Monday.
Monday was spent driving down and getting ready for campers. I was assigned security and go-fer. (Go-fer them parts, go-fer that water jug.) I would follow Chip Wood around and wait for him to tell me what to do next. That was very interesting because when ever I would finish a task I would have to go find Chip and find out the next thing. It was hard for me not because the tasks were difficult but because I constantly was in between work and I felt like I was wasting a lot of time.
Tuesday.
Tuesday was spent in very much the same way as Monday, but I painted the paintball box for most of the day with Stephanie and started my other job as a Lamoka Dish Fish. I ended up painting on the box and completely forgetting that I had an elective to teach, archery. Garret ended up teaching it for me but I didn’t even remember that I had to teach it. Tuesday night I did security around campus. All that entails is locking up, turning on lights, and walking around campus making sure those who are supposed to be on campus are on campus and those who are not supposed to be on campus, leave campus.
Wednesday and Thursday.
Wednesday I realized that my days on camp are repetition in most areas. I am security at night, maintenance during the day while doing odd jobs for Chip Wood, and dish fish after meals. It actually was a lot of fun because of the variety kept it from getting monotonous and also helped me get to see other aspects of camp that I had never seen before. I stayed up till about 2:30 Thursday morning making sure that all the kids were staying in there cabins and praying that there would be no walkers (people from one of the four bars that surround camp who have had their car keys revoked).
Friday.
It was kind of sad today because it was the last full day of camp. It was encouraging to hear about all the decisions that were made last night at the bonfire. The bonfire seems to be one of the most powerful nights. It is nothing that we do, but God does such a work in everyone, not just the campers but staff as well, on that night.
Saturday.
Looking back, this week was a struggle for me. It was challenging because I had no campers. I really wanted to be involved with the spiritual development of campers and staff but as security you really don’t have a lot of time to be with a group of kids or to talk to staffers because you are going from one thing to the next trying to get all the jobs done as effectively as possible.
I feel and know that I accomplished a lot this week; but I wish I could have had a bigger impact on more kids. It was good to have some of the staffers and counselors tat I know pretty well to come up to me and encourage me with words or a look, and also to have some of those same people ask me to pray for them and just be open and honest with me. Looking forward toward next week I will need lots of prayer because of the number of campers that are coming and the number of counselors we have. The ratio now looks like for the guys as a 1:8 ration of a counselor and 8 campers and for the girls 1:6. don’t think that I am worrying about this because I do know that God will take care of all of us; but I would like you guys to be praying for the camp that we would be able to bring more of the staff back because right now they can’t afford to have everyone, but also that the registries would come in since registration is about half of what the camp capacity is.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Heading Back!
Tomorrow I will be heading back to camp with Jac. It appears that I will be working security this next week since camp registration is down. Katy is getting the week off which is a good thing, giving her time to rest and also to stay with her brother and sister. I do ask that you would pray for her and her family right now. Her Mom and Dad are out visiting her mom's mother. Their grandmother is not doing very well and this may be her last days here. Katy did not know if her grandmother was saved as they did not spend much time with her since her grandmother lives in another state.
Pray that God would give them all an extra measure of grace to help them through this time.
Pray that God would give them all an extra measure of grace to help them through this time.
July 10th, Friday. Day 5.
Today was an awesome day. It was so cool to watch as the kids that have grown so much in this short time acting for God. Watching the “How Great is Our God” DVD. Seeing how all this that God can make something SO huge, like the stars in the sky, and care about us as people. He knows our names and knows everything about us. He has offered us life eternal and also given us a promise as children, that He will NEVER let us go! It is so amazing.
At one point Andrew was talking to some of his friends and after them telling one too many dirty jokes he said, "That's enough" and walked away. How much can God change someone in one day? A LOT!
God is good!
P.S.: there was so much more, this is just a brief overview of SOME of what happened this past week. I could not possibly write down all that I did do. If you would like to know more, ask and if I get a spare moment I will try to answer any more questions.
