We are past the half way point of Summer Sizzler, and things are going very well. God is speaking, the kids are having a blast, and everyone is safe and as far as I know healthy. The highlight of the day came in the evening, but before we can get into that, we’ll show you a little bit of what the rest of the day looked like.
We started like always, with a hardy breakfast and some Morning Watch. As the week goes on, the kids become more and more open with the staff here, and some amazing fruit grows because of it. That is something we are often in prayer for here at camp, and something you all could keep in mind as well, as Morning Watch is a great time for life-changing spiritual growth.
Like always we transitioned over to discovery where cabins continued their blindfolded adventures, learning to trust God and his path for us. There are some amazing parallels to our faith through these activities, and it’s all done in a way that engages the campers and sticks around in their memory.
After discovery it was back to the skills for the campers, who tend to get into a little more difficult challenges in their skills as the week goes on. The fishers have long graduated from casting off the shore, and are enjoying the luxury of our comfortable pontoon boat, regardless of if they catch any fish or not.
We interrupt this blog post to deliver a very important message from staff member Brady Plett. We’ve come to the understanding that his mother would like to see some more pictures of Brady on the blog, and Brady very much agrees. Brady is a wise man, but a man of very few words as he only had this to say:
After another fantastic lunch from the kitchen staff, we went back out do get some more skills done. Whenever you look onto the lake during skill time, the first thing you will notice is the terrifying pack of kayakers that seem to dominate the lake. There’s probably only ten of them, but their presence is overwhelming. And it seems like they’re having a great time.
We also touched base with the wakeboarding skill who seem to be having a lot of fun. Everyone is getting up and are able to enjoy the joyous feeling of skidding across the lake on their board. Eventually the rest of their bodies skid across the lake too, but lets just focus on the positives today.
However, it wasn’t all about the water skills yesterday, as the wilderness skill…sat around?
Just kidding, they did fire building yesterday, and are actually one of the most hardcore skills of the week.
The sun wasn’t up yesterday for too long, but it was definitely still a sizzler, so the campers once again took advantage of our lake during swim time to practice some more sweet dives.
As the day finished out with sports tournaments, FOB, and skill three, it was time for our evening activities, which were extra successful last night. We started out with Big Brother, Big Sister, which is always a great bonding time. From there the campers went to their third Chapel service of the week which saw many campers stay back after it was done to talk and pray with their counsellors and each other. Kent has been doing a great job this week relating to the campers who are here, which is why it didn’t surprise anyone when he tried to organize a Muppets/Sesame Street t-shirt photo op.
After Chapel it was time for our game of the evening, Collector’s Choice. Basically, it’s a stock trading game where cabin groups have to collect certain sets of cards, and sell them when those sets are worth the most money. However, the stock rises and falls continuously throughout the game, so if you miss your chance, your set might end up being worth significantly less than what you expected. Also in the game, you can earn money by winning carnival games, and at the end, the cabin with the most money wins. It’s an extremely hectic game, but it’s a classic here, and it’s tons of fun. Here are some pictures of the madness.
This next one is by far my favorite, because not only is ring toss awesome, but it totally looks like Chelsey has a halo over her head.
It’s a big day today as the campers are really starting to feel God speak into their lives. We also have our Worship Night tonight, which we’re praying will be a major turning point in some of these kids lives. Please pray for us tonight as we also have another Chapel service, and pray that Kent can speak words of God’s truth into the hearts of these campers. What a week it’s been, and we’re looking forward to what God has next.