(Our theme song for camp...At camp we sang Seeds songs...which are verses set to melodies and that come with accompanying hand motions. The kids really get into them, and they are a great way of teaching/memorizing Scripture. Here is the Seeds "founder"/head musician, Jason Houser, leading families in worship at my church a year ago...and thus a little taste of worship times at camp! So precious to hear little voices lifted in praise.)
Despite the lack of sleep...the heat...and a busy 4 day schedule, I absolutely loved being apart of this year's Juniors (4th-6th grade) summer camp.
I joined Junior's staff last year and was a winter camp counselor, but I enjoyed the experience even more this year as I was better adjusted to being on staff, and as I had 3/4ths of the girls I had at winter camp, back in my cabin.
TUESDAY...
Suzanne Deshong and I kicked off heading to camp by buying WAY too many goodies for our munchkins at Dollar Tree and Walmart: glowsticks, glownecklaces, a paper lantern, glow in the dark stars, gum drops, orange soda, mints, lip balm, a pedicure set, a notebook/pen, water bottles, nail polish...you get the idea. ;)
THURSDAY...
The first day the girls were overflowing with energy. After getting to camp and finding our cabin, we immediately started to decorate, turning our cabin into a little galaxy (trying to capitalize on the "Light of the World" theme), hoping to win "Best Decorated Cabin." We didn't. :( But that's OK. Because we had a fun time bonding while decorating! That night, after dinner (pasta and side dishes), we heard a briefing on camp rules in the outdoor auditorium, sang Seeds songs with the band, and played games. One of our games paired staff members and children and involved plastic rings and cones. The other game involved a staffer getting covered in whipcream, and the kids throwing Cheetos on the staffer, to see how many of the Cheetos would stick to the whipcream. I got nominated for the second game...surprise, surprise ;)
FRIDAY...
The next morning, we had a staff meeting at the early hour of 6:45. After getting a little food and caffeine in our systems and going over the day's schedule, it was time to wake our cabins and prepare them for breakfast/cabin inspections.
After breakfast, we got to enjoy Tom Patton's first message. Tom's messages were FANTASTIC: focusing on the difference between light and darkness, aka the life of a believer vs. the life of an unbeliever. I thought it was perfect subject material for 4th-6th graders, especially considering the majority of the kids in Juniors have spent their entire lives at Grace and come from solid, Christian homes. Tom was dynamic, engaging, passionate, and best of all, gave us God's Word directly. We examined a lot of verses from 1 John, looked at the life of Paul, discussed Nicodemus, what it means to have evidences of spiritual fruit, etc. There were so many convicting points that resonated with the girls and myself, but the best analogy that Tom gave, that really burned a compelling image in my mind all weekend was that of...
a pirate.
He said, "Just like pirates used to wear eye patches- so one eye was accustomed to darkness and one eye was accustomed to light, and so they could adjust from being on top deck to going beneath the hull easily--that is how many of us live our lives. As hypocrites: going back and forth between the darkness and the light. BUT you are either a child of Satan or a child of God. An "in-between" lifestyle really just reveals that you are a child of darkness." --Paraphrase--
After the message, we had small groups. For almost every small group, I compiled a series of questions to get the girls engaged, and to get them to break down the messages on a practical level. Each question made them look up verses, and sounded something like: "Do you see a genuine brokenness over your sin, like the publican had?" "Is Christianity simply doing a bunch of 'good activities,'?" etc. My goal was to get them to interact and to really examine their lives: not just robotically spit out answers like they are sometimes accustomed to doing. After small groups it was time for lunch. And after a few group games---water balloon catch and a indoor building with random items game---it was free time. One of my favorite times of the day! During freetime, the kids could go do whatever they wanted to do, and the counselors could have some downtime. A real blessing! My first "freetime" was spent with Suzanne Deshong, chatting over a Starbucks frappucino. Then she convinced me to do "Isaiah's Perch," a 40 foot tall pole that you can climb up, and that a counselor can complete in order to get points for his/her team. SCARIEST THING EVER! Totally glad I did it, but a wobbly pole, wobbly legs, and wobbly handles/foot holds coupled with having to mount the very small platform on the top of the pole= one VERY nerve-wracking experience. After downtime chatting with my fellow counselors and watching other brave souls' climb up "Isaiah's Perch," I hopped into the pool with my girls and oversaw many diving/jumping competitions. :) Next, it was time to get ready for dinner. After a meal of fried chicken, corn, and mashed potatoes, we headed to Session #2 with Pastor Patton. And after the session concluded, it was time for another small group, where the girls and I finished answering the questions I had given them that morning. After small groups concluded, we made sure the cabin was sparkling clean--as the next day there would be judging for "Cleanest Cabin."