Please Pray for Andrew as he will be needing a lot of prayer in the future as he tries to live out a Godly life in an environment that has few Christians actually living their Christianity.
At one point Andrew was talking to some of his friends and after them telling one too many dirty jokes he said, "That's enough" and walked away. How much can God change someone in one day? A LOT!
God is good!
P.S.: there was so much more, this is just a brief overview of SOME of what happened this past week. I could not possibly write down all that I did do. If you would like to know more, ask and if I get a spare moment I will try to answer any more questions.
Please Pray for Andrew as he will be needing a lot of prayer in the future as he tries to live out a Godly life in an environment that has few Christians actually living their Christianity.
July 9th, Thursday. Day 4.
Today is the day when decisions are made. Often the bon fire is the most powerful night. Not because of what we do, but what God chooses to do. The day was spent in anticipation for the miracles that God was going to do. He hadn’t done them yet, but I was waiting on Him to. Last night I talked to one of my campers and he recommitted to reading his Bible more and being a better Christian; tonight another one of my campers recommitted his life, asking for forgiveness for what he has done, and was truly broken and wanting to live for Him. It was amazing how God works. As we walked back from the bonfire my camper asked me if we would be able to talk tonight; during the bonfire I watched as God worked on this young man and could see him fight God in his body language sitting there on the ground. We ended up talking for quite a while and he poured his heart and life out to me. I told him that all those things could be wiped away and God could restore their relationship.
I told him that either that he could pray and tell God what he wanted to say, or I could help him through the prayer. He chose to pray himself and you could tell that it was coming from the heart. Well he ended up praying himself and it was amazing; just how God works and makes everything go according to His plan.
God is good!
I told him that either that he could pray and tell God what he wanted to say, or I could help him through the prayer. He chose to pray himself and you could tell that it was coming from the heart. Well he ended up praying himself and it was amazing; just how God works and makes everything go according to His plan.
God is good!
July 8th, Wednesday. Day Three.
I thought today was going to be a good day, it still maybe. Alex is no longer at camp because his problems are only getting worse. I feel that somehow this was Satan’s attack to prevent him from gaining a deeper knowledge of who God is. I failed with telling him how God cares about him and wants a closer relationship with him, but it just seems that all I have done was teach the kids sports. That isn’t my goal, so I failed. It is the “hill day”, half-way done. I need to talk to my kids on a deeper level and really find a more proactive way of getting through to these guys.
There is still a couple more hours (like 7) before the day is up, and I need to spend them wisely.
As the day progressed my legs started to hurt more and more, by the time chapel ended I was feeling pretty sick. I hurt and it hurt so bad I did not feel well. We played WWIII (more running) and by the time that ended I could not really take it anymore. I asked Cody to take over for me and prepared to head back to the cabin. I had to let all my campers know that they answered to Cody in my stead but I could not find Andrew. Last I had seen him he was with another kid from cabin 19 and Spidey hadn’t seen him either.
There is still a couple more hours (like 7) before the day is up, and I need to spend them wisely.
As the day progressed my legs started to hurt more and more, by the time chapel ended I was feeling pretty sick. I hurt and it hurt so bad I did not feel well. We played WWIII (more running) and by the time that ended I could not really take it anymore. I asked Cody to take over for me and prepared to head back to the cabin. I had to let all my campers know that they answered to Cody in my stead but I could not find Andrew. Last I had seen him he was with another kid from cabin 19 and Spidey hadn’t seen him either.
July 7th, Tuesday. Day two.
Today was quite challenging, at staff devos we found out that Katy was sick and they needed someone to step up and fill her spot. My body is hurting pretty bad because of some injuries sustained Monday. My fingers hurt pretty bad on my left hand from slamming them in the door, and my ankles are starting to kill from all the running around campus.
