Name: Gail Weide (formerly Gail Polley)

My name is Gail M. Weide. When my family and I lived and served on staff at Camp Barakel from 1971-1975, I was the tender age of 6 years old. My father, Leon Polley, was the Lead Kitchen Staff and oversaw all the operations for both West and East Side. He worked primarily out of the West Side Kitchen. I remember my early mornings when he would head out for the kitchen before the sun had even risen. My mother, April Polley, also worked in the West Side Kitchen along side my dad for the 4 years that my family was a part of the Camp staff at Barakel. My brother, Richard, and I spent 4 glorious, wonderful years living the camping experience!

I hold a myriad of memories of my time growing up as a staff kid. We had the privilege of living next door to Uncle Johnnie, his precious wife and son Tim. Our living room windows were huge (to a 6 year old) and I remember standing and looking out them at the beautiful lake just down the hill. My favorite times looking out the window was when it was snowing! The forest was blanketing in a beautiful white 'cape' that made everything look pristine. The sunlight would make the snow sparkle and to me it was beautiful. One of my fondest memories about winter time at Camp was having our own snow hill at our disposal. What an awesome hill it was and we staff kids would have glorious time romping in the snow, flying down it on a toboggan or inner tube. One winter, Skip Ellis - wrangled me and put me on an inner tube and shoved it down the hill. I screamed the entire way - but it was such a rush!

Another precious memory was sitting in chapel week after week and watching Norma and Uncle Johnnie's wife (Allie) playing the grand pianos for chapel. Loving music, I remember just being in awe of those two women as they faithfully served day in and out, playing the music for chapel. Music has been a huge part of my life ever since and I know that it comes from the strong music programming that Camp Barakel provided at each camp that was in session.

As I said I have a myriad of memories and I could write pages and pages. But the deepest and most personal memory to me is that when I was 8 years old I asked the Lord to be Lord of my life at chapel one night. I walked all the way to the front of the West Side Chapel, down all those steps, in front of all those campers, counselors and staff, and gave my life over to the Lord! I remember crying as I walked down those steps but I knew that what the guest speaker had shared about having Jesus in your life was something that I wanted and needed in my life. West Side chapel is near to my heart because it was at that place where a young 8 year old girl gave her life over to Christ, with tears streaming down her face!

Because of the strong Christian emphasis, daily demonstration of the love of God by the staff we worked with for our 4 years and the powerful messages I heard as a staff kid, to this day I hold a deep love and passion for camping ministry! I know the importance that the camp experience can bring to a child's life. I know the lasting impact that the camp experience puts on a person's life! I know because I lived it and experienced it as a staff kid at Camp Barakel. My life has been deeply and profoundly changed because of the time my family served there. Today, I am married to a Pastor and we have served in ministry for the past 20 years. We co-lead worship at our church here in Phoenix, AZ.

May our Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless Camp Barakel and all its current staff as they faithfully serve God. I thank you for my time at Camp Barakel. I will always hold a special place in my heart for the camp, the programs, the people we had the privilege of serving with, the campers whom we served, the sacred ground that the camp sits upon, and the memories that I have from being there. Precious memories that cannot be erased.

"Camp Barakel - we'll n'er forget ... Where surely God has blessed!"

In His Service,

Gail M. Weide (formerly Gail M. Polley)
served at Camp Barakel from 1971 - 1975 before we moved to Phoenix, AZ
email- bgmweide@netzero.net