Today is day 35 of our 50 Years at Lake Agape and countdown to the start of Camp Meeting. Click here to read other articles. Email blog@delanco.org to contribute.
Milt & Peg Collins, ”Aunt Mert” Loveland, Liston Hayes, “Mom & Pop” Bodine, Carl & Shirley Farrell, John Morley, Darryl & James Duer, John DiGiamberardino, Nancy Huff, Kim Core.
While the list may seem long, it’s really only a small example of the names that flood my mind when I think of Delanco Camp. All of them have sweet and blessed memories attached, and with many, the memories are continuing to be made. I thank God for all of them. However, the name that stands out most in my mind when I think of Delanco, is Roy Lauter.
My earliest recollections of Rev. Lauter go back to high school. I’m not sure of the year, but I believe he was the evangelist at Camp Meeting when I was about 17 or 18 years old. His words, through the Holy Spirit, spoke to my heart. Although I had been saved at a young age (actually it was in the lounge at Delanco when I was a junior camper), this is when I made a more serious commitment to knowing Christ.
I went to Asbury College for a year and was able to get to know Roy and his family better. As a young parent, I would bring my children to hear Roy preach when he came back to Delanco or anywhere else in the South Jersey area. Time and again, his words would refresh my soul and my relationship with Christ.
Of course there are the Ezra and Arze stories, but more importantly, and to this day, his sermon messages still resound in my heart. I love that he would encourage us to “write it down” when we made an important decision in our lives. Finding those notes, years later, which my family members or I had tucked in a Bible would bring peace. Danny and I had the opportunity to hear Roy preach just last summer at Malaga Camp Meeting. I was afraid he wouldn’t remember me. It had been so many years since we last saw him, but he came right up to us both with warm hugs and a big smile. I felt like I was at Delanco so many years ago. I felt like I was home.
Thank you, God, for Rev. Roy Lauter. Thank you for Delanco Camp. And thank you for bringing them both into my life.