We had a live LCD that wasn’t a drill and that was annoying, but the kid was found so it doesn’t matter. that’s all that counts. What else…I read a lot in Colossians and have pretty good notes that I will transfer later. My 2 special campers, Andrew and Aleks (Alex) seem to enjoy disappearing to the cabin or walking away from the group without my knowledge. Its hard to keep tabs on them because they ain’t dumb and they watch me.
During quiet time Don played some amazing guitar for us that he learned from listening to it. Don is a very talented musician. We played paintball against Spidey’s cabin and their number advantage and having Jordan on their team with a tricked out gun didn’t help us any, we took out 6 or more (they had 9 players) each game and they took out our six (we only had six). It was fun also we had the archery people (all four of us) make a target and we shot the snot out of it. The kids had a great time making and destroying it! It was fun for me and Ben too I guess. Well, times up, need to go to devos and maybe I ’ll type later.
We had a live LCD that wasn’t a drill and that was annoying, but the kid was found so it doesn’t matter. that’s all that counts. What else…I read a lot in Colossians and have pretty good notes that I will transfer later. My 2 special campers, Andrew and Aleks (Alex) seem to enjoy disappearing to the cabin or walking away from the group without my knowledge. Its hard to keep tabs on them because they ain’t dumb and they watch me.
During quiet time Don played some amazing guitar for us that he learned from listening to it. Don is a very talented musician. We played paintball against Spidey’s cabin and their number advantage and having Jordan on their team with a tricked out gun didn’t help us any, we took out 6 or more (they had 9 players) each game and they took out our six (we only had six). It was fun also we had the archery people (all four of us) make a target and we shot the snot out of it. The kids had a great time making and destroying it! It was fun for me and Ben too I guess. Well, times up, need to go to devos and maybe I ’ll type later.
July 6. The Trip Down.
It 6:14, we left at 5:30 from my house this morning. We just picked up Katy and are heading over to pick up Sarah in Mt Morris. At 6:22 we picked up Sarah and are officially headed down for camp. Its about and hour drive from here and we expect to get there and unpack before heading up chapel hill for directions this week.
We arrived at camp and met on chapel hill a little after 8. We got our tasks and prepared for the campers to arrive. Its started off REALLY slow with two guys, Andrew and Josh. Neither of them are real go to guys and actually were cool spending time sitting in there bunks doing…nothing. I ended up with 5 campers. We took the swim test and all and then met Robert, Josh’s friend who came to our cabin late. The guys are pretty cool, I have a lot of respect for them though to most they seem a little odd; they are not all that different than the rest of us. Sure they might dress differently, or look different, but inside they are all the same, needing to be shown the love and grace for the One, Who gives them both.
I did get hurt a couple times yesterday, looks like I am most of a liability than much else: jammed my fingers playing Ga Ga Ball, got them slammed in the door, slipped over a burm next to the Ga Ga Pits and broke a board, got a pretty big scratch, and I fell a half dozen times playing capture the flag running on the wet grass.
Overall: 10 out of 10. God is GOOD!
We arrived at camp and met on chapel hill a little after 8. We got our tasks and prepared for the campers to arrive. Its started off REALLY slow with two guys, Andrew and Josh. Neither of them are real go to guys and actually were cool spending time sitting in there bunks doing…nothing. I ended up with 5 campers. We took the swim test and all and then met Robert, Josh’s friend who came to our cabin late. The guys are pretty cool, I have a lot of respect for them though to most they seem a little odd; they are not all that different than the rest of us. Sure they might dress differently, or look different, but inside they are all the same, needing to be shown the love and grace for the One, Who gives them both.
I did get hurt a couple times yesterday, looks like I am most of a liability than much else: jammed my fingers playing Ga Ga Ball, got them slammed in the door, slipped over a burm next to the Ga Ga Pits and broke a board, got a pretty big scratch, and I fell a half dozen times playing capture the flag running on the wet grass.
