Camp Thoughts - Day Two

Today I'm thinking about all of the different "roles" I've played while I was at camps.

One year at Galilee, I can remember playing the role of "Peter", who denied Christ three times before the rooster crowed (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026:69-75&version=NIV). I stood on the Trail of Crosses, near the end of the trail by the island, and addressed the groups of kids as they came down the trail to wind up on the island. It was quite a powerful time for me, as well as the kids.

I don't think it was during that same year, but another one of my "roles" was the role of spotlight holder during one of Sara's camps. (Warning: Spoiler alert ahead). Sara had asked her son Brett (sp) to build a milk-carton pyramid, so that the base of it would rest of the bottom of the lake, and the top of the pyramid would be slightly below the surface, so that someone could stand on the pyramid and give the illusion that they were standing on water. As night fell, the campers gathered on the island, facing away from the boat dock. It was now pitch dark, and Sara stood so the kids were facing her, and delivered the scripture where Jesus said "Feed my sheep" (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+21:16-18&version=NIV). The kids responded, "Feed my Sheep!" and at that queue, I flipped the spotlight on Jesus, standing on the water. Except it wasn't Jesus - it was Brett, standing on the milk cartons, with a sheet draped over him, much like the robe that envision Jesus wearing. The scene was amazing - the kids were so taken aback that I remember hearing some audible gasps, and I thought I heard someone say "Jesus!". Brett said something to them, and Sara replied back. They kids faced back to Sara, and I shut the light off. In the dark, Brett sat down on the small motor boat and silently rode back to shore. The next day, I overheard one of the kids say that he thought he'd seen just about everything at camp, but he didn't know that the camp had a hologram projector! I covered my mouth and chuckled.

I can then remember the first time that I was asked to share one of the messages (aka "sermons") at Galilee. It was during the week, and inside in the Cafe', since it was so hot outside. I remember Judy coming down to support me, which meant a lot to me. I delivered a good "sermon" to a bunch of kids - which was probably much more than they needed, so that was my first real "lesson" in knowing you audience. Honestly, I'd pretty much forgotten about that message. Another time during another week, the message I was able to deliver was themed around "GET FOUND, KID!!" In 2005, I was asked to give the greeting at Galilee - and man, was that fun!

I also remember having the role of comforter, one time specifically. One evening, after a particularly challenging message delivered (by a counselor) which dealt with sexual purity, you could almost see the kids getting upset about what they couldn't do - and what they'd done. After the service, we all headed to family group. The counselor who gave the message was a part of my family group, and our kids were especially vocal that night - except for one of them, who was not in group. I found him in his cabin, on his bunk, crying hard. He'd been thinking about pursing something in church work - perhaps a counselor - but now after hearing about the sins he had committed, he was feeling unworthy and unsure that God would forgive him. We spent a lot of time that night in reassuring him that God would forgive him.

One more quick story - I found one particular device worked well in getting the kids to open up and share -- a "faith walk timeline", which would allow the kids to describe their life's highs and lows. During one year, I found a girl in my family group who had been adopted -- and sitting in the same family group circle was ANOTHER girl who had been adopted! They bonded, and never left each other's side for the duration of the camp.

Those were some of the "roles" I played during camp.