The First Day of Camp
We wish that each and every one of you could have experienced our first day of camp but since that is not possible, we will attempt to give you a taste of what that day was like!
Everyone woke up on the first morning of camp with a feeling of great excitement and anticipation! There was rain in the forecast and it looked a bit gray and dreary outside but that did nothing to darken the spirits of the staff and volunteers as they arrived on Tina's property. We committed the day to God in prayer and had a rain plan just in case the heavens opened up on us.
One by one, each of the participants arrived with big smiles and were greeted by their counselors, a wonderful group of teenage girls with big servants' hearts. Our "craft lady," Ms. Karen, had created an elaborate welcome sign with each of the participants' names on it. This assured them from the moment that they stepped foot on the property that this was a place where they belonged.
The camp started with Ms. Debi, who played "This Little Light of Mine" on her Ukelele. It was touching to hear the voices of the children sing along in all different keys and know that God must have been up there grinning at the sound of their voices. After this, Leslie, our board chair and former school teacher presented a lesson on the story of creation and we were amazed at how much the kids knew and really seemed to grasp. Then Fran taught some sign language to help the campers learn the memory verse for camp but even the adults got into the activity and enjoyed learning the signs!
Campers then split up into two different stations, the horse activity and crafts. Because one of the subjects of the lesson was Adam naming the animals, we wondered if God allowed Adam to name the body parts as well? Campers then had the chance to brush Teddy and label his horse parts using masking tape. Campers also participated at the craft station where they tie-dyed their camp shirts. We cannot wait to see how these will turn out and love that each shirt will be unique and represent the diversity of the campers and their personalities.
Finally, the day ended with lots of laughter in the form of water games! At that point, we all realized that the rain had held off the entire day. One volunteer even observed that although at one point she could see clouds all around us, directly above us were clear blue skies. So we decided to make it rain and cool ourselves off a bit by putting the water hose up in the air to cool off! Campers left wet and tired, but with hearts full and excited for the next week. We are so grateful to God for blessing this camp and we continue to look forward to the weeks ahead!
A special thank you goes to Jackie Garman who organized this camp, Tina who allows us to use her beautiful facility and of course to all of the amazing volunteers who gave up their time and energy to serve.