost of the new van is $31,000. Please pray that the remaining $20,000 comes in soon so we can make that purchase.
• We are still raising funds to enlarge our dorm space at Camp Rhino. We have decided we need 2 more girl dorms and 2 more boy dorms. This should set us up for a few years to come. The new dorms will cost about $20,000.
• Because of the flooding, we need to construct brick walls that will redirect water away from our house and camp kitchen. We don’t have the exact amount for the cost of construction, but we will keep you up to date.