We’re in the home stretch as Friday is our only full day left of camp this summer! We can focus on that some more in the next post, but for now we will focus on Thursday of Ignite camp. This wasn’t any ordinary Thursday, as it was Cabin Day for the CIT’s! Cabin Day is the day the CIT’s follow their Little Brothers and Sisters around all day, and are basically in charge of a cabin. They go to all the skills, they sit with the kids during meals, they supervise during FOB, and they lead cabin devotions in the evening. It’s a challenging, but rewarding day for these CIT’s, and by all accounts it ended up going very well.
The day started off without any changes, as the campers met up with their Big Brothers and Sisters for another day of Morning Watch. From there, the Ignite campers (along with the CIT’s) met up with their counsellors for some Discovery activities. The goal of this Discovery game is to get the inner tube around the teatherball pole without touching the pole with the tube. It’s a pretty tough game, but it looks like these guys got the hang of it.
Cabin Day is an awesome day for camp, because you’re really able to see the friendships that have been made throughout the week between the campers and the CIT’s. Everywhere you looked yesterday you would see the CIT’s and Ignite campers hanging out. Part of that was because they followed them to all their skills, but even in their free time it seemed like they were always enjoying each others company.
I’m not quite sure what this is, but it looks like friendship.
However, the CIT’s are told they are to be observers for the day, to see what it’s like to be in skill and to observe how our staff members teach these campers. Which means they didn’t take away from the turns the campers got in skills like archery. Another positive is the large hang out crew that was around when they weren’t shooting.
Thankfully for the biking skill, we had enough bikes for everyone as the CIT’s got to ride along with the campers down our beautiful trails. Many wheelies and bunny-hops were had.
However, it wasn’t all about the CIT’s, as the counsellors were still getting some love as well. Take Kristen for example: she’s definitely not a CIT, but the campers love her for her fantastic Photography teaching skills.
The rest of the afternoon went very well, as it was pretty warm outside, and it looked like everyone had a blast. The campers went back to their cabin at one point for FOB with the CIT’s, and fortunately we don’t have pictures of that, as I can’t begin to imagine the chaos that ensued in those cabins without their normal counsellors.
In the evening, half of the camp enjoyed Cabin Choice with their cabin, and the other half finally got to participate in Minute to Win it. I’m going to go on the record and say this was the craziest game of Minute to Win it I’ve ever seen. Everyone involved was screaming at the top of their lungs pretty much for an hour straight, and the battle went right down to the wire.
There were moments of pure joy…
And moments of genuine comradery…
In the end, it was the guys who were victorious in the final championship round. But everyone who left the Chapel that day left knowing that they will never be the same again. Well done mighty warriors…well done.
Speaking of winning, the cabin clean up winners for the day were announced, and in true Olympic fashion they took to our large Olympic podium to be congratulated by their peers. The Red Rock Olympics will be concluded on Friday evening, and as of right now, there is still one Olympic ring to be found. Hopefully the kids can find it and save the Olympics, and more importantly, save their pizza party.
We also had another awesome Chapel service yesterday. Heather got all the kids to bring a rock to chapel, and challenged them all to write a struggle or lie they’ve been wrestling with on the rock, and then directed them to the lake to throw those rocks into the water and pray about what they let go with their cabin. It was a powerful visual, and something that deeply impacted some of these campers. It’s been great to see God working in their lives, and we’re praying that God can continue to move in these campers hearts as our last Chapel comes to a close this evening.
Our final full day is almost over at this point. Please pray for this home stretch. Pray that God can speak through Heather, the staff, and the CIT’s so these campers can have a desire to grow in maturity with Him. Pray that these CIT’s can solidify their relationships with each other so they can keep each other accountable as they go back to their schools, communities and friendship groups. And pray most of all that God can reveal Himself to us this evening through Chapel, and through our worship night, and that we can be ready and open to the Holy Spirit.
We will have one final recap tomorrow, and then that’s it for the summer! It’s hard to believe, but I can assure you that the blog does not stop there. So check back again tomorrow, and keep checking back throughout the fall and winter as we will have more posts that I really think you guys will enjoy. Until then, have a great Friday!
