It is with a heavy heart that Cammie and I write this. After much prayer and many tears, we have come to a place of obedience in following God’s calling on our lives to begin a new phase in our ministry. Beginning when I was fifteen years old, God has been intricately weaving my heart together with BreakThru Ministries. Additionally, beginning in 1999, God started to expand that love for Timber Creek Camp. We have considered each day a privilege. God has moved in mighty ways during our time here, not the least of which has been our deepening friendship with the Cooke family. It is within this context that we make this decision to take the hard way of obedience. It is within this context that we share the pain that is leaving a ministry we love so much.
My health struggles since my cancer diagnosis in 1997 are well known. Over the past five years specifically, these struggles have become life-threatening on multiple occasions. Because of extended hospital stays and lengthy recoveries, the burden placed on my family and co-workers has been heavy. They have shouldered this responsibility gracefully. Through the care and provision of God, I have been able to emerge from all of these trials in such a way as to continue to be a father, husband, and minister, and for this Cammie and I are grateful. However, it was during my most recent stint in St. Dominic Hospital that God began to move in both of our hearts that he was calling us to take an unexpected step for the sake of my health. Being a part of the blessing of Timber Creek’s growth and expansion has, over time, led to my exposure to over six thousand people a year from approximately 60 different communities annually. Cammie and I believe God is leading us to a ministry vocation with a lower rate of exposure. We are both very confident that he has used my health to make us aware of his leading. As is the case for many who have walked the path God has set before them, this confidence has not necessarily led to our comprehension of all that is ahead. The Derricks are now joining in the way of our Christian ancestry who followed the call of God in faith even in despair.
We know God has an unimaginable plan for our hopeful future. His Word tells us this. We also know that God’s presence in the workings of BreakThru Ministries and Timber Creek Camp will continue to draw his children to himself. We have seen this firsthand. Throughout our time here we have been blessed to receive many things from this ministry. There is not enough space here to use the words necessary to convey this in its totality. We have been: invested in, cared for, loved, given a place to develop our ministry gifting, valued, empowered. Ministries willing to do all of these things and more are a rarity, and we will miss all these things greatly.
Please pray for us as we navigate through this time of transition. We desire for this time to be one that draws us closer to the One who makes our way straight. We will need our community to strengthen us by reminding us of his greatness. Our contact information will remain the same through November 30. We covet your prayers and anticipate the ways God will use you in our lives during the days ahead.
Seeking Him,
Ben and Cammie