SATURDAY...
After another lovely 6:45 meeting ;) I got the girls going and we finished tidying up the last little corners of our cabin. Which ended up not being a wasted effort, as our cabin took CLEANEST CABIN for the girls. =) Then it was time for another hot breakfast and Session #3 with Pastor Patton. After morning small groups, we headed to a pizza lunch and then got to enjoy a very fun thing: (drumroll) games in the pool! The Juniors' interns did a great job organizing these games. I enjoyed cheering and watching orange, red, green, and blue all pitted against each other in an innertube relay race, an intense game of water polo, and a jumping-across-rafts-while-simultaneously-being-pommeled-by-guys-with-water-guns game. It was fun getting to know Raquel Pagar, also an orange team leader- whose fellow competitive streak immediately caused us to bond (we cheered very enthusiastically and loudly and came up with many cheers/ways to get the orange team points all weekend long). After the pool games ended, it was free time again! After watching a few counselors climb up "Isaiah's Perch," I helped Raquel hunt for "Monkey Moe" (a stuffed animal that some of the "junior staffers" hide, and that once found, earns your team points!) The orange team did succeed in finding the elusive "Monkey Moe" twice on Saturday! After all of this, I headed to my cabin for a little bit of downtime, which ended up becoming a counseling session with one of my dear girls about a bit of drama that had been going on :) Then it was back to dinner for nachos, and back to the auditorium for worship and a q&a with Pastor Patton! After a final evening small group with the girls and helping them get all packed up, I told them goodnight and caught the last half hour of 6th grade night out. They were playing a complicated version of "tag" in a foggy room with about a hundred glowsticks. After 6th grade night out concluded around 6ish, it was time to IMMEDIATELY hit the sack, as the next day's meeting was moved up 15 minutes earlier than the other mornings,in order to accommodate packing up.
SUNDAY...
After the meeting, I got the girls all packed up, and then we had to quickly jet to the mess hall for KP (kitchen patrol). After an eggs and bacon dish, we headed to our final session with Pastor Patton. He concluded spiritedly, begging the kids to not delay in coming to Christ. After one last small group- this time outdoors in the sunny auditorium- we had ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch and found out that the orange team was, in fact, the JUNIORS 2011 SUMMER CAMP WINNERS. Then it was time to wait for the buses, which of course took off late, as one bus showed up very last-minute.
And so we arrived back to good old GCC...I made sure the girls had everything and were safely deposited back into the arms of their parents...and Juniors Summer Camp 2011 concluded. See you, most likely, next year, Angeles Crest Christian Camp!
Things I am thankful for:
-Great talks with the girls: about how they know if they are saved, how Christ is both God and the Son of God, about the End Times, about Pharisees, about how the prophets communicated directly with God, etc.
-Great bonding time with my fellow staff members: I felt like I got to know some really great people and shattered some wrong first impressions I had originally formulated. I feel that much more apart of Grace Community Church's Juniors ministry now.
-I had a sweet girl with diabetes, who was very on top of taking her insulin, and no accidents happened.
-My girls were all very sweet and fun and I didn't have any big discipline issues.
-The Word of God was preached and the Lord used this vessel of mercy to aid in that process. It is a privilege to be used in equipping the next generation of leaders in the church.
"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building."
-1 Corinthians 3:5-9
No comments:
Post a Comment