Thanks to Judith and Kirk Becker, Sharon and Burl Nossaman for the gift of the bench
It Takes a Village
All of what we call Sonlight is what it is because of the village of people who have poured in to it.
Jim Sutton, a local banker, was curious about who we were and what our plans involved when we walked in to his office and asked about securing a loan way back in 1983. He was curious about a Christian camp, interested in ministry to kids. He loaned us money without seeing the house we put up for collateral (and we use the word “house” quite loosely. An old mining cabin sitting on a small piece of land at 10,300′ in Alma, Colorado.) It is with that loan that we bought the logs for the lodge. Jim became a friend, and a few years later extended another loan when land payments we were making were supposed to have gone into an escrow account to release the property from liens. We needed a fast Friday afternoon loan. Jim made the loan and said “come in Monday and we’ll do the paperwork.”
The trust Jim had in us, his genuine interest in ministry and his natural concern for us as customers made a huge impact on Sonlight Camp.
Jim passed away in 2017. In his memory his daughter and niece have donated a bench to Sonlight with Jim’s name on it. It’s one more space for being outside in the created world. It’s a great reminder that Sonlight is about every individual who is generous with their time, talents, funds and willingness to serve kids. It’s a big community. Thanks Jim. Without you Sonlight might not be here today.