it's friday

it's friday. that means a lot of things.
first, i'm a little exhausted.
second, i'm not as exhausted as i was yesterday. the wednesday-thursday sleepovers are the longest, hardest days. but then thursday night i get an amazing sleep and feel better for friday.
third, it's the weekend so i now try my hardest to leave work at work and just relax and not think about camp. this has been really hard to do so far, as i spend a lot of time on the phone calling volunteers, reminding them of the week to come, or else hunting down a bus driver to fill the empty slot on monday or reminding LITs that they're on for the next week, etc. etc. but not this weekend. nope, i think i've got that all done already.
fourth, since R isn't home tonight, i think after this i'm gonna throw on a chick flick and finish off that chocolate pudding that's in the fridge.

i've been asked by a lot of people about how camp is going and what exactly i am doing. so here is my official letter-of-what-i'm-doing-this-summer. (some of you may be receiving this in the mail quite shortly if you have not already).


* * *

I have now survived 3 weeks of camp! Actually, I didn’t just survive, I had a whole lot of fun.

Once again, I am working at the day camp at our church. This summer I have many roles. First of all, I am the Assistant Director. For the past two months, the director and I have been hard at work planning and preparing for the 300+ campers that will pass through the church doors during the eight weeks of camp. The main theme is based on Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” The special-agent-themed curriculum follows the idea that God is always with us and will give us courage to obey Him, even when it’s hard. This theme has also been a lot of fun to work with as we planned events like a “special agent training course” and decorated our “Headquarters” with giant posters to make it look like the control center of a spaceship. Part of my job is to recruit bus drivers and volunteers to help with the meals that we give the campers during the mid-week sleepover. I am learning just how difficult it can be to get volunteers, especially during the summer months when people are unsure of when they are taking their holidays.

I am also the Leader-in-Training Director. The Leader-in-Training (LIT) Program was brand new last summer, but lacked in structure and direction. This past spring I really struggled with the decision of whether or not to return to camp this year, but it really felt like God was telling me that He wanted me to be the one to develop the LIT program. As I was busy working on the program and creating a LIT Handbook, I began to get really excited about all the possibilities for the LITs. The LITs are high school students who work with a team of campers alongside a counsellor, as they learn what it means to be a leader. These LITs have thought about what they want to achieve this summer and have created some personal goals for themselves. Also, they are given “daily missions” such as “Learn the names of all your campers on your team by the end of the day” or “Take initiative to do something extra. Find something that needs to get done and do it!” I am very excited to see how this program will turn out.

That’s not all. I am also filling the role of Health Officer once again. I will be responsible for the medical aspects of camp, such as keeping a log of medical incidents, managing the camper’s medications, keeping track of the ever-increasing list of life-threatening allergies and handing out a whole lot of band-aids. This part of my job is the simplest, and yet it is slightly scary as we usually have a number of children with life-threatening allergies.

At Camp, we want to see hearts and lives change. But we also know that we cannot do this on our own – it is up to the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of these campers. I ask that you pray for our camp, that God will become very real to the campers and that lives will be turned to Him. Also, pray for health and safety for the campers and staff. And please pray that God will give us His strength every day so that we will have energy to get excited with the kids, to consistently look out for their needs and to still have energy to be a little bit silly with them.

I also ask you to consider financially supporting me in this ministry. I have been asked to raise a portion of my wages. If you decide to support me in this way, please email or call me for details on how to do so.

May the Lord bless you as you consider your involvement with this ministry, an involvement that will touch the hearts of many children.




P.S. If you want to see some camp pictures, check out http://picasaweb.google.com/adcspecialagents