mercredi 14 janvier 2004
Camps and retreats
I just finished reading a bit from my missiology textbook. It's a really good book but it's almost 800 pages long so I think I'll be in for some long nights coming up. Anyways, it's camping week at school and it's been pretty cool having camp representatives come to my college from places as far as Manitoba and even California. I don't know if there was anyone from Ontario, but that would be far.
I love that we are able to take solace in God's creation and 'camp' in His presence. Camp has become a major part of my life now, and I think it plays such an important role in a Christian's life for retreat and for renewal. And being with kids, that's the best part, getting to experience this all with them!
As a kid, I never got the opportunity to go to camp (I know, I was extremely deprived), so whenever I get a chance now, it's an excuse for me to be a kid all over again. I've been very blessed over the years in being able to go to different places for various retreats and camps. I don't remember them all, but I would like to keep a record so I can remind myself of these awesome times :)
- Sr High Retreat: SABC - Best food ever, farmer's blow competition, cactus-covered hill
- Sr High Retreat: Camp Cadicasu - Wilson the missing egg, "Cheapskate Trucker," birthday snow
- Jr High Camp: Camp Harmattan - Videographer, egg-boiling in the river, Relient K nonstop
- SM Leaders Retreat: Camp Harmattan - Testimony, affinity groups, God calling me to switch from tech groups to life groups
- Sr High Retreat: Camp Harmattan - Stinky water, +235 pictures, intense worship
- Sr High Camp: Pioneer Ranch Camp - Intro, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5
I keep thinking I'm missing more camp experiences so this list may be revised. Now I can't wait until summer! I hope I get to go to Sr High Camp again this year, if it works out with a potential internship or something.
Libellés : camp
jeudi 21 août 2003
Last camp update - ... gone
Alright, I'll try to keep this one short :)
- Alex woke us up at 8:30 to tell us to pack up and clean our cabin
- amazingly, even though it was an utter mess, we were able to finish before heading to breakfast
- during group session, the guys and the girls split up to do the "Circle of Encouragement"
- it was such a great time, seeing each of the girls being reaffirmed for their uniqueness in Christ
- after having quiet time, we headed off to our last meal at camp
- a group of counselors from next week's camp offered to do dish duty so my cabin didn't have to, thanks!
- cleanup time! Everyone divided into groups that cleaned up different parts of the camp
- I was so proud of my girls, even though some of them ended up with less than favourable jobs, they still willingly did them and did so to the best of their abilities, way to go!!
- final activity: either climbing, canoeing or archery
- the grade 10 guys, Nickkie, Mandy and I stayed behind to play cards again - it's a valid activity!
- this time it got dangerous... knives replaced the spoons! (no liability cases!)
- played until we had to leave, the camp gave us snacks for the trip home which was so nice
- got a cabin picture with Mich and the girls
- once again, surrounded by all the grade 10 boys, I warned them not to play fart tennis
- stopped at 7-11 to get slurpees, I got an Archie comic book which I gave to Dave
- looked at pictures on the digi and heard the guys watching the video they recorded @ camp
- great ride home, we took a shortcut and we ended up back at the church an hour early
- hung out with the campers and waited for my dad to pick me up
- he came early, wish I could have hung out with everyone else for a lot longer... there's always September though and the launch of youth group as well as a sr high retreat in October!
- GO B.O.O.F.! We will always Be Outrageously Outstanding Females!!!
*Sigh* that's camp in a nutshell, a very large nutshell :) I loved that I had a chance to get to know so many kids better (although I mostly stuck to the grade 10s). I can't wait till it's September and I'm leading my life group again and there are youth activities galore. I love each of these kids and I am blessed to be a part of their lives as they make it through high school! I told some kids that I want to go to each of their high school graduations, and God-willing, I will try my best to!!
Libellés : camp
mercredi 20 août 2003
2nd last camp update - they're going, going...
