GLCC 75th Anniversary

wonderful grounds, and also takes the form of being ReCreated for kingdom service. This ReCreation phrase appears on the front cover of the 1946 conference center Broadcaster newspaper. All of this still happens one closer walk with God at a time. We are now at a great ‘in-between’ chapter. We are stable and working on sustainability. In terms of the place, we are out of an infrastructure crisis, but have plenty of projects on the horizon. We have replaced 25 roofs, one city water system, paved over 2 miles of road (and, yes, I know we are not done), over 20,000 bricks on Roger Williams Inn and thousands of feet of pipe for an all-new plumbing supply, countless HVAC systems and controls, and much more. Lakeview is transformed into Staughton Hall, and there is no finer conference room in Wisconsin. With a tiny team God has done miracles. The golf course is doing well under Oliphant, our fabulous lease partner, and the boathouse thrives under Pierless and Thom Lemmenes, our other fabulous lease partner. We hugely appreciate the fine way they steward our assets and display fine Christian virtue in running these businesses. What is next? The focus is on transforming the 205 sleeping rooms in the main conference area. At the time of creation, God said, “let there be darkness?” (quizzical look at the audience). No, He said, “let there be light.” Therefore, we are maximizing the light and views that you can see from our hotel rooms through new blinds and window treatments that do not always block a part of the view, even when opened. We have seen a beautiful sample in a tour of Bauer Lodge this week. We are installing new mattresses and chairs. In Roger Williams Inn we want to restore the gracious high ceilings in place of the low drop ceilings. We need new flooring and

garment making business. Sunny met Kathy Rollin and then Ben and Kelly Field from Ripon, Wisconsin here at Green Lake. As the garment making grew, Ben, Kelly and Kathy raised funds to buy sewing machines and toured churches and coffee shops selling the shirts. Kathy raised money for a Bible College and for bicycles for the pastors who graduated to be able to reach rural communities. Today, there are hundreds of women working in a garment business where they are loved, receiving Christian education and making a living. You can buy a shirt at Mugs coffee shop in Ripon. The Bible college now has 150 students per year and they have begun more than 500 churches. Some might meet in a village, some under a bridge in the slums. And the Fields have been led to adopt a wonderful girl from India named Kartiki and are in the process of adopting an Indian son, Kumar. All from a trip by a bloke from India to the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. Thousands of times, God has done infinitely more than we dare hope or imagine from Green Lake experiences that ripple all around the world. By God’s mighty power at work at Green Lake, he has defied the human economic impossibility of a nonprofit Christian conference center running the Lawson grounds and impacting millions of lives over the past 75 years. This is thanks to people saying yes to God in three major ways: Firstly, to buy and start the ministry. Please raise your hand if you were here in the 1940s. Thank you for starting us out (applause). Secondly, thank you to donors of time, money, and prayer to grow the ministry. If you have donated financially, of your time or your prayers, please raise your hand. Thank you for being used by God to grow the ministry (applause). Thirdly, if you are currently or have in the past served on the staff, please raise your hand. Thank you for being used by God to operate and grow the ministry (applause). So where do we stand today? We have studied the heart of the 1943 founding purpose statement and today we phrase it as: “Green Lake is the place and space of ReCreation that enables people to find God’s best version of themselves and their world.” ReCreation happens in play and recreation on these

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