All the Stars
This year marks 75 years of outdoor ministry at Camp Wapo and 66 years at Wilderness Canoe Base. We are deeply grateful for everyone who has had a part in making these sites meaningful to so many, and for sharing the light of the Gospel with the next generation. The summer staff have arrived at Wapo and Wilderness Canoe Base and they are just beginning to uncover the many blessings a summer at camp holds.
For 75 years camp has been inspiring faith in the wonder of community and creation. Just think of the tremendous impact on the lives of every individual that has experienced camp here. The echoes of songs sung around the campfire, the millions of prayers lifted in every imaginable and creative way, the stillness of a morning paddle on a calm lake, the shriek of laughter while playing Capture the Flag, the spiritual centering that happens at First Word, Last Word and everything in between. As a supporter of Camp Wapo, Wilderness Canoe Base, and Ox Lake we invite you to join us in honoring the rich history of this outdoor ministry with your contribution this year.
In celebration of the important work of camp and developing leaders, and to spark generosity, a close friend of camp and generous donor has given us a $50,000 gift for a matching challenge. Your gift today will ensure a superior quality camp experience for everyone at Camp Wapo, Ox Lake and Wilderness Canoe Base. How can you help us reach this $50,000 challenge goal?
This summer’s Bible study theme is “All the Stars,” inspired by Isaiah 40:26. Campers will be exploring how, as a child of God, each of us has been beautifully and wonderfully made. Like all the stars in the sky, we are called by name and cannot be lost. No matter where we are in life, we belong to God.
We will be honoring all gift challenge donors with a wall of stars at Camp Wapo. We’ll include your name or the name of someone you’d like to give in honor or memory of…maybe someone who has inspired your faith!
Thank you for your consideration and generosity! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see our progress.
An inheritance will become a lasting legacy
Dave Assmus has a lifelong connection to Wilderness Canoe Base (WCB). Now, thanks to some intentional and thoughtful planning, he will be turning a plot of pastureland in South Dakota into a lasting legacy for the camp that has had a significant impact on his life.
“I’m grateful to be able to have an impact on a place that’s so meaningful to me, and that will extend beyond my lifetime,” Dave says. While the gift may seem complex at first, the result will be a significant gift to create an endowment fund providing annual revenue for the ministry of Wilderness Canoe Base.
Working with an advisor from the ELCA Foundation, Dave and his spouse Ruth created a Charitable Remainder Unitrust from the proceeds of the sale of land he inherited from his parents. That trust will provide annual income to the Assmuses through their lifetimes, then will benefit their children for a set number of years, after which the trust will be transferred to Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp Inc., designated to benefit Wilderness Canoe Base.
“We truly appreciate Dave and Ruth’s vision and desire to make this amazing commitment to future Wilderness campers and staff!” says Nate Berkas, WCB Director. “This gift will impact Wilderness Canoe Base for generations to come! Even thinking about that is hard to comprehend, but so exciting!”
By sharing their story with you, Dave and Ruth hope to inspire other friends of Wilderness to consider similar legacy gifts. These can range from a simple bequest (naming the organization in your will) to a more structured gift like theirs. “This gift took some time, but it wasn’t difficult to set up,” Dave says. He emphasizes that “it’s important to start planning now for what you want your legacy to be!”
Executive Director, Heather Eggert adds, “We are deeply grateful to Dave and Ruth, not only for this legacy, but for a lifetime of friendship, philanthropy, and dedication to outdoor ministry. We also appreciate the partnership and expertise provided by the ELCA Foundation to structure this gift in a way that will benefit both the family and Wilderness Canoe Base. It’s beyond any gift we could have imagined.”
If you have questions or would like more information about ways to make a legacy gift to Camp Wapo, Ox Lake or Wilderness Canoe Base, please reach out to our director of donor engagement, Gay Gonnerman, gayg@campwapo.org or 715-883-0411.
2022 Impact Report
2022 was an incredible year for Camp Wapo, Ox Lake and Wilderness Canoe Base! We have so much to be grateful for…over 3800 summer campers at our sites and thousands more retreat guests. Click here to view the Impact Report.
Welcome to the Team, Eric!