Apologies if my page was messed up today or anytime before that. I was at my best friend's house and it didn't load properly on her computer, so I'm wondering if it's doing that to everyone else too... it's always worked on mine :)
Last Wednesday, the adventures... I'll try to condense it a bit more for readability:
- slept in till 9:15... breakfast started at 8:30, it was the first time we ever slept in
- Julie still had to sing "I'm a Little Teapot" as a condition to get Stu back
- my mosquito bite from the hike swelled up and my arm was almost immobile
- after quiet time, we headed to our first activity
- Ash showed me and some others how to make "Gimp" bracelets
- headed back to the dining hall and played cards with Dal and Chris
- after lunch, a group of grade 10 guys and I started playing card games, beginning the endless rounds of various games that lasted until we had to leave camp
- group game time, which forced all the campers into the leech-infested waters where one of the girls chipped her toenail off, and the leaders all got hit with water balloons
- activity #2: the Mystery Event --> once again I got all the grade 10s (yay!)
- had a blast seeing these kids identify what they each brought to the team and seeing them work out problem solving situations - ie. fitting all of us (15 or so) onto a tiny rug the size of a kitchen tile, rearranging ourselves on a bench in mirror image without getting off
- this is where I fell backwards and hit my head on the bench right behind me - it still hurts!
- other situations: building a "foot" tower, moving from the lodge to the roundabout using small pieces of carpet while everyone was linking arms and another bench challenge where we had to arrange ourselves by birthday without talking to each other
- my girls declared war on the guys for Stu's kidnapping and stole their clothes while they were in the lake
- supper was delicious and it was also awards night - the kids got great prizes
- there was a late night voyage on the lake in the canoes, so while we were waiting for our turns, the guys and I started playing cards
- canoe ride: me with a whole bunch of other guys... thus beginning fart tennis
- one of the guys let one out and apparently, how you play is someone starts by calling out "service", then everyone has two minutes to "return" the "service" and if not, the person who served wins that round
- this continued during the whole trip and I was completely surrounded by the top winners
- after the trip, we got into intense games of "Slap", "Spoons", "31" and etc. which lasted till about 1am
- got back to my cabin only to discover that it had been completely water-ballooned in some of the bunks
- thankfully mine wasn't soaked nor was Mich's but poor Mandy, Julie, Nickkie and Carol's sleeping bags were soaked through to their mattresses!
- the guy leaders talked amongst themselves and decided that the perpetrators would have to decide what to do to make up for their water balloon idea since a bunch of girls now could not sleep
- the guys decided to give up their sleeping bags and pillows and carried dry mattresses to our cabin as reparations for what they did
- meanwhile, one of our kerosene lamps was smoking up like crazy and making the smoke detector go off
- Mich was trying to light the fire to last the night and it just made the detector go off more
- finally, we took the lamp outside, but while we were pulling in one of the mattresses, we knocked the other lamp over and a bunch of kerosene spilled onto the floor near Julie's bunk
- we had quite the frightful night, with worries that our cabin would go on fire in the middle of the night, so we did what we could only do: pray :)
I guess that's it! Sorry it turned out so long, but there's nothing I would take out. Camp is just that great.
Libellés : camp
mardi 19 août 2003
Camp entry #3 - it just keeps getting better
Alright... so although I said that this would be the best entry, tomorrow's will be as well :) Here goes:
- we all woke up at 6:30am, courtesy of me, and showered (finally!)
- were the first ones at breakfast and the only group to be there for grace so Carol got to say it
- group session and quiet time again, I had the cabin to myself
- headed to the Bluff for lunch, we had the choice of either biking, hiking or horseback riding there
- I chose the easiest of them all with the least equipment needed as did my cabin
- started off okay, lots of mosquitoes and bugs, and tons of horse poop to avoid
- had a really good talk with Mandy along the way about high school
- Carol and Julie then began to sing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall"
- Dan was filming them... if you watch the tape, you'll hear me scream "Milk! Milk!"
