Last night I returned from my second week at Silver Lake Camp and I'm still recovering from lack of sleep. I can only imagine how all my friends who did camp teams this summer feel after eight weeks of camp. These past two weeks have been absolutely incredible. They have to be some of my favorite memories of this summer.
It was so much fun going back to the same camp that I went to as a student for four years. I got to see some people that I haven't seen since the first time we met at camp. And then I met some new people who are friends with one of my friends, whom I first met at Silver Lake. Small world. And then there were the people I met who I never knew before hand, like the NYMI's (Northwest Youth Ministry Interns). They were fantastic: Mo, Jen, Jessica, and Carl all made these past two weeks even more fun for me.
I can't really decide if I liked Jr. High or High School camp better. I liked them both for different reasons. The Jr. Highers clung to the leaders because they think we're the coolest thing since sliced bread, so I was able to connect really well with the students. The Highschoolers were more independent, but it gave me the opportunity to better connect with the leaders. And both Jr. Highers and Highschoolers are passionate...and loaded with cash. Every year at camp we have a "Speed the Light" offering. Speed the Light is an organization that provides food, vehicles, and anything else for missionaries overseas and for the countries that they are in. At Jr. High camp we raised over $4000...and we had less than 300 students that week! We had about 100 more students at Sr. High camp, so the offering was a little bigger...$7000 even!
It was incredible to watch these kids give and empty out their wallets for missionaries. Even more so, it was awesome to watch them worship, to rededicate their lives to Christ, and for some, to accept Christ into their lives for the first time, all over the course of five days. And I loved that I got to be a part of it. Camp is so different when you're a student vs. a leader, and I'm so glad that I got to experience both positions. I absolutely loved camp as a student and going back as a leader, not only made me reminisce, but it helped me relate to the students better and it allowed me to grow passionate for youth. I never thought that I would be working with youth when God called me into ministry. It's not that I wasn't open to the idea, or that I didn't think that it wouldn't happen, I just never pictured myself doing it. My passion and calling is worship. But I gotta say, youth kids are awesome! Now, I'm not going to change my major or anything, but I definately wouldn't mind working with youth for a season...maybe even just lead worship for them.
God did some pretty incredible things these past two weeks. My younger brother made me boohoo like crazy last Wednesday night when the students were given the opportunity to share their testimony at the end of the service. He got up and started preachin' to the choir!...well not really, but what he said was touching. He's grown up so much. *tear*
Not to mention, camp was SO fun outside of service as well! We played some crazy games like tug-o-war in a mud pit, Japanese capture the flag, and cow tongue slip-n-slide relay. That's right, cow tongue. It was repulsive. I also went inner tubing, did the zipline, played in the volleyball and ultimate frisbee tournaments, and got a henna tattoo. And my team this last week, team Orange, aka AFGANASTAN!! (that's for my fellow campers who know what I'm talking about) won 2nd place for all the games and activities, so we got free pizza. Woohoo!
And to end the two weeks with a bang, I spent my 19th birthday in a van for six hours with a bunch of highschoolers. But I got strawberry flavored milk mix, three bucks and a quarter, and rolos...that ended up melting. And when I got home last night, my mom took me to go pick up a cake, but I wasn't in the mood for cake, not even on my birthday. So we're saving it for tonight. I still don't feel a year older. I don't even feel like I had a birhtday. Oh well. Maybe next year it'll be different.
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