Overall: 10 out of 10. God is GOOD!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Off for another EXCITING Week at Camp Lamoka!
Tomorrow morning I am heading off to camp for another week of camp. This week was family camp and Chip Wood the director didn't need a lot of staff on campus. But this week is Sr. High Week, ages 15-19. Apparently this next week is pack out, which is awesome because camp registration in all of NY State is down; so we were prepared for God to do something miraculous. Two weeks ago at CIT Week 2 of the week for youth campers only had 60 kids each, and normally at that time they are the most filled! But God is good, because before the week was out, those weeks both filled up quite a bit, I don't know exact numbers, but a significant increase of registrants in a very short time...It’s a God thing.
So I have NO idea what I am going to be doing this next week at camp, it is most likely between counseling and security, but you never know where Chip will need me. I'm willing to work anywhere.
But please, do pray for Lamoka Baptist Camp, or Camp Lamoka. God has collected a REALLY mature group of staffers there this year! Some items of pray would be: #1 that God's will would be done on at the camp, #2 that He would use us and teach us what He wants us to learn, and #3 that we fill up the camp for all the weeks. Some might say that we should fill the camp first, but unless God's will is done on at the camp, it doesn't matter how many kids are there, because they will never have heard the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray for Chip Wood, the director, that he would have the strength to fulfill his jobs (and there are many that he does); pray for the churches that support the camp and the kids home churches, that they would be discipled (or that they would find one!); pray for all of us staffers that are going to be working there (it's a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of work!); also pray for the speakers that are coming to speak at camp each week that their messages would be heard and learned from by kids and staffers alike; and not lastly or least (there are MANY, MANY more all of equal importance) pray for the kids that are going to be coming to camp, those who are saved that they would grow in their walk, and those who are not saved that they would recognize their need for The Savior and ask Him to come into their lives.
So I have NO idea what I am going to be doing this next week at camp, it is most likely between counseling and security, but you never know where Chip will need me. I'm willing to work anywhere.
But please, do pray for Lamoka Baptist Camp, or Camp Lamoka. God has collected a REALLY mature group of staffers there this year! Some items of pray would be: #1 that God's will would be done on at the camp, #2 that He would use us and teach us what He wants us to learn, and #3 that we fill up the camp for all the weeks. Some might say that we should fill the camp first, but unless God's will is done on at the camp, it doesn't matter how many kids are there, because they will never have heard the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray for Chip Wood, the director, that he would have the strength to fulfill his jobs (and there are many that he does); pray for the churches that support the camp and the kids home churches, that they would be discipled (or that they would find one!); pray for all of us staffers that are going to be working there (it's a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of work!); also pray for the speakers that are coming to speak at camp each week that their messages would be heard and learned from by kids and staffers alike; and not lastly or least (there are MANY, MANY more all of equal importance) pray for the kids that are going to be coming to camp, those who are saved that they would grow in their walk, and those who are not saved that they would recognize their need for The Savior and ask Him to come into their lives.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
CIT WEEK! (sorry it took a week to figure out all that I did...)
So much has happened in the last week.
Cit week was awesome
I learned so much that I have no idea where to start. So I guess a good place to start is at the beginning. I left to begin the journey to Camp Lamoka at 5:55 am when I left my house and headed to McGinnis’s where I loaded my bag into the Cobalt and joined Mrs. McGinnis and Jac. We then traveled to Katy’s house got her stuff loaded and left for the official ride to Camp Lamoka for CIT Week! Fun! The ride down took about an1hr and a half from Katy’s house and was relatively uneventful. Monday was spent in a variety of ways: quiet time was WAY too short! (I mean really! 45 min to spend praying and reading the Bible was NOT enough time!), we had another session in Timothy, then swim test, raking the lake swimming area of rocks, and a 5 hour hike turned 6 ½ hrs. Sunday night my bro and his wife came up from VA we were hanging out and he told me to go get my bass and amp so we could play together before I left. Well on my way back down with a bass guitar in one hand and an amp in the other, I tried to jump over a glider chair that my bro Jeff was sitting in…except I weigh about an extra 75 lbs…which I didn’t take into account…bad. So basically I broke at least one of my toes…and then walked (as the bird flies 4 miles) but as our path traveled…closer to 8-10...up and down and crossing streams, creeks and waterfalls. But it was a learning experience.
