It’s a day of firsts and a day of lasts here at Red Rock Bible Camp as we welcome the Ignite campers to camp for the first time, and also prepare for what will be the last week of summer this year. The summer has flown by, but the staff here at Red Rock are prepared to give everything they have to make this the best week yet.
Since it’s the last week of the summer, our staff naturally begin to feel a little nostalgic about all of the “lasts” that will be coming up in the next few days. We even had some nostalgia about our opening day arch. Thankfully the tears were drowned out with cheers of excitement.
Once the campers ran through the arch, they met up with their counsellors for the week, and made the trek onto the rocks and over to their cabins. As I looked from the balcony I began to feel quite nostalgic myself, but I was also left with a feeling that this is going to be a great week.
After the kids got a quick orientation, they were able to satisfy their hunger from the long, anticipation-filled bus ride with our opening day BBQ. The BBQ is a great way for the campers to get to know each other and their counsellors, and also to enjoy some tasty food.
Just like last week, the Ignite campers are sharing the camp with our Counsellor’s in Training or CIT’s as we call them. The CIT’s are a group of 39 teenagers who are here for two weeks to train on how to be a counsellor next year. The program is a life changing experience for many of these kids as they come home as changed people, with a strong desire and devotion to live for God. This weekend, the CIT’s were on a campout at Opapiskaw Campground, and arrived to camp at lunch yesterday. The campout is usually a great bonding experience for these campers, and this week was no different. The CIT’s arrived tighter than ever, and excited for what God has in store for them in their last week here.
The campout also proves to be quite exhausting, so the CIT’s spent most of Monday relaxing and enjoying some tubing, wakeboarding, and skiing. Needless to say, moral is quite high within the CIT group right now.
The CIT’s weren’t the only ones having all the fun yesterday, as the Ignite campers chose their skills for the week. The campers had many different skills to choose from, so even though picking your skills can be nerve wracking, the kids are pretty much guaranteed to be in something they will enjoy.
How couldn’t you be satisfied when you get to do things like shoot arrows in archery?
We also have an awesome mountain biking program here at camp which ends up attracting a lot of campers. Not only do we have great new bikes, but we also have some fantastic trails through the bush and onto the beautiful Whiteshell granite.
The skimboarders also got off to a good start, as it looks like many of them are already getting the hang of it. To top it off, it was a beautiful day yesterday, so even if they fell, I’m sure these campers had no problem getting wet.
The kayakers were also loving the nice weather, even though we started most of our skills in the evening yesterday.
We also saw the photographers starting up their portfolio of pictures yesterday evening. We have a set of great cameras here at camp, and if our photographer, Shea, doesn’t do a good job this week, we might be able to steal some pictures from them! (But who am I kidding, of course Shea is going to do a great job.)
The skills aren’t the only exciting things going on at camp this week, as we also have a camp wide game going on. I know you all thought the Olympics were over, but they’ve only just begun here at RRBC, as the campers are getting into the Olympic spirit once again to see what cabin is going to win it all.
I know you’re probably thinking that our Olympic banner seems a little bare. Well, that’s because the Olympic rings have been stolen by a disgruntled former Olympian named Damien Sinclair! It’s up to the campers to find the rings which have been hidden across the camp, while also earning medals and memorizing verses so that their cabin will win the coveted prize of a pizza party on Friday! But first and foremost, they need to make sure the Olympic rings are found so the games won’t be ruined.
It was a busy, but great day yesterday at Red Rock Bible Camp, and we’re really looking forward to what God is going to do in these campers lives. Heather Boersma is our speaker this week, and last night in Chapel she talked about the value that we can find in God. Heather is a great speaker, and we’re praying that the love of God shines through her to these campers, and that God can speak powerful truths into these campers lives.
That’s all for today, but be sure to check back on the blog every day this week, and we’ll have more posts for you about how things are going!
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.
