NDP Summer Program and Farm Progress

Our pilot NDP program went well! We had four youth participating, and it gave us a taste of things to come. In the future, we plan to have a 10 day program (Friday – Sunday) with perhaps 2-3 different time frames each summer. These will coordinate with the Great Commission Camp Urban outreach schedule and include time in a major city where we are currently ministering.

Having part of the week at the farm and part in inner city Detroit gave a nice variety of experience to our “boot camp” participants. We had some training with various leaders and each morning we had a special group session in addition to individual morning devotions. It was a growing and “stretching” time for all of us, and we are already making plans to make it better for the future.

Progress and Next Steps

We received our new Bobcat and have been using it extensively. There were a number of projects that we needed the right tools to complete. Clearing brush, developing campsites, making trails, and clearing the rubble to make way for the new garage porch are just a few ways we will be using it.

Here are some of the next steps we are working on right now:

• Finishing our RV spaces and getting them ready for guests.
• Finishing the farmhouse renovation and getting it ready for guests. (We currently are waiting on flooring materials due to supply chain shortages, but we were able to obtain this commercial grade flooring at wholesale cost!)
• Getting a logs cut from the woods and using the skidsteer to transport to our woodmill. We can make our own lumber for various projects and having the right tool to help with logs is going to make a huge difference!
• Cutting and stacking lumber for drying to be used for constructing our cabins
• Clearing land and pouring slab foundations for new cabins and to relocate our existing cabins.
• Planning and hosting our first Missions “Harvest Weekend” at the farm September 23-26.

Harvest Weekend

We were already planning this event, but recently, I came across a piece from Dr. Paul Kaufmann, a professor and Old Testament expert that I deeply respect.

“Of the three major feasts, only the Feast of Tabernacles has no New Testament fulfillment.” he writes. “It runs from the 15th to the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which in our calendar in 2021 is Sept. 20—27, (also known as the Feast of Ingathering, or the Feast of Harvest, or in Hebrew, Succoth). By that I mean that the OT day of Passover was fulfilled by Christ as our Passover Lamb; Pentecost was fulfilled in Acts 2 with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. But for the Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering, there is no New Testament fulfillment.”

He went on to add, “I have often told students; I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lord would choose to gather home his Bride during those seven days in Tishri. What a wonderful way for our Lord to observe the Feast of Ingathering! I am no date-setter; I am merely watching the calendar and the signs of the times.”

Whatever God chooses to do in regards to His return, we plan to occupy until He comes! We want to be about the work of making Disciples who will spread the Good News to the ends of the earth. Regardless of your view of eschatology, the Great Commission and Great Commandment should be the passion of every believer.

If you would like to join us for this special time of prayer, planning, work, and fellowship, we would welcome you. You can contact us by calling: (765) 997-8448 or emailing: director@victoryacres.org for details.

Conclusion

In the meantime, keep us in your prayers. So many good things are happening at the farm, and the harvest – physical and spiritual – continues. May God richly bless each one of you that have stood behind us and with us to see our vision move forward over the past 15 years.

In Christian Love,

Eric Himelick, Director