Tuesday was much like Monday in that it was more learning from the Bible and sessions but Pastor Mike was there and `the girls that rode down with me, Katy and Jac, didn’t know that PM was speaking! It was awesome o drop the news on them! But PM spoke on 2 Timothy too and helped put another spin on it. I enjoy hearing him preach because he makes it fun to hear him and often make you think that you are having a ton of fun while being in a sermon! (Yeah, I know, I said it didn't I Pastor Mike...FUN! You'll have to work on making those more boring...or not.)
Wednesday was fun too. More sessions on counseling, with pastor mike and devos, all relating to the grace that God has given us and how He NEVER gives us more than what we can handle in the power of His grace! Also Wednesday night the entire staff spent about an hour in prayer, and it was really cool. We split up into 3 groups, one group was praying prayers of praise, another group was praying that we would be good soldiers of the faith that we would honor the One who enlisted us, and the last group’s prayer was glorifying God for all Who He is. I was part of the group lifting up praise to God, the reason I went over there was because often I fall short in that area of prayer and my thoughts were, “the best way to get better is try to pray more!” I ended up praying for 45 min and I never even realized how lost I got in praising God. It was pretty amazing. After some time I decided I should head down to my cabin and do my devos…well actually do some more…and I saw my friend Kurtis and Tim outside and we just started talking about the basic things that God did for us, like Jesus coming to the earth to die for us, He didn’t have too, but He did. He could have destroyed the whole world and started over again more easily that you taking a breath…because that is given by God. But we were joined by Seth, Ben, Josh, Cody, Andy, and Spidey. It was pretty cool and encouraging to have other guys sharing there hearts and asking for prayer in sensitive areas of their lives. I can see that god has really caused this group of staffers to really come together in 3 days.
Thursday we woke up and did our routine, we watched the fun bat safety video which told us how insensitive we are towards bats and how misunderstood they are…that is literally what they said on the video; it was fun[ny] to watch. We had another session of learning and a large break while Ally put a video together of CIT week that Erik put together. It was really good to see how all these individuals came together to form a pretty cohesive group. I packed up all my stuff during the break so I was ready to go when Mrs. McGinnis would pull in. Jac called her mom and her mom said she was in a huge thunderstorm and it was hailing. We started seeing the storm coming in from the west and could hear the rain start beating the lake. Jac called again and her mom said she was at the end of the driveway which is like a mile long. Her mom pulled up and we finished loading the stuff just before the cloud burst. The ride home was hilarious because I had gotten the least amount of sleep that week and I was the only one who was wide awake for the whole trip! (and that includes Mrs. McGinnis, she had worked a double shift at the hospital.)
When we pulled into Katy’s driveway we were attacked by her family happy to see her back home. Katy actually gave me a hug for like the first time ever…she was like the only friend that I have that never hugged me…kinda funny actually, but yeah, her family was glad that we all made it home safely and there was another family staying with them that she had been looking forward to seeing. I called my dad and had him come and meet us at Jac’s house and I drive home with my dad after unloading Jac’s stuff from their car.
