Leaving a legacy

We celebrate the life and legacy of Lores “Janie” Roegiers who died peacefully on June 23 just a few days before she would have turned 87. Janie will be remembered for many things, but the Generations Ministries family will always remember her for the legacy she left through a very generous donation made 15 years ago to the GenMin camp scholarship fund. To date, her donation has funded 1599 scholarships to 17 GenMin camps in 14 states. The average age of the campers helped was 12.5 years. What an amazing legacy!

Along with her generous donation 15 years ago, Janie sent this letter that speaks so profoundly of her vision and generous heart:

Dear GCI,

I, Lores (Janie) Lee Roegiers, have donated $100,000.00 to Grace Communion International (GCI) for the express purpose of supporting youth via Generations Ministry camp tuition scholarships and funding new camp start-ups. I have been profoundly blessed to have inherited a sum of money from my mother who died in 1996. I also inherited a farm located in Kansas at the same time and I receive income from the harvest of the crops. This, too, is a great blessing from God. As I have been blessed, I want to, in turn, bless others.

I see that the youth of today are the church of tomorrow. What better place to invest—in youth, the future of the church. I have had the privilege over the last six years of donating some of the monetary proceeds from my farm to the summer camp fund of my local church—Cornerstone Community Church (GCI, San Diego). I see the difference camp has made in the youth at Cornerstone. I know that summer camp can have a tremendous spiritual impact on a young person. Summer camp is a place for growth, maturity and a deepening relationship with God and others. What a blessing for kids to have such a place to attend. I want to extend the blessing of summer camp to youth in the United States. As God has blessed me, I want to pass His blessing on to others. That is why I am donating this money to GCI.

I do not want to dictate the way or the details in which the donation will be dispensed but I do want to state that it must be used for summer camp scholarships for those attending a camp in the United States and, if needed, to help fund a camp start-up in the United States. Additionally, I would like for those benefiting from the donation to know that they are receiving assistance as a result of God’s blessing. As I have been blessed, I want to bless others and have the recipient of that blessing, in turn bless someone else. I know that I can’t ask for a guarantee that the scholarship recipients help another person go to camp. But I do hope that those who are benefited from the scholarships will endeavor, when they are grown and able, to provide help for another child to go to camp. I will provide a form letter to accompany each scholarship so that the recipient can know the importance of passing on God’s blessing.

Thank you for all that you do in supporting the youth of our denomination and other youth that attend our summer camps. I appreciate the assistance you are providing in allowing me to share God’s blessing with others.

Sincerely, Janie Roegiers