Mrs. Velma Spangler

             Following an orientation session for counselors preceding a summer camp in July of 1982, Gene Smith was on his way home.  He had taken his wife, Judy, and daughter, Bethany to Camp Bethel to serve as counselors for a week of camp directed by Steve and Ona Allen, of Roanoke.  As he drove back home that evening, he pondered a testimony he’d heard about a young man’s flight from the Lord and back again through a camp experience.  This set the stage for the vision that God gave Gene for Spirit Wind Ministries – a ministry to be established primarily to, in the Lord’s words, “reach out to hurting people.”

             Several weeks went by before Gene told anybody what the Lord had shown him.  It was large, and detailed.  And seemingly impossible.  The Smiths were like everyone else they knew – with bills to pay, a mortgage on their house, and three kids still in school.  How in the world were they supposed to start a ministry?

             Gene finally told Judy about the vision, and decided to also share it with a minister friend, Robert Hamilton.  Robert spent several hours at the Smiths’, and assured Gene he had heard from the Lord.  Next, Gene and Judy shared the story with Steve and Ona Allen.  Immediately, they agreed that this was of God.  Steve had nurtured a similar vision, but had not yet acted on it.  The two couples began to explore ways to begin a ministry.  Each couple owned land, but after looking at their property, they decided it wasn’t suitable for establishing a ministry headquarters.

             In February of 1984, the Allens held their annual weekend gathering at Camp Bethel  and Gene, new to the working of the Holy Spirit, decided to go. Judy was elsewhere at another retreat. By this time, the Smiths had left the Methodist Church and were attending Christian Growth Center,  a newly organized church in Christiansburg.  Also attending the advance were two couples who had also recently joined the new church, Dr. and Mrs. Kenneth Jones of Christiansburg, and  Jim and Velma Spangler, of Floyd County.  That weekend, Dr. Jones, never before used by the  Lord to give a message, was impressed to prophesy to Velma Spangler that she and Jim would see the things they had been praying for come to pass very shortly.  He added that she had been “ministering to   dry bones” but that the Lord was going to soon raise up those bones and they would live. Dr. Jones had no idea that, since 1979, Velma had been looking out her back window at the surrounding countryside and praying that the Lord would raise up a ministry to the people in that neighborhood.
             Word reached the Spanglers that the Allens and the Smiths had started a ministry, and they sent word that they wanted to show them some property.  One Sunday afternoon in March, the couples traveled to Floyd County, and the Spanglers drove them to a parcel of beautiful, gently sloping land a half mile or so from their house.  After they had walked the length of the property, Steve said to Jim, “Well, Jim, I believe we could use this. What did you have in mind?” 
             “Well, Steve,” Jim replied, “what I had in mind was, it’s yours if you can use it.”  Gene and Steve nearly fell over.  Here was thirty-five acres of land being handed to them.

             One day at work, Judy received from the Lord the name He wanted the ministry to have – Spirit Wind.  Afraid she’d forget before she got home, she ran and wrote it down.  In her devotions the next morning, she was impressed to turn to Ezekiel chapter 37.  When she told Gene, he replied that it was out of this text that Ken’s prophecy to Velma had come.  Next, the Lord inspired Judy to design a logo for the ministry – a dove in flight over distant mountains, with a Bible in the foreground.  He gave Gene the ministry’s foundation scripture: “For all the promises of God are yes and amen in Him” (Christ) – II Corinthians 1:20. Shortly thereafter, the Smiths and the Allens gathered together as much information as they could concerning what they wanted to do, and each couple put up several thousand dollars to get the ministry started.

             Little by little, step-by-step, Spirit Wind Ministries slowly took shape.  The two couples relied heavily on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them.  Slowly, a financial base was built by donations from people who learned of the ministry and believed it was from God.  There was nothing to see; people gave in faith, believing that the two couples were people of integrity who had dared to act on the mandate God had given them, and that God would fulfill his word.

             As the two couples met together month after month to plan and pray, the Lord began to bring people alongside to help - people with financial expertise, builders, skilled workers, and intercessors.  They realized it would probably be years before they would have the resources to build any buildings.  But, they knew it was time to begin to minister.

             In 1985, Spirit Wind Ministries held its first retreat.  At a rented facility, Judi Dodson, whom they had met at the Bible School graduation of a friend, Curt Gibson, came and led a Singles Retreat.  There was an instant “hookup” between Judi and the Smiths and Allens.  Many rich and satisfying prayer meetings, lasting well into the wee hours, took place at the Smiths or the Allens, and Gene, in particular, relied heavily on the insight and wisdom of both Curt and Judi.  Judi ministered at Spirit Wind retreats with regularity.

