In Luke 8, Jesus spoke to the storm, but sometimes in life, God speaks through the storm.
For Kevin Kempe that was the case last weekend. Kempe and about 20 other folks were on the campus of Portage Lake Bible Camp in Onekama, Michigan, for a contemplative spirituality retreat, spending time both together and alone with God, when the entire camp was suddenly engulfed in storm conditions.
“The whole theme was about being out in the wild,” said Kempe, “experiencing God in the wilderness.” On Saturday night, Kempe and others had just finished having a campfire when it started to rain. He headed back to his cabin, intent on enjoying watching the storm from inside. “I grew up in North Carolina,” says Kempe, “So we had hurricane season every year, and as someone who didn’t own property as a kid, I loved it.”
But the sound of the storm intensified as the rain gave way to small hailstones. And then the small hailstones became bigger hailstones.
Much bigger.
Stones as big as golf balls, raining down with the full force of gravity and inertia, leaving broken shards of glass, wood, and debris in their wake. “It was like a freight train heading through the back side of our house,” said Marc Eix, executive director of the camp. The storm didn’t touch many other places in the area, but it struck the entire camp all at once. According to Eix, all 54 structures (including 39 actual buildings) on the camp were damaged. “Siding, light fixtures, roof damage, you name it,” said Eix, who says an early estimate of the damages exceeded seven figures.
Despite the fact that extreme weather is a regular occurrence at Portage Lake, Eix said the most analogous experience in terms of their staff response was not a previous storm but the pandemic. “We learned a lot during Covid,” he said. “We texted one another, we gathered in a central area of the camp, and dispersed based on the info we had and the priorities we kept, figuring out what needed to happen first, second, third, and last.” Similarly, during the storm, Eix and the rest of the staff checked in with each other, then all the residents. They made sure there were no injuries—which thankfully there weren’t—and tried to keep everyone’s spirits up as they made plans for the rest of the night and the next few days.
Despite the hardship, Eix says they felt God’s presence throughout the next few days. As a staff, they gathered and read the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19, where God’s presence wasn’t in the earthquake, or the wind, or the fire, but in a still small voice. “I’ve heard the voice of God over and over again throughout this whole process, and it’s just been quite remarkable,” he said. As one example, he cites the fact that they found a contractor who not only knew the camp from previously attending, but their two families had a prior connection because their daughters had been on opposing soccer teams. “God may not have been in the hail or the rain,” said Eix, “but he was definitely in the people and in the outpouring of grace, financial help, and physical help.”
For Kempe, too, the weekend’s activities, difficult as the scenario was, were still full of hidden blessings. Decades earlier, he had spent time living at the camp as a full-time employee, so he was very familiar with the property and was immediately able to pitch in with the mindset of a staffer instead of an attendee. Doing so allowed him to hang out with old friends from his previous era of service.
Since Kempe’s car had been totaled by the hailstorm, he was stuck in Onekama for a few extra days while his car insurance claim was sorted out. In that time, he also witnessed a variety of people from the surrounding community coming in to help. “It’s encouraging to watch volunteers just start showing up out of the woodwork to give what time and effort they have,” he said. “Seeing them roll up their sleeves in a time of need says everything you need to know about the relationship between this camp and their neighbors.”
Both Eix and Kempe are grateful that, for all the building damage and boarded-up windows, the camp will be open for business when students and other guests begin showing up in a few short weeks. And despite the wild ordeal, their spirits are still high.
“The worship service the next morning was really meaningful,” said Kempe, “Because it was everyone coming together after trauma—the whole theme was about being with God in the wilderness, so it was a big deal to go through an absolutely wild experience.”
Perhaps, I suggested, this would end up being the ultimate sermon illustration.
And Kevin laughed.
“That would have worked out well, except for everyone’s cars being destroyed.”
