This is my fifth year on staff at Red Rock Bible Camp, and when you get to that point you often get asked about what keeps bringing you back. It’s very difficult to explain to people what the true lure of this place is, but when a night like last night comes around, it becomes clear as day. Last night was one of those nights to remember at Red Rock Bible Camp, and it was one of those nights in which the campers and the staff will cherish for the rest of their lives.
We will certainly get to that night, but before we do that we’ll take a little look at how the day went first.
The day started out a little different than usual, as we had Chapel in the morning after breakfast opposed to our usual evening Chapel due to Fresh IE coming in to do a concert at 7:30 that night. Nevertheless, our speaker, Matt, did a great job planting thoughts in the campers heads about why they believe in Jesus, and that there is a lot of evidence to believe in Jesus other than “Because the Bible says so.”
The teens then went off with their Big Brothers and Big Sisters to talk about Chapel that morning, and also to learn more about the Bible and our summer theme of Truth. From there they went right into their skills that they chose yesterday. The anticipation of Fresh IE coming to camp was looming over everything, but everyone was still happy to go on the water or do whatever else they were doing for the week.
The kayakers kayaked.
The canoers carried canoes.
The skimboarders skimmed.
And the mountain bikers all did wheelies.
After some delicious pulled pork sandwiches and poutine, the campers broke off into their skill groups again, and then it was time for Swim, Boat, Tuck. For Summer Scorcher, we do Swim, Boat, Tuck a little bigger than usual as we bring the foosball table outside, set fruit platters out for the kids, and also put on a volleyball and basketball tournament. The tournaments get pretty intense and competitive, and it’s awesome to see the staff and campers play together for sports supremacy. It usually attracts decent fanfare as well if there wasn’t enough going on all at once as it is.
Swim, Boat, Tuck is also a sweet time for the campers to hang out with each other. Cabin unity is a sweet thing, but it’s also sweet to see the camp as a whole band together to have a good time. It’s during these times where camp friendships are made every year. So, although we have a lot going on throughout the day, we also make sure there is a lot of hang out time for these kids too. That’s one of the many reasons why Swim, Boat, Tuck is awesome.
Fresh arrived in the afternoon, and once that happened it was basically all anyone was concerned about. And of course since it’s a camp event, people end up wearing costumes, so all of the kids and staff dressed up as hip hop as possible to prepare themselves for the nights events.
The girls of the photography skill were so excited that they couldn’t even wait until the concert to meet Fresh and got a really sweet picture with him. This is totally Facebook profile worthy. Rock, paper, SCISSORS!
After all of the anticipation throughout the day, the show finally started with Fresh introducing his Kingdom Music family to kick off the show. Shadow, No Nonsense, and Elevate warmed everyone up with a high energy set of some of their solo music, with Fresh backing them up as their DJ.
After a short intermission, it was time for the main event. Fresh IE took the stage with his Kingdom Music crew, which included drummer Sean Quigley, who you may recognize from the impressive “Little Drummer Boy” video that was circling around the interweb around Christmas time.
Sean was amazing, keeping an awesome and high energy beat the entire show, but Fresh blew the roof off the building when he came in, and had the crowd going crazy for two hours straight.
If the campers hadn’t already broken out of their shells, they sure did after last night, as those in attendence truly defined what musicians mean when they say “LET ME HEAR YOU MAKE SOME NOISE!!!” The kids had their hands waving to the beat, they were jumping way past the point of their clothes being drenched with sweat, and many of the kids didn’t have a voice by the end of the night. It was incredible.
You had to be there to truly experience how crazy it was in the Chapel last night, but to give you an idea, I uploaded a video to Youtube of how crazy the kids were. Fresh and his crew were loving it.
Even though the concert was so crazy, the best part about it was how God was so evidently present in that Chapel last night. Fresh called on us all to lay down the struggles in our lives, and stand up in our new lives with Christ. It was a moment that really impacted them as they were on their knees surrendering the parts of their lives that are keeping them down to God. It was amazing to see these kids worship with all their hearts, even though it was a genre of music they might not necessarily be used to. It was such a powerful time of praise, and we’re so thankful that God was able to use Fresh and his crew in that way.
It was an incredible night, and God did some amazing things in many of these campers lives. Please pray that the week can continue to bear this kind of fruit, and we’re going to do our best here to follow God’s will so that can happen. Tonight is the beach party which is ideally done outside, so prayer for good weather would also be appreciated. So make sure you check back on the blog tomorrow to see how the beach party turned out!
Just a reminder about our Facebook and Twitter pages. Give them a follow, and you’ll be able to get a look at exclusive pictures and discussions that you won’t be able to see on the blog. And for more pictures of Kindle week, sign into our eCamp account for photo galleries and other camp resources. Sign in information would have been sent with your registration packages.
