Hi everyone! Marina here reporting on the exciting events of Wednesday and Thursday of camp! The theme of Wednesday was Madagascar. We started our day with a feast of yogurt and various fruits as everyone was starting to hit the middle of camp hump.
We began by centering our hearts on the ways we’ve seen God moving over the past few days. It was a great opportunity to call to mind the big and small ways that the Lord has been working at camp.
After English classes and the pool, we spent the afternoon playing “Who let the animals out?” Our fearless leaders assigned most of the camp counselors an alternate animal identity such as “Ella the monkey,” “Jacob the Sloth,” and “Jameson and Alex the giraffes.” Each animal had a different way of being “captured” by the campers. We sent all the campers out on a wild chase around camp to capture as many animals as possible. After solving riddles, dancing with monkeys, swimming with fish, and taming the mountain goat, the zookeepers were proudly able to report that the campers saved the zoo, and we celebrated the winners by eating an extremely unique American delicacy. Birthday Cake Oreos.
After forcing all the campers to drink a bunch of water in order to replenish what was lost in sweat from walking up and down the mountain at 3pm, everyone was able to recuperate with a snack and a break in the shade!
The topic of discussion for soul music today was quite hard hitting. It was titled, “The Sins of our Parents.” We discussed the characteristics that we see in our parents and how we see these things manifest in our own lives both for good and for bad. Opening this discussion gave many of us the gift to speak into the parts of these campers lives that they often keep dormant. Many tears were shed, and other emotions expressed, but I felt so glad that the campers felt the freedom and safety to share with us openly and vulnerably.
After dinner, Jacob and Daniel prepared games as part of a circus for our evening activity. We played Guess the Popcorn Kernels, Beverage Pong, and Pictionary. The superior team of the night were the Donkeys led by yours truly, Erin, and Ricard. They adequately screamed and jumped to celebrate with the team.
After all the chaos, it came time for me to share my testimony. I had been thinking about what I wanted to share for several days at this point, and I ended up sharing a message about the family of God. I felt quite nervous going into it because the things that I shared about the issues in my nuclear family are quite raw, but God had clearly placed it on my heart to also be vulnerable with my story. Based on the conversations I had after soul music; it was clear to me that my story would resonate with a lot of the campers. I truly felt that the Lord was able to use my testimony to show the campers with difficult family situations, that they were not alone. I was able to chat with some of the students afterwards into the early hours of the morning just processing the things that they have experienced. It was clear to me that a few of them really needed the encouragement that they are not alone in their struggles, and also that there are ways to move past it. We talked about what it means to forgive, and how we have the opportunity to surrender our burdens to the Lord.
After an emotional night, and a few hours of sleep, we were off to the races again on Thursday morning! Nathan and I showed up to the morning meeting a few minutes early and got to enjoy watching the various expressions on each counselor’s face as they rolled out of bed and joined us for devo time. **Spoiler Alert: faces say a lot about how well you slept
After English classes and a scorching hot pool time, we ate Dinosaur Eggs in the spirit of “How to Train Your Dragon” day.
While the campers were watching a movie and playing board games, we had a team meeting where we were able to pray by name for the campers that have been placed on our hearts and lifted up the rest of the conversations that we were to have today.
We are now looking forward to a night of “Capture the Glow in the Dark Dragon Egg,” and Caleb’s testimony!
Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We feel them carrying us through one day at a time regardless of how tired we might feel. For the next couple days, I’d like to request that you pray for the Lord to open the hearts of those who are beginning to feel His nudge.
Adios! From your favorite – Marina 😉