The first week of camp is over.  It was amazing.  God brought so many cool, new, and unique people from all over the world this week to Frontier Lodge and it made it quite an exciting week.  The only unfortunate thing about it was not being able to be with the campers more.  You see, every camp is assigned cabin leaders and those staff get to do the programs with the campers all week.  This leaves very few staff needed to run the programs so if you are not cabin leading, you are mostly working around camp.  But I did get the opportunity to go one day climbing with the group and I got to spend every evening hanging out, playing games, and going to campfire with the group, so it was a lot of fun.

One of the highlights of the week was going climbing with the group.  There was one guy especially that made the day great.  His name is Sandy and he was absolutely terrified of heights.  We had two ropes set up to climb and he started up the first only to make it about 5 meters off the ground and then asked to come down.  A little later he got on the second rope and actually made it to the top with a lot of coaching and encouragement.  But at the top he really got scared.  I think it was the leaning back on the rope and letting go of the rock that messed with him.  Psychologically, it is hard to let go, but once he did he did well.  But that was not his biggest gain of the day.  We had a 40 meter rappel set up and most of it was free (meaning you are just hanging on the rope without your feet set against the rock).  He was so terrified, but he did it.  It took him a long time to do it, but he did, and the smile on his face of accomplishment was matched by none during the day.  That is all he talked about.  Then he even managed to come back and finished the climb that had stopped him earlier.  It was awesome to see that sense of trust, accomplishment, and joy wrapped up into one camper that afternoon.

Another highlight of the camp was meeting some of the campers from out of Alberta.  There was one guy named Hector from the Yukon Territory and he had a pretty awesome story.  He is actually staying for the next 4 months to do our Ascend Program, a Bible school/Adventure program geared for college aged students.  There were also two girls that were really cool, Carlene and Coline.  I was sitting at registration when I met Carlene, a scared girl unwilling to come.  After talking to her she had never been to a camp or away from home before and had never done any of the activities that we do here.  But at the end of the week, she was doing everything and was totally involved with camp life.  It was great to see her attitude transformed.  Coline is from Martigues, France.  It was cool getting to learn about a new culture with her while she was experiencing outdoor Canadian culture.  She did great in all the activities and was a joy to be around (quite the joker too).

So, that was Senior High.  By the time you get over that camp, a new one begins, however.  Today starts Junior High camp.  I am cabin leading for this one and will be busy in activities all week.  But I am so excited to meet my campers and get to invest in them for one week of their lives.  It will be quite the experience.

So as I go I will ask that you be praying this week for our camp.  Please pray for me as I get to answer questions and speak to the campers this week.  Also pray for the campers that they will have open ears to what is being said and will be transformed in some way this week.  Please pray for the campers that I mentioned from the Senior High camp as well.  Hector is a Christian so please pray that he would grow while being here for the semester.  Carlene and Coline are not so please pray that someone would come into their lives that would be clear with the gospel and help them grow as young believers.  Thanks so much.

To Christ within,

Craig

Advertisement