Castle Valley Academy

I’m sitting high on a ridge overlooking the clear, emerald-green waters of Recapture Reservoir, about an hour’s drive south of Moab.   Our young men and the men of our team are enjoying our “Men’s Camp Out”.  Next weekend our 11 young ladies will be off on a similar adventure.

You can see from the picture that we are having a good time—but I will add that it has been one of those, “couldn’t be better” events so far—just the freedom of the wilderness, the perfect warm temperatures, the lake all to ourselves as we wake-boarded, 8 machines for 8 young men and hundreds, literally, of miles of trails to explore out into the National Forest or just up and down all around the lake—it is awesome!   Better still, to hear the lusty singing at worship as a full moon rose over our camp—with its bright glow casting a beam over the lake—God felt very near!  Then, just before turning in for the night, throw in a great soak in the hot tub that we set up beside the lake—and we all slept really well! 

Backing up a few days, I’d say it’s been a super week, altogether!  Here are a few glimpses:

• We reached our fund-raising goal for the Bible Answers program—Praise God!;
• Valuable packages have been arriving all week and the Media Office has transitioned from a room with desks and computers to a room that looks like a full-on media production headquarters!  In fact, as of yesterday, Andrew and Ethan Cleveland reported that all we need for launching the Bible Answers LIVE program, as far as equipment goes, is the StarLink Mobile unit that will arrive on Monday.  (Now the pressure is on to have the students prepared to run theses programs every Friday at 5 pm.  Please pray for them as they prepare!)  Our students have named the program: You Choose (subitle: The truth will set you free (John 8:32))
• But, on that note, we had our first planning session on Monday with all the young people and heard all the studies they have put together to answer a score of key Bible questions and their preparation and presentations were amazing! Praise God!
• Our potato consultant visited this week and declared our seed potato harvest is on track for an abundant harvest—praise God!
• Our Student Greenhouse is almost ready for planting, and all the plants the students have planted for their fall gardens are doing well in the “Starts” greenhouse.
• The “new” Boys’ Dorm has all the windows in and progress on the bathrooms is moving ahead!
• The landscaping irrigation at the girls’ dorm is moving forward also, so we can have beautiful lawns there;

But, I’ve been saving the best for last!

            The evangelism day last Tuesday hit some extra exciting levels.  One story, you may have heard from your children—I’ll skip for now because a video update will tell it best—and that will be out soon on our YouTube channel! But, another joy was to have a man come to visit our school this week, just because our students did more than sell him truth-filled books—One student added an invitation to visit our school and this man took him up on his offer and stopped in, for a visit!  Praise God!

Honestly, as I close, I must say too that this week has not passed without some real challenges, but God is able, and He has proved Himself faithful, even in the challenges of the week!  We Praise God! 

Next week will see our first full music concert at the Community Church, in Moab, Wednesday night at 7 pm.   Based on how well the students sang and played last Sabbath and with four zoom voice trainings sessions already this year with Thomas Blaylock, the man I have trained with in music since 1999, and to whom I credit much of the successes God has given in music—I believe we are on track for a wonderful time sharing Jesus in music—especially due to the eager, willing, enthusiasm of your young people.  They are such a blessing!

You may be wondering, how can I send an update like this from a wilderness lake.  Simple. StarLink!

You know, after I enjoyed lunch in the cafeteria on Wednesday where I had 8 students tumbling out their stories from outreach the day before—I have had a good week for sure—but I was also personally inspired to reach out to EVERYONE I can too!

So, last night, when I spotted a StarLink dish on an old school bus-made camper, parked some distance from us, I just said a prayer in my heart and went over to visit. Turns out the owner is an orchestral music composer and we have a lot in common!  He closed our visit by saying, “Hey, I’m going to take the password off my StarLink WiFi so you guys, please, just come on over anytime and enjoy!  :) 

God bless,
Craig Cleveland