California 2026
ironwood christian camp
85 people diligently worked on...
·2 staff homes
·the toolbox, woodshop, and Magshop
·the Dining hall
·exterior painting properties and trailers
·deep cleaning, sewing, cooking, and more!
WOW, what an incredible time we had on our mission trip to Camp Ironwood in southern California! From a small town church in rural Indiana, 85 volunteers, ages 7 to 77, gave up their week to work hard and make memories together. The Lord provided great ease of travel to and from the camp, and the whole team remained flexible with good attitudes throughout the trip! The Ironwood staff was beyond encouraging to work with and we enjoyed getting to learn about their day to day ministries. They worked hard in countless hours of prep and provided all necessary supplies for the projects, prepared sites, fed us well, provided clean and comfortable accommodations, and blessed us in fellowship as we blessed them with our work.
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Our team worked on over 7000 sq. ft. of homes and over 1000 sq. ft. of porches in just 4.5 work days, spending over 2300 man hours in service to our Savior. We battled high winds, low temps, and some rain most of the week, but we remained injury free even up on roofs and tall ladders. Each crew was led by a skilled church member or camp staff member, with many willing volunteers assisting and learning new skills.
The work we completed during the week, listed below, represents incredible teamwork, great attitudes, and problem solving while building friendships, making memories, and fellowshipping as believers.
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We want to thank Camp Ironwood and all the staff who made this trip possible. We cannot wait to hear all the Lord does this year and for years to come in the hearts and lives of all who attend camp there! For more info on this amazing like-minded ministry, visit them at IronwoodCamp.org.
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Framing Crew #1
Toolbox - built interior walls to convert this space into a 2 bath 3 bedroom home, walled in a laundry room, tore out drywall, replaced siding, framed in and installed windows, installed exterior trim
Wood Shop - set trusses; straightened walls; built overhangs; sheeted, felted, and dried in the roof; installed siding
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Framing Crew #2 - SR330 staff housing
Installed windows and doors
Added a laundry room
Framed in an 18x32ft porch
Installed new siding on entire house
Felted and dried in the roof
Sheet metaled the whole roof except for the porch
Trimmed windows
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New Construction Crew - SRH staff housing
Framed a 16x32ft porch with a roof
Assembled and installed 25 kitchen cabinets
Installed flooring for half the house
Installed interior and exterior doors
Installed ceiling fans
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Carpet Crew - WC’s Cafe dining hall
Demoed the whole room of flooring
Installed new carpet tiles
Rearranged room for group coming in that weekend
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Electrical Crew
SRH - Troubleshooted electrical issues, checked all wiring, installed all switches, outlets, and smoke detectors
Toolbox - removed and reinstalled wiring, roughed in, married in old with new
SR330 staff housing - completely roughed in the 1500 sq. ft. house and attached garage
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Plumbing Crew
SR330 staff housing - roughed in 2 bathrooms, laundry and kitchen, and dug trench in crawlspace to run plumbing to the house
Toolbox - roughed in 2 full bathrooms, set 2 shower units, and plumbed laundry
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Metal Crew
Mag Shop - Welded roof supports over 4 storage units for sun cover for cars/storage, using all scrap metal!
Brought a historical Ironwood jeep home to Indiana to rebuild for future jeep tours - we promise to bring it back
Sheet metaled the Sheriff’s Office roof 24x40 ft
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Drivers
Traveled cross county to bring tools and luggage to the job site (significantly reducing baggage costs)
Traveled almost 4000 miles round trip
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Paint Crew #1 - SRH staff housing
Painted entire house’s interior and exterior
Installed and painted exterior trim
Painted interior doors
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Paint Crew #2
Exterior painted 3 school buildings
Exterior painted 5 ministry team buildings
Hand painted contrasting trim at 20ft!
Used over 70 gallons of paint
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Paint Crew #3
Oil painted 7 trailers by hand!
Chuck Wagon
Water Buffalo
“Poop Wagon” with Port-a-Potties
Portable stage
3 hay wagons for a people mover
14 support posts - shade for storage for sun cover
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Cleaning Ladies Crew
Deep cleaned the Hacienda, Twig, Make it Mercantile, Way Station, several meeting rooms, and bathrooms/cabins all over camp
Reset cabins all over camp for upcoming groups
Took apart, cleaned, and put together all the vacuums
Put together cleaning kits for all over camp
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Sewing Ladies Crew
Cut 18 totes of towels into cleaning rags
Sewed and mended 68 storage bags
Replaced zippers on pillow covers
Mended pillows, mattress covers and towels
Folded hundreds of sheets and towels for cabins
Organized a supply room
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Kids Crew - all over camp property
Weed whacked
Cleared brush
Cleaned up job sites throughout the week
Painted and cleaned
Demoed a porch
Installed insulation
Played a lot!
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Videographer and Photographer
Took 1300+ Pictures
Averaged 20,000 steps a day between job sites
Created 5 videos - made us laugh and brought us together each night!
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Kitchen Crew
Prepped for meals for two days
Filled in for staff members that were unwell
Stood all day long to feed us good food!
California 2017
ironwood christian camp
Our 65-person team worked hard on...
·the Hacienda
·Miss Beth's home
·a retiring staff couple's home
·Rivertown
·multiple projects around the camp
Yes, you read that correctly! 65 men, women, and children from 5 years old to 60+ years young gave of their time and energy for a week of hard work at Ironwood Christian Camp. Our main projects of the week were at the Hacienda, Miss Beth's home, a retired staff couple's home, and Rivertown, with several other projects filling in the gaps.
The Hacienda serves as a getaway for pastors and their families to escape into the desert and enjoy God's creation. Our work there was to build a new entryway, install new doors around the structure, paint part of the interior, stain the deck, install new appliances and lights, and lay new flooring. This job took skilled craftsmanship, and our leaders and helpers on this job made it happen!
Miss Beth has worked at Camp Ironwood for several years and was in need of a garage, new roof, and walk-in closet. The crew made quick work building the garage, adding the roof, siding, and drywall inside, installing interior and exterior lights, painting the entire home, adding a new roof and rafters on the front of the home, and adding a new walk-in closet.
A small group also roofed a staff couple's home who will be retiring soon. This was no small task as the crew laid 60,000 pounds of clay tile in the hot sun, without complaint. In Rivertown, the camp's teen area, the team ran electric for and installed exterior lights, added new ceiling paneling around the entire main building, installed decorative paneling, and finished the roof. People with no previous construction experience became fast learners as they were teachable and willing to work!
In addition to these four projects, we built and stained new benches, painted signs, cleaned up around camp, cut fabric and sewed new curtains for the cabins, helped to cook and clean up after meals, and watched the little ones of parents on the trip. This was a full week of work for all involved, but the team was revived spiritually with daily devotions and working alongside each other to serve the Lord faithfully. We are anxious to see one day how God uses our drops in the bucket of this ministry to reach thousands of souls for Him.
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