We have made it to the end of March!  It has been quite a while since our last update. Our family has been sick 5 times since the beginning of January.  Luckily, I believe we’re on the flip side now!  Here’s what has happened besides sickness these past few months!

January was filled with volunteers!  Ironwood hosted Nehemiah Work Week, which brought dozens of volunteers from the area and from afar. They helped with building projects and deep cleaning meeting areas, bathrooms, and  camper cabins- a gargantuan task that we would not be able to complete alone! A week before, we had a family missions group come help for a week, and they were such a blessing to our ministry! They helped the longevity crew work on a new cabin and our Mojava/Trading Post remodel (which is now done). The cabin will be used this summer for staff housing, and the stores, which are located in the junior campsite, will be hopping with activity all summer.

February brought warmer weather (60s-70s), a galentines movie day, a hike up to the prayer chapel with Rocky, and an upgrade to a toddler bed from a crib! Here are some pics of our fun month!

March started with a haircut for Rocky, (shocking, I know! See first pic below) and has included my parents coming out to visit and a trip to Hoover Dam!  It was my dad’s first time out at Ironwood, so it was fun to show him around the place!  Rocky enjoyed having Gramma and Pops at our house every day, and they went on several walks and played with his monster trucks with him.  Toward the end of their trip, we all took a day trip to Boulder City, NV where the Hoover Dam is, and a yummy restaurant (The Coffee Cup Cafe) that was featured on the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives!

Ricky’s job is going well. He is now head cook for more meals, and enjoys working with everyone in the kitchen. He will continue kitchen work this summer, and is excited to work with a big crew of summer staff and Leadership Live!

My job is also going well. Several newborns were added in the last few months to our Pygmy crew here at camp! We have one in Pygmy Post currently, and will be getting another this week! It has been fun watching the 1-2 year olds try to make the babies smile and laugh. Melissa and I have been quite busy, as we have 8 children in there now, soon to be 9! Here are some pics of Rocky having fun at Pygmy Post! (He has lots of friends there, I just can’t post pics of them)

We have been going through Psalm 119 in church for several months now, and our study is almost complete. It has been wonderful to spend time focusing on that chapter and gleaning everything we can from it! The Psalmist has so much to say about the word of God and his love and faith in it. It has been a real challenge to us both to spend more time in His word, to love the word of God even more, meditate on it, and so much more!

Rocky has been joining the 2-3s Sunday school class and has really enjoyed singing Jesus Loves Me!  It has been such a joy to see him love learning about God! 

Two months until summer staff arrive! Everyone here at camp has been working hard to get things set up for the summer. Our family will be moving across camp in May, as our current cabin will be the nurse’s clinic for the summer! We are busy organizing our storage and consolidating our belongings. Our home for the summer will have a bathtub, which Rocky is excited about! 

If you could pray with us, we are looking to add another $200 in monthly support. Whether that be from several individuals or a church, it would be a huge blessing to our family’s ministry out here at Ironwood! Here is a link to the donation form if you feel led! Just specify Resident Staff Support, monthly, and recipient as Ricky and Alyssa Bealle.

https://form.jotform.com/241304870392050

Thank you all for reading our ministry updates and keeping us in your prayers! We are so blessed to work here sharing the love of Jesus! -Ricky, Alyssa, and Rocky Bealle