Cit week was awesome
I learned so much that I have no idea where to start. So I guess a good place to start is at the beginning. I left to begin the journey to Camp Lamoka at 5:55 am when I left my house and headed to McGinnis’s where I loaded my bag into the Cobalt and joined Mrs. McGinnis and Jac. We then traveled to Katy’s house got her stuff loaded and left for the official ride to Camp Lamoka for CIT Week! Fun! The ride down took about an1hr and a half from Katy’s house and was relatively uneventful. Monday was spent in a variety of ways: quiet time was WAY too short! (I mean really! 45 min to spend praying and reading the Bible was NOT enough time!), we had another session in Timothy, then swim test, raking the lake swimming area of rocks, and a 5 hour hike turned 6 ½ hrs. Sunday night my bro and his wife came up from VA we were hanging out and he told me to go get my bass and amp so we could play together before I left. Well on my way back down with a bass guitar in one hand and an amp in the other, I tried to jump over a glider chair that my bro Jeff was sitting in…except I weigh about an extra 75 lbs…which I didn’t take into account…bad. So basically I broke at least one of my toes…and then walked (as the bird flies 4 miles) but as our path traveled…closer to 8-10...up and down and crossing streams, creeks and waterfalls. But it was a learning experience.
Tuesday was much like Monday in that it was more learning from the Bible and sessions but Pastor Mike was there and `the girls that rode down with me, Katy and Jac, didn’t know that PM was speaking! It was awesome o drop the news on them! But PM spoke on 2 Timothy too and helped put another spin on it. I enjoy hearing him preach because he makes it fun to hear him and often make you think that you are having a ton of fun while being in a sermon! (Yeah, I know, I said it didn't I Pastor Mike...FUN! You'll have to work on making those more boring...or not.)
Wednesday was fun too. More sessions on counseling, with pastor mike and devos, all relating to the grace that God has given us and how He NEVER gives us more than what we can handle in the power of His grace! Also Wednesday night the entire staff spent about an hour in prayer, and it was really cool. We split up into 3 groups, one group was praying prayers of praise, another group was praying that we would be good soldiers of the faith that we would honor the One who enlisted us, and the last group’s prayer was glorifying God for all Who He is. I was part of the group lifting up praise to God, the reason I went over there was because often I fall short in that area of prayer and my thoughts were, “the best way to get better is try to pray more!” I ended up praying for 45 min and I never even realized how lost I got in praising God. It was pretty amazing. After some time I decided I should head down to my cabin and do my devos…well actually do some more…and I saw my friend Kurtis and Tim outside and we just started talking about the basic things that God did for us, like Jesus coming to the earth to die for us, He didn’t have too, but He did. He could have destroyed the whole world and started over again more easily that you taking a breath…because that is given by God. But we were joined by Seth, Ben, Josh, Cody, Andy, and Spidey. It was pretty cool and encouraging to have other guys sharing there hearts and asking for prayer in sensitive areas of their lives. I can see that god has really caused this group of staffers to really come together in 3 days.
Thursday we woke up and did our routine, we watched the fun bat safety video which told us how insensitive we are towards bats and how misunderstood they are…that is literally what they said on the video; it was fun[ny] to watch. We had another session of learning and a large break while Ally put a video together of CIT week that Erik put together. It was really good to see how all these individuals came together to form a pretty cohesive group. I packed up all my stuff during the break so I was ready to go when Mrs. McGinnis would pull in. Jac called her mom and her mom said she was in a huge thunderstorm and it was hailing. We started seeing the storm coming in from the west and could hear the rain start beating the lake. Jac called again and her mom said she was at the end of the driveway which is like a mile long. Her mom pulled up and we finished loading the stuff just before the cloud burst. The ride home was hilarious because I had gotten the least amount of sleep that week and I was the only one who was wide awake for the whole trip! (and that includes Mrs. McGinnis, she had worked a double shift at the hospital.)
When we pulled into Katy’s driveway we were attacked by her family happy to see her back home. Katy actually gave me a hug for like the first time ever…she was like the only friend that I have that never hugged me…kinda funny actually, but yeah, her family was glad that we all made it home safely and there was another family staying with them that she had been looking forward to seeing. I called my dad and had him come and meet us at Jac’s house and I drive home with my dad after unloading Jac’s stuff from their car.
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