Camp Announcement First, we would like to thank everyone who has commented, encouraged, and reached out to us. It is more than we deserve and we are deeply honored. Second, we would like to thank everyone who has supported us through your donations. It is humbling to receive financial support. You have given so generously and freely. Every gift was needed to get us this far. Every comment of thanks from someone impacted by Big Red also belongs to you. Without our staff and volunteers we would not have been able to host one camp or one event. You have been the best team and Big Red family we could have ever asked for. Every one of you has contributed to our lives and any success we had was because of your sacrifices. The last two weeks we have been working hard to provide a silver lining. Othal Brand Jr. and Valley Baptist Mission Education center have been huge supporters and partners. We had made a commitment to them to host camps this summer in Mission. Mr. Brand believed in us before we had anything to show him. He allowed us to use his family’s campground free of charge. This was a huge liability he was willing to take on for the sake of ministering to kids. For the last twelve years he has been a consistent supporter of our vision. We really wanted to fulfill our commitment to him and host these camps. Chick-fil-a Morrison road is owned by two amazing people Alex and Maria Aviles. When we were just beginning Big Red’s Ranch they insisted on fully sponsoring one of our very first camps. They used their large social media presence to promote the camp and we had a huge line of kids wanting to sign-up. People camped out to get on the list. Several months ago they contacted us because they wanted to sponsor another camp. We had all of the details worked out but then we had to close the ranch. We contacted them and asked them if we could change the plans. Could we still do camp even though now it would require kids to ride on our buses for more than two hours each day? It was a out of the box idea but Alex and Maria quickly agreed, “Anything for the kids of Brownsville” has always been their attitude. It has been such a privilege to have partners like Alex and Maria. Pfluggerville Community Church and their youth pastor Sarah Urbina have been partnering with us since 2017. They have brought their youth group to serve as our team leaders at camp. Their church also took up a very large Christmas offering for us. Their support has been a huge encouragement each year. The week that they have joined us has always been a highlight of our summer and we were looking forward to working with them in July and honoring our commitment to host camp. Everything seemed to be lining up to host camp in Mission, Texas but when we began to work out the final details it became clear we were not supposed to host camp this summer. When you are responsible for the lives of kids it has to be 100% yes or it is 100% no. We struggled to find a way, but we are now sad to announce that Big Red Ministries will not be hosting any camps this summer. It is very hard not to be able to fulfill these commitments and to disappoint our campers. It is very hard not to be able to provide our dedicated team of interns and volunteers a place to serve kids. However we have to trust God and know that He can provide new opportunities for every camper, volunteer, and intern. We love them all. You have made all of the sacrifices required to host camp, worth it. We would do it all again with you. Thank you. (fb)

Many people have asked us why. There are so many ways I could answer that question because there isn’t just one answer. If you came to our Easter event you saw our big American Flag tent. We put that tent up and then the storm came and knocked most of it down to where it was dangerous. In the midst of the continued rain and 40+ mile and hour gusts myself and another staff member had to stabilize the tent while we waited for the professionals to come put it back up. It looked great back up but then we got hit with another storm and it went down again. That morning I was supposed to be fishing with my brother who was in town from Minnesota. He helped me put the tent completely down before we could go do anything. Then we paid the professionals to put the tent up again. It cost us more than $900 to keep putting that tent up for our vendors. Then our attendance was so low last weekend that we had to waive all of our vendor fees. Beginning yesterday we were more than $25,000 behind what we needed to earn from our Easter event. We canceled our first day and then the mosquitoes kept people away the next weekend. A tent and $25,000 is not why we are closing but it illustrates just two of the many, many challenges. On Saturday a camper asked me why we were closing. I asked him how old he was. He said 8. I asked him to think of his hardest day. Then I said, “what if you had to live your hardest day over and over, would you want a break?” He said, “yes.” I said, “we need a break”. Right now we live in the main house which is the headquarters of everything. Every meeting, every camp, and every event many people are in and out of our house. My wife has not had a kitchen or living room of her own in ten years. She was willing to give that up for the cause but now we need a break. I have learned to keep working even when it is hard if God has called you to the work. But when He gives you a peace about ending then you can take a break. After thirteen years God has given me a peace about ending. The hardest part was knowing how many people would be affected by our closing. I know this is the end of this chapter but like many of you I hope it is not the end (fb)