Winter 2015
It is the middle of January and any day now, we will welcome the ✹ back into our home. Many of you think we are in darkness all day, however it’s just that we don't have direct sunlight. The sun rises and travels along the horizon until sunset. We can see its yellow glow behind the mountains but it doesn’t climb high enough. Because of the low angle of the sun we have many beautiful sunsets. It is as if God drew in the sky with orange, red, and pink crayons. By March we will have daylight from 7:30 am to 8:30 pm. The snow cover reflects the light of day and boosts the brightness outside.The snow is very dry and not good for snowmen at all. It is excellent for filling in our potholes on the camp roads. We usually walk everywhere we go at Victory. The dry conditions actually make 10 degrees feel pleasant.
Since we wrote you last we have hosted several church/social groups at Victory. Over the Christmas holidays we were filled up with family outings. It is encouraging to see families choose to spend their time off work in a setting where God can speak to them away from the distractions of life found in a world that is truly hostile to God! We, as a culture, hurry from one errand, event, or appointment each day and we miss so many appointments with God. “He waits for us to knock...but we don’t...but God waits.” (Rev 3:20). He stands on the threshold. To open the door is to pray to Him.
Prayer is the hand of faith on the door handle of your heart. The willing pull. The happy welcome to Jesus: “Come in, O King. Come in.” “The kitchen is messy, but come in.” “I didn’t clean up, but come in.” “I’m not much of a conversationalist, but come in.” - Max Lucado
Chris will have cataract surgery the end of January. He will literally have the veil lifted so he can see clearly. For example, Chris was standing off to the side, helping back up a truck to be hitched to a trailer. He said. “Stop, it‘s perfect.” As he approached the hitch, he found that he was a foot off! Life is like that many days when we try to do it ourselves without prayer. We can really be out of alignment.
We praise God for the blessings over the past year. Excellent health for our camp/staff families. New babies born. The donation of two near new passenger vans and one used plow truck. Several projects, many involving maintenance on buildings, were completed only because God brought the right set of work teams to camp at the right times to accomplish them. But most importantly, above what we can visually see, is God at work in the hearts of all the youth and adults that pass through our gates. This summer 55 kids accepted God as their Savior for the first time. 116 kids rededicated their lives to God. Please pray for these youth to be continually built up in their daily walk. The reality is the family unit is on shaky ground, drugs are readily available, and the desire to walk the narrow path is set aside by the enticement of many idols.
Many of the camp buildings are dated and so we continue to brainstorm new ways to keep them useable. Our heating systems take the biggest hit. The high calcium content in our spring water plugs up the water flow. One of the most important jobs each day is to do rounds. This entails going from building to building to check for possible water leaks, open windows or doors that would allow pipes to freeze and that the heating systems are functioning.
We drive the hour, carefully, into town about twice a month. We don’t like to drive after dark because of the curvy dark highway with rather large obstacles moving about! Darn moose.
We were so happy to have both our daughters visit us for two weeks over Christmas. Our time was spent outside a lot, ice skating, sledding, hiking, and 
country skiing. We also laughed till we cried watching old home movies. We weren’t going in different directions each day and truly enjoyed each other’s company. We pray for our son and his wife to be able to visit next summer. Our neighbors had fireworks on News Year’s Eve and the families here closed down the road up to Ranch Camp to sled on (at night). It is a tradition here on Victory Road. The windy snow packed road is about ½ mile long. Plenty of screaming abounded. We even got a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Many of you probably would rather have the lights of the city, but God knew what He was doing when He placed us out here in the woods.
country skiing. We also laughed till we cried watching old home movies. We weren’t going in different directions each day and truly enjoyed each other’s company. We pray for our son and his wife to be able to visit next summer. Our neighbors had fireworks on News Year’s Eve and the families here closed down the road up to Ranch Camp to sled on (at night). It is a tradition here on Victory Road. The windy snow packed road is about ½ mile long. Plenty of screaming abounded. We even got a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Many of you probably would rather have the lights of the city, but God knew what He was doing when He placed us out here in the woods.
Liam is doing well in school and has taken to Alaska. He continues to clean the school buses each week for spending money and helps run the computer during church. In the past few months he has helped one friend work on his cabin and another to rebuild a truck engine. I help out wherever camp needs me and especially enjoy God’s leading in allowing me to sub at school. Chris and I are teaching Pilgrim’s Promise with our Sunday school class. It is a version made for first through sixth graders. Chris also is on the missions committee and I am on the Sunday school committee. Glacier View Bible Church supports several mission families from Burma to South America to Africa.
This weekend brings over 200 middle school kids to Victory for our annual Snowmania. We sponsor this event and a similar event is held in early December for the high school kids. There is always a lot of spiritual warfare during these weekends and our staff is asked to pray frequently for these kids and us.
We are humbled servants here at Victory and are honored to do the support work to keep our doors open. God is here! We praise Him for all He has done. We give thanks in advance for His future plans for Victory. It took us many years to answer God’s call...
“Perhaps changes are in the air right now. Maybe you are in the midst of a decision. It’s disrupting, isn’t it? You like your branch...And you’ve been a pretty good branch sitter. And then you hear the call. “I need you to go out on the limb and… forgive someone, move to another place, evangelize to your coworker, sacrifice your bonus check to a needy neighbor… Though your heart may say yes, your feet, voice, and actions say no. Eventually you are left staring at a bare tree and a hard choice. His will or yours?” - Max Lucado
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit,
Serving in His Glorious Name - Chris, Debbie, and Liam Mocks cdcmcl@hotmail.com
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