We are always grateful to read your thoughts on Echoes and the work of the H. E. Butt Foundation. Following are a few of the things you shared with us in response to the last issue of 2023 and the 2023 community survey.
Here is my treasured story about Betty Anne Cody. We were walking together near the Cody Center early one morning. She looked at the bell and exclaimed, “I’m just going to ring this bell. Bill (Cody) never would let me ring the bells.” She rang that bell next to the Cody Center with a passion and glee. We laughed together, but wondered about the folks at our retreat who might question to what event they were being summoned. I loved many things about Betty Anne, but her ability to laugh and be childlike are among the best.
—DIANA BRIDGE
I think I need to hear this everyday. She speaks to me here. And gives us sooo much wisdom. Hard earned wisdom. She was a wido for 25 years and this really speaks to me.
—KATHY CODY GALLAWAY
Thank you ever so much for this recording of my mom speaking at Laity Lodge and sharing such wisdom. We are ever so grateful to you for this recording which is so beautifully placed & edited with photos and videos of one of the most special and helpful places on the planet. Amen, amen. Thanks to all of you who worked on this beautiful tribute—from finding the audio to completion. It’s that kind of creative devotion to God’s great love that you all give to us everyday.
—@intermezzogallery_art
“I really like this. I am so proud of my friend, Pastora Norma Quintero Fuentes of El Templo Cristinao Asambleas. God is so good!!”
—OLGA RODRIGUEZ
“God is so so good!! Don’t give up don’t give in, God had our back!! Grateful for networking Pastor David Segovia who connected me to my friend Olga Rodriguez who connected me to Elizabeth Le’anani Coffee who connected me to the [H. E. Butt] Foundation who connected me to Pastor Brit, Pastor Justin, and Pastor Ben Trammel and other ….”
—NORMA QUINTERO FUENTES
We attended [LLFC] once right after a tragedy changed our family in 2017. Our time there was crucial to help us continue in our healing journey. We are now leading @practicemercy a holistic and relational faith based nonprofit serving women and children seeking safety along the Rio Grande Valley, McAllen.
—@practicemercy
“I AM INTERESTED in effective philanthropy and enjoy seeing the work you do at the [H. E. Butt] Foundation, especially seeing the work you are doing to reach out deep into the community to connect and include (and hear from) neighbors who are often outside of our typical circles of connection.”
“I LOVE THE POETRY at the back, and I love the stories about the Canyon. I’d love to hear more about Laity Lodge—especially the material that speakers present there. Sometimes there are articles that seem to be focused on newer work that might feel quite different to our readers from what the Foundation has usually done within the past few decades. I love your print mag: The look, feel, and (yes!) the smell. It’s tactile and gorgeous just like the ranch. It tethers me to the five nights we spend at the Lodge on a study leave. It’s PR and worthwhile inspiration all at once, and I read it cover to cover. Please don’t stop sending it. I’m no kind of patron myself (I run a small cultural engagement forum in my town), but I’d pay for it if I had to. Thank you so much for the care you put into Echoes!”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Our Canyon programs are still alive and well! We just love the stories of how God works in the lives of our friends and guests when they go home. Also, we’re glad you love the poetry. We do too.
“THE OPENING FROM THE PRESIDENT helps us to focus. And true to form, I always read it last. Often intentionally last. The last issue with the pyramid of chairs was enlightening both of the CEO’s character but to my own perception of myself and how I perceive others in my own community. Echoes reveals to some of us insights of the history and totality of the Foundation and all camps, not just what I see in my own narrow slice/view. It is always beneficial to see the bigger picture.”
“THERE IS A WIDE VARIANCE in the nature of the stories. I tend to lean toward those in the discipleship or spiritual life vein. However, I appreciate that there is a lot more to be said. And it is good to read about people with very different life experiences than mine experiencing God through the ministries of the Foundation.”
I worked at LLYC Echo Valley nearly 20 years ago. That experience, that season, the place, the people was truly a game-changer. Outside of my faith experience, those summers shaped my life, my career path, and my lens of sharing the gospel through relationships and earning the right to be heard by cultivating those relationships.
I LOVE reading Echoes and seeing how it was not just a place used for the honor and glory of the coming The Kingdom in the past, but still growing, changing, evolving and still being used in the present tense—not only through the summer camps, but through reaching minority groups or under-served groups. You are still using the land that God created and bringing people into a place of beauty where all of their senses are pointed Heaven-ward.
I love reading about ministries reaching single or young mothers, fathers and family units that often go unnoticed by the church. I love hearing and seeing how artists, authors, song-writers are still drawing close to God within in the Canyon and growing their God given talent to then encourage others.
People say if you want to change the world, start with the people around you. I love to read the stories of so many past, present and future are doing just that.
The visuals of the actual property are wonderful. I live in Alabama and haven’t been to the Canyon in many years. However, the visual of God’s beauty and presence around us is seen and felt through the visuals on the website and in Echoes. Last year, I printed out some pictures of the Canyon making a very “home-made” birthday card for a colleague. I actually have a co-worker who worked at LLYC too. It’s a very small world and quite coincidental all the way in Birmingham, Alabama. Love all that you are doing. Many thanks to the Foundation. To God be the Glory!
—Leah Fenton Treadwell
