Well Camp is finally here. We have been super busy with preparing our camp and our staff... 2 weeks ago the staff came in for orientation and we meet the people we would be working with all summer, and last week we had our first week of camp. And boy was it busy! Aaron is directing Alpine camp this year, which is good, but a lot of hard work. He has brought in a few new things to improve this camp, but he has been working hard to get all of them implemented week one. Some of the things he has added include a geocache course, orienteering course, small challenge course, ladder golf, and other little things to improve camper hang out time and skill clubs. He has been running on little sleep the last two weeks and we are both very thankful for our counseling staff and how much they have chipped in to help him out. They have also taken some of his visions for skill clubs that he couldn't help with (like drama) and ran with them making them very successful.
We are both excited to see what God will do this summer and how He will use both us and our staff to change lives. Some of the campers that come do not have good home lifes, or like one camper, he doesn't have a home life and lives with friends. Some of the stories of our campers our heartbreaking and it makes it hard to send them on the bus home Saturday afternoon, but I know that little by little week by week we are making a difference and showing Jesus to these campers one week at a time.
A couple of stories this week where campers saw Jesus. One camper came to camp expected it to be like any other week of camp he'd been too. He had often been made fun of because of his weight or because he wasn't the most popular kid. When asked at the end of the week what he liked about camp he said that he had never felt so accepted and loved at a camp. Everyone liked him for who he was and didn't make fun of him. He thought it was great and wants to pursue ministry in his future.
Another camper came to camp and at the beginning of the week was asked by a counselor why he wasn't smiling and playing with the rest of the campers. He replied "If you knew my life you would know I had nothing to smile about". I know that he had many opportunities to talk to counselors and other staff over the week, and at the end of the week, the counselor said she saw him getting ready to go on the bus and he had the biggest smile across his face. My hope is he will go home and continue to find reasons to smile. and realize that the love of Jesus follows him there too.
These are just some highlights of this week, I am hoping to get out a newsletter soon, but I will make a commitment to try and update this at least once a week while we are in battle here at camp. Keep praying for us and our counselors!
2 specific counselors that need prayer are Eisley (Emily Minatra) and Kinkos (Lauren Athens) they are starting this week sick, and we need them to feel better!
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