Please help us welcome a new addition to the administrative team at Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp. Starting February 1, Eric Golberg will join our staff as the Director of Administration.
Eric has served in several financial advisory roles throughout his career, leading companies and individuals through a disciplined investment process. He has a Masters of International and Public Affairs from Columbia University and a BA from Luther College. Eric also serves on the ELCA Foundation Board as well as several other advisory roles for various non-profits. Eric and his wife Mikiko live in New Richmond, WI and are members at Redeemer Lutheran in Burkhardt, WI. They very much enjoy taking trips to visit their adult daughters who reside in New York City and London.
Eric’s experience in finance, his professional network, and commitment to service, paired with his passion for non-profit management and outdoor ministry will make him a great addition to the team at Camp Wapo, Ox Lake, and Wilderness Canoe Base. We can’t wait for you to meet him!
Be a Mustard Seed Giver!
You know the parable where Jesus says, “the realm of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches?” (Matt 13:31-32)
It might not be the perfect analogy, but even a few coins or dollars set aside every month over several months become enough to buy something that helps the community—so that children, youth and families can come and be safely sheltered and find a space to experience God’s love.
Or maybe the parable of the yeast that a woman mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened, resonates with you. Yeast is a magical ingredient (it’s really a fungus) that can be activated to create carbon dioxide and alcohol and make a little lump of dough expand to many times its original size, providing enough bread to feed a crowd.
How would your gift of $5, $15, $25 or $50 a month provide seeds or yeast for the ministry that happens at Camp Wapo, Ox Lake and Wilderness Canoe Base?
Over one year,
- $5 becomes $60, enough to provide a week’s worth of trail snacks for a Wilderness canoe trip;
- $15 becomes $180, enough for a weekend of s’mores supplies for Seeds campers at Wapo;
- $25 becomes $300, enough for two 2-person tents in the Boundary Waters;
- $50 becomes $600, and provides one camper scholarship for a family with need.
These are some fun examples of how a seed or some fermented yeast can grow and expand into something so much bigger than it began. The point is, once you get started, your gift will grow and multiply and do more than you ever imagined.
Your monthly investment at a level that’s meaningful for you, mixed with some faith in the transformative power of Bible camp, will yield incredible results.
Think of the joy the planter of the seed and the baker of the bread feel when the community shares the shelter of the tree and the loaf of bread in community together! You can feel that same humble pleasure of knowing that you are a mustard seed giver all year long!
Click here to start your monthly gift today!
Merry Christmas!
After seeing the incredible new photos of the stars and galaxies coming from outer space in 2022, I am awe-struck by the expanse of God’s creation. Did you know that the average star is between 1 and 10 billion years old?
What a miracle that God set the stars in the heavens and that you and I are here on this tiny planet now—each one of us a unique gift from God—and that God gave us a baby, born under the star of Bethlehem, to be the light of the world.
The Advent and Christmas seasons are upon us. It’s a time of hope and expectation of the miracles that await. I celebrate the gift of each one of you as members of the Camp Wapo, Ox Lake, and Wilderness Canoe Base community.
We are living with enormous change and many unknowns about the future but like the stars in the galaxy, God’s plan is so much bigger than we can imagine. I am deeply grateful for your past support and investment in camp’s mission, “Places of Grace Forming People of Faith.”
You play an essential role in making the stars shine for our young campers and summer staff who are looking to find their place in the universe.
As we near the end of 2022 and look forward to a new year, we are counting on your support for a strong year-end financial position to be equipped for many exciting opportunities and plans for 2023.
Your gift has an incredible impact on the ministry that happens at camp. This summer just over 3700 kids and families experienced camp at Wapo and Ox Lake. Wilderness Canoe Base led 98 canoe trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and hosted 5 family camp weekends. You make all of this possible through your continued generosity. Use this link to make a gift today!
The 2023 theme ALL THE STARS is based on Isaiah 40:26 “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? God who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of God’s great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”
Thank you for being an important part of making sure that all campers know they are called by name – each one a shining star, claimed, known, and loved by our Almighty God.
Merry Christmas,
Heather Eggert
Executive Director