Camp Thoughts - Day One

My first week at church camp came just a few years after being married to my wife. She was a student at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, and was classmates with a woman named Sara Fagan. Sara was seeking "counselors" for a week at Camp Galilee in ElDorado Springs, MO. I had no idea what being a counselor entailed, but I figured it was a lot like being a Sunday School class teacher. Wow, was I in for a surprise.

I traveled down to ElDorado Springs, MO, where I met the site director, Mike Coffey. Mike was a good site director and "guarded" the camp closely -- he was most fond of saying, "Take only pictures, leave only footprints." And the facilities/maintenance director is now at Jo-Ota as the Site Director -- Mike "Sarge" Leonard. Sarge and Mike were always in the cafeteria in the morning - coffee, music, newspaper.

I can remember several events that happened on the grounds - one of the most interesting things was when an osterich showed up and was captured in a swingset area. I can still recall arriving many summers to "Shine" by the Newsboys, playing in my car. "Make 'em wonder what you've got, make 'em wish that they were not, on the outside lookin' bored." Colene Homa was one of the women who Sara recruited as well. Well, needless to say, Church Camp was nothing like what I anticipated - first off, because I had never because I had never been to camp - not even as a kid. Second, it was HOT. No air conditioning ANYWHERE, except for the Nurse's cabin and the Director's cabin. The kids cabins had multiple bunk beds, with a big attic fan in the back of the cabin, which we cranked on "high" at night.

During the day, we had a lot of time with the kids in "family groups", and then time as well with all of the kids together. Late in the evening on Monday night - the day the campers arrive - we finished up our session and I was headed back up the hill from the dam area to the "big slab" area. This was during my first week, and as I came closer, I could hear music thumping, and I could hear lots of noise coming from the slab area. As I got closer, I realized the kids were jumping around and singing/shouting to the music -- man, this was a LOONG WAAAYS from my anticipation of it being like the "church" I'd grown up in! And what in the world was this song?? Something about a guy with a big fat belly that wiggled around like marmalade jelly?

After having spent the entire day with the kids, trying to keep up with them and do everything they were doing, I was pretty tired. Sleep arrived as a welcome friend that night, as best I can remember. I wore myself out on Tuesday as well. When Wednesday rolled around, I was really starting to wonder what I was doing at this camp. Sara recognized that in the afternoon, and she told me to go take a nap. Nap? I chuckled. I headed to the basketball court and played around. Shot after shot seemed to miss. Backboard. Rim. Air. Backboard. I wasn't a superstar, but I didn't usually miss that many. I decided to head to the cabin for a nap, and I tossed up one last shot - that went in. And that evening when I was in worship, after the loud music had calmed down, and we'd heard a wonderful message, I realized that maybe I wasn't there for the kids.. maybe they were there for me. Maybe there was something in my faith life that could use a re-birth. Church camp was really something I needed, and it afforded me an opportunity to find out what I'd been missing.

When I drove home that next Saturday, I stopped at the Cokesbury story on 435 in Kansas City, and bought my first Contemporary Christian CD - I'm pretty sure if was one of the WOW CDs. And a new chapter in my life was starting.