Junior High Wilderness Camp

Well one more camp is now behind me.  This one I had the priviledge of cabin leading and getting to spend a lot of time with the kids.  It was exhilirating, encouraging, and exhausting all at the same time.  You see, these were junior high kids.  Kids with a whole lot of energy given a place where they can spend it, and boy did they.  I had a great group of unique young guys that had a ton of energy and a ton of fun.  They came from all different backgrounds and places (including France) which made getting to know them and getting to see them know each other a whole lot of fun throughout the week.

The week itself went without any major incidences; however, the weather threw us for a loop everyday.  Monday was climbing and rappelling and rain was pooring down the rocks making it quite hard for them to send the routes.  It also made anchor clean up (my job) a very wet one.  But many of the kids had not done either activity and the rappelling especially pushed their mental limits, but it is always rewarding seeing the kid that is scared breathless stepping over the edge, leaning against the rope, and sliding down a cliff.  What is more rewarding is the smile at the bottom after a successful first rappel.

Tuesday started out as a rainy day, but by the afternoon we had great weather which made whitewater canoeing great.  Now, I’m not going to lie, six out of eight of my campers were just plain awful at paddling and even more steering.  I think we may have had the record for the longest trip down that particular section of river.  But all is good.  We had a blast.  Yes, they may have been constantly hitting the shore or doing spins down the rapids, or even the more than occasional tip, but they were great at laughing it off and carrying on.

Wednesday was our biking day and it was not much of one.  The day brought buckets of rain and not much enthusiasm for being on wet, single track, rooty trails.  I didn’t blame them though, I wasn’t too excited either.  So we came back early and let them do the lake jump on our dock.

Thursday and Friday we did an overnight hike to Allstones Lake and Allstones Peak.  It was a beautiful area marked with a lot of rain on Thursday night but great sun on Friday.  Probably the highlight of the night was putting the campers to bed early.  Why?  Because there were ten smelly guys huddles under one small tarp for hours cooking dinner and hanging out.  But the thing was I was the only one with a watch so we kept telling the campers it was later than it was.  So at about 7 pm we told them it was time to hit the tents because it was 11 pm and they bought it.  Wow!  That made the small tarp for 10 large for 2.  So Tim (the other staff member) and I just hung out and were able to talk about ministry and God and our futures.  It was quite nice to get that evening to just chill and have a chance to talk.

On the spiritual side of things, most of my campers were not Christians.  Many of them however were very curious.  One camper in particular (Corbin) asked questions the entire week about God and the Bible and I even got to show him how to look passages up in the Bible.  After that he was constantly asking where the Bible says…  It was awesome to get that opportunity to point him to God’s Word for him.  Also, Kyle, another camper was honest enough to say that he thinks he believes but wants God to show him a sign of some sort to know for sure.  It’s awesome to know that these young kids are at least thinking about these things and seeking him in some way.  It’s also good to know that God meets us where we are and can bring them to him at any time.  So I would ask that you would pray for Corbin and Kyle that God would show himself to them so that they would know him and his salvation.  Other campers that you could pray for are Hunter, Maxime, Tyler, and Trevor, all of which I do not know Christ.

On a very sweet note, Carlene, which I mentioned in the Senior High Camp post wrote one of the staff and said that she has given her life to Christ.  How awesome is that!  She said that it has brought many people closer to her and some of her friends have persecuted her for it.  Therefore, I ask that you pray for her strength in this critical time of discipleship and that someone would come along that would teach and mentor her so that she may become a woman of God.

Thanks all for reading and staying up with me.  Thanks too for the prayers and the thoughts.  It’s great to see planting and growing and harvesting happening.  Pray for all three.

To Christ within,
Craig