So, camp, yeah. Well, it has been awhile since I have been to Youth Camp, I was at Fusion camp (grade 6-7 kids) a couple of years ago, but that was a 5 day camp and this was the full 7 day experience, with significantly more kids, well, teenagers not kids. The last time I was at Eagle Bay camp I was a CAMPER, which means, ahem, it was 10 years ago. And yes, that made me feel old!
I went to camp to be a cabin counsellor, to hang out with a couple of the girls that have been a part of my small group at Fusion for the past 2 years. I ended up with a cabin of 7, 2 grade 8s and 5 grade 9s. Now I don't know if you remember what it was like to be 13/14, but I sure got a reminder! You see the world differently at that age, and things like faith in God are still getting sorted out and processed. What challenged me was ensuring that I had some stuff figured (obviously I don't have it all together, no one does!) enough so that I could be a resource/guide. That is a scary scary role, one with eternal ramifications - no pressure!!
Near the beginning of the week there was an accident at camp, one of the campers was hit in the eye with a paintball. Even now we are not sure what damage may be permanent in her one eye, so you can imagine the fear and commotion that occured when the accident happened. We all felt the tension and spent much time in prayer for this girl and for the camp energy overall. It felt like it forced us all to live that week very intentionally, praying for God to really be present at camp and to make a difference in these kids' lives.
I must say, I was definitely emotionally, spiritually and physically exhausted by the end of it! I was up around 7:30 am each morning, and headed to bed somewhere between 12:00 and 1:00 am each night, with a full day of games, chapel, etc inbetween. In a normal week, I normally feel sick around the end of the week from depriving myself of sleep - at the end of camp I felt horrible. My throat hurt, I didn't want to swallow, I was feverish and hot and cold...I took gravol and slept most of the 5 hours home. I ended up with bronchitis....the usual price I pay for no sleep and a lot of activity!
But at the end of the week, even though I was sick, I was so happy to have been a part of it all. There are no words that can fully describe that week, the kids were so awesome and most of them participated in the games which was great! Plus the older kids really acted as mentors to the younger ones, in fact, almost all of the kids interacted with everyone, not excluding by grade/age. I have never seen such a unified group, it was really neat. The last night was by far the most difficult...there was a "campfire" (there was a fire ban, so really it was just a chapel time) sharing time and one of the kids shared something with the group that made us all sit up and take notice. At that point Jon prayed for him and dismissed us all to our cabins to pray for each other. This is where all the exhaustion of the week compounded - girls in my cabin were crying, upset over what happened and also just overwhelmed with heading home the next day. I spent time talking with a couple of them and praying for them, after which I realized 2 girls were missing and had to go find them (it was 1:00 am at this point)...they were talking in the chapel, so at least I found them and could usher them back to the cabin. I felt like I could have spent 2 hours with each girl that night, just talking with them and praying for them.
Anyway, I wanted to express what happened at camp and even though I have tried, I really cannot capture it all. Plus I feel like I haven't emphasized all the FUN things we did including: boating (tubing) on the lake, swimming, kayaking, photo scavenger hunt, twins lunch, fast food day, office day, travel day, 80's dance party, reality tv day, craft time (I was in charge of 1/2 the craft activities...), free time hanging out, climbing wall, trout omelet, mexico day, mexican banquet night, movie night....and so much more!!!
But here are some photos to give you an idea:
Twins Day! Delina and I paired up...she was a co-leader with me on a couple of games and was tons of fun to lead with!
Trout Omelet....this game involves an egg saranwrapped to the guys forehead, the girl wields a trout (it was actually salmon this time) and tries to smash the egg on the opponents forehead....quite entertaining! Believe it or not, I actually played this game when I was in youth - Brennan was my lucky partner! I think we might have won or almost won....my hands smelled like fish for at least a day!! Not to mention the chunks of fish in my hair... Oh, and we had a bear problem at camp - good timing for us to throw some raw salmon around!!
Fast Food Day - I was sporting my homemade fry box that Brian helped me create with cardboard and spray paint....
Office Day
Photo Scavenger hunt
- Disney Scene (can you guess which one?)
- Picture of the Future (yes, those boys are supposed to look pregnant...our team thought in the future men would have the babies...hmmm...creative I suppose)
- Wildlife
- Cutest Couple
- Picture of your team in the smallest space at camp
- Picture of Jon shaving
Worst Passport Photos (took these of all campers - just the leaders' pictures are here...these ran on a loop during the dinner banquet and were quite entertaining)
Tubing!
*PS It took me an hour to load all the photos and do this post...no wonder I was putting it off! Off to bed now for me *
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