- finally got there after an hour and a half --> gorgeous view of the river as well as some wind!
- boys will be boys, a bunch of them slid down the steepest cliff ever and jumped into the river
- they got in trouble because the lifeguards weren't there and they were ticked at them
- my cabin went horseback riding back while I went hiking again and hung out with Mel & Bri
- our tour guide asked if we wanted to go on a nice trip along the river
- naively, we all thought it was on the way back to the camp
- took us on a hike through mad grasshoppers
- finally got to the river! Such an awesome view... if only we knew how long it would take to get back
- an hour and a half later, we got back to where we first started before our trek to the river
- turns out our tour guide took us on a circle going the other way to the river - we were making a full 360 degree circle back to our starting location... this meant there was still the trek back to the camp
- walk, walk, walk, walk, walk - this went on for a while
- got into an interesting conversation about cults (which is good because I'm taking a cults class!)
- we got back to the camp... 2 hours after all the bikers and horseback riders got back!
- slept like a log all during free time and was barely awake during supper
- had a great talk with one of my cabin girls during the worship service
- as everyone was heading back, the plot arose as to how to get Stu
- Stu is the "straw of heart, soul and libido" - everyone in the cabin was so devoted to this inanimate object!
- of course, I saw how this would make camp more fun so I agreed to the plot (I'm not a traitor!)
- unfortunately, as our cabin was being made a crime scene, the cover was blown but our cabin had red tape everywhere and an outline on our porch of Stu
- ransom note: "sing during breakfast and lunchtime or we'll have 'Stew' for dinner"
- played late night "Mission Impossible"... almost went blind from the flashlight & Rob's spotlight
- didn't get to bed till 2 in the morning after counting up the winner - it was grade 10s against grade 11s AND 12s... guess who won?! My favourite group, of course :)
Wow! And that was just a day! There's always tomorrow....
Libellés : camp
lundi 18 août 2003
Camp update #2
Sigh, hard to believe that I was at camp a week ago! Anyways, I promised a day-to-day synopsis so here it is:
- woke up at 7:00am because of the beautiful sun... btw my cabin was also on the lakefront :)
- all my girls woke up and we chatted for a bit, had the washroom all to ourselves which was nice
- had breakfast, I wanted potatoes but there were blueberry pancakes instead which looked purple
- 1st group session and quiet time after that, all the bugs chased me so I went back to the cabin where I first heard about Stu (more to come about the famous Stu)
- went canoeing for the first time (and believe me, it is not like rafting!) - Marcy and I shared a canoe
- could not figure out how to steer, we kept going around in circles until we finally came up w/ some tricks
- we were terrified of the leeches in the water so we did everything we could to not tip the canoe but...
- played Keepaway with a football in our canoes which led to...
- Carol and Nickkie tipped over in their canoe while playing the game, unfortunately Carol lost her glasses in the lake (there's always contacts!)
- 2nd activity: the girls in my cabin went horseback riding so I went to archery w/ the grade 10 guys
- went fine until our youth pastor suggested that the guys shoot horse poop off the styrofoam deer
- the camp director then suggested that whoever could would get $1 from the tuck shop
- imagine about 10 guys trying to shoot poop off the deer with bows and arrows
- Bri and Dan decided to create a "thrill ride" using the shed and a lasso, Dave took pictures :)
- tuck shop was open - the winning guys got "horse poop" money
- awesome worship service
- had fear factor involving stuff like: the Bog, Horse Poop, the "Drink" (baking soda, sauerkraut, flour, etc.), Condiment Twister and Cornsyrup Marbles
- I was in charge of the Condiment Twister station - we smelled like hot dogs afterwards! The idea is that red=ketchup, yellow=mustard, blue=mayo and green=relish... what a mess! And then we added sardines when it got too boring
- guess who had to clean up?! Yep, one of the drains in a shower stall was clogged with pieces of relish and the whole deck was hosed down but still covered in mustard and ketchup!