             Plans were started for a lodge, the first building at the Spirit Wind property.  The ministry was growing.  In the meantime, the Allens were sensing that the Lord was drawing them in a different direction.  They were already involved in a network of Lay Witness Missions that spanned the whole East Coast.  They disengaged themselves from Spirit Wind in 1986.  Shortly thereafter, an accountant named Dale Beaver joined the ministry as a trustee and agreed to handle the bookkeeping.  The Spanglers’ daughter, Donna Graham, and fellow church members Norman Dodl of Blacksburg, and Ted Heller, of Christiansburg, also came on board as trustees,  and Ted volunteered to oversee the building project. 

             The precursor to Spirit Wind Camp took place in the summer of 1988.  Gene and Judy, Dale, and a young lady from their church, Deborah Goad, borrowed the church van and took eleven children from a local trailer park to Myrtle Beach.  It was an unforgettable experience. The next year, Spirit Wind Ministries rented Camp Bethel, a Church of the Brethren facility in Botetourt County, and 51 children comprised the first Spirit Wind Camp.  That year, too, the first building on the
property in Floyd County was started.

                         Many miraculous stories surround the ministry.  The Alpha Lodge, the ministry’s first building, built largely from contributions and volunteer labor, took ten years to complete.  It opened in August of 1999, a beautiful 14-bedroom facility open to all denominations.  Ministers can come two days each month and stay free.  At various rented facilities, Spirit Wind has continued to hold summer camps for children and youth.  Summer of 2006 will mark 17 years that there has been a Spirit Wind Summer Camp, and hundreds of children and youth from every denomination have attended.  Young people who started out as campers are now returning as counselors.  Even the young man mentioned at the beginning of this story served several times as a counselor.  Many of these have received a call to full-time Christian service at Spirit Wind Camp, prompting the formation of The Timothy Project, in which teens who know or believe they are called into ministry are mentored and trained at weekend retreats at the lodge.

             For several years, attempts were made to raise funds to build the first of several camp buildings at the Spirit Wind property.   With that money, a septic field plan was created, some preliminary site work was done, land was cleared, and an architectural firm was hired to draw up plans for the first camp building, a dormitory building.  Even with these things accomplished, the Spirit Wind Board of Directors realized that much more money was needed to begin construction on the dorm.  In 2004, after months of prayer and discussion, the Spirit Wind Board of Directors voted to hire Carl Manfield, a fundraising consultant with an impressive track record, to help.  The first thing Mr. Manfield did was to conduct a Feasibility Study to determine the level of interest and support for building not just one building, but a whole camp at one time.  The results were both surprising and encouraging, showing that a high percentage of those persons who were interviewed were
 in favor of such a move.  Based on the valuable information gathered in the Study, the Board voted to go forward with a Capital Campaign to raise funds to build the camp.     One of the most miraculous stories to come out of the Campaign is that of Larry and Vicki Sawasky. Spirit Wind Ministries branched out in the summer of 2005 by holding its first Spirit Wind Camp in Michigan, planned and implemented by Pastor Doug Bliss and his staff at River of Life Christian Church in Alpena.  On the weekend in May that Gene and Judy Smith traveled to Alpena to assist with the orientation of the camp staff, Gene preached at River of Life, and Larry and Vicki Sawasky and their son, Kris, were there.  The topic of Gene’s sermon was gifts and callings that God has given are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).  After the service, Larry asked to speak to Gene privately, and he said that  the Lord had spoken straight to him through Gene.  Recently retired, Larry told Gene that he was offering his services (considerable expertise in a number of areas) to Spirit Wind, and was prepared to move to Virginia and help with the Capital Campaign.  The Sawaskys moved to Christiansburg, Virginia, the first of August 2005, and Larry became the Executive Director of Spirit Wind Ministries.

Gene and Judy Smith can be reached by phone (540 268-5147); by fax (540 268-5081);
by e-mail judys@spiritwindministries.org or by writing to them at 4316 North Fork Road, Elliston, VA 24087-3226.

History...how it all began

 Larry, Vicki & Kris Sawasky

Alpha Lodge

Gene and Judy Smith

Steve and Ona Allen,
 Velma Spangler,
Judy and Gene Smith 

All through 2007 Spirit Wind Ministries celebrated it’s 25 year anniversary.
Spirit Wind has been serving the Christian community since August, 1982  and looks forward to serving for the next 25 years and beyond. To God be all the glory and honor!

Celebrating 25 years in ministry!