- did the circle of encouragement in our cabin, shared our most embarrassing moments & our role models
I wish I remembered more! Oh well, tomorrow will be the best camp entry! Stay tuned....
Libellés : camp
dimanche 17 août 2003
First day of camp
Since it was a week ago that I left for camp, I will write about it now (besides, I don't think I'll be getting the pictures till September). So here was last Sunday in point-form:
- slept in a bit and didn't get up till noon
- got to the church at about 2:30pm (when all the leaders had to be there)
- was in charge of registration (anyone see a trend here?)
- prayer time before we all left
- rode in the truck with Mike
- 3 hour road trip with a quick stop in between
- chaos getting all the kids into their cabins and giving them t-shirts
- pizza dinner *mmm*
- loved my cabin! I had Nickkie, Marcy, Julie, Carol and Mandy :)
- late night Capture the Flag - Bri and I had a killer strategy!
- sleep... with an uncomfortable pillow
Hmm that's all that I remember from Sunday! But don't worry, the next few days will be a lot more detailed!
Libellés : camp
jeudi 14 août 2003
I LOVE CAMP!!!!!
Just got back but missing camp majorly. Sigh, relishing in sr high camp memories already and how awesome it was being a camp counselor. I'm even planning things in my head for next year's camp. The whole grade 10 gang from church ROCKS (grade 9s, 11s and 12s are cool too but no match for this group)!!!
Anyways, much to come about:
- the kidnapping of Stu
- my graceful fall onto a bench
- the 4 hour hike
- water balloon war
- leeches... 'nuff said
- mosquitoes galore
- the kerosene fears and fires of cabin 8
- Slap, Knives/Spoons/Spatulas, Cheat, 31
- fart tennis
- Mission Impossible
- circle of encouragement
- Condiment Twister
... and more! Stay tuned!
Libellés : camp
jeudi 7 août 2003
Get packin'
I'm just getting all my stuff together so I'll be ready for camp on Sunday! Hard to believe that it's almost the second week of August. Where did the summer go? And when I come back from camp, August will be half over and school will start fairly soon.
Anyways, please check this film out if you get a chance. It's from a book that I read in high school called "I Kissed Dating Goodbye".
Right now, I'm in the middle of reading "Anxiety of the Uninitiated", "Pulling a Ruth, Part 1" and "Part 2".
(In)famous quote: "I called it Bike and Hike because they're biking and hiking." Am I a brilliant child or what?
Libellés : camp
mardi 29 juillet 2003
Camp!!
It seems that camp has found me once again... tough thing to elude :) But I don't mind, I get to be a counselor again this summer for senior high camp! I'm looking forward to it, I found out that there are a few of my kids from life group in my cabin. It will be so much fun, being in the mountains spending time in creation and with kids. I just couldn't imagine my summer without it now! Although I hope that I won't get egged and dragged through the grass like I was last summer at jr high camp. Let's just say that I'm not a fan of Yuck Time at all....
I just had another bowl of cereal. I'm beginning to think that I am a typical college student now, where such foods like cereal is a staple for mealtime. Speaking of which, I stumbled across a hilarious comic strip a little while ago and have been reading it for a few hours now. You will be addicted!
Something cool that happened on June 1st (a while ago!)... a celebrity sighting :) I must have a sad life if I feel I have to comment on these, but hey it's not something that happens everyday. Considering the context it was in... but my lips are sealed regarding that. I could be wrong but my friend Gozo and I were pretty certain that this guy was at our church attending the evening service! We were standing behind him in the church foyer chattering away about an iced cap when Gozo was like, "Hey... that guy looks familiar, I think I saw him on TV!" And for the next few minutes, we kept trying to place him somewhere and she finally figured it out. And we're 90% certain it's him. Hehe talk about funny things that happen at church. I don't know why I just remembered this now but hey it's something to add to this blog :)
