Yvette was a Suswa camper and has been waiting for a few years to be old enough to come to Camp. Her sister and brother have been for a few years now. Yvette is seven and very small with a head full of braids. Yvette was super excited and very brave. Everything at camp was very special to her and to her counselors as she experienced many firsts: first time sleeping away from home, first time sleeping outside, first s’more, first hotdog roasted on a campfire. I got to roast a hotdog alongside her and she was particularly excited about camping out. We didn’t know it was her first time until she mentioned she’d never roasted a hotdog on a fire and never slept outside. How special to share a first like that! Camp is so important in the lives of all of our staffers and we know just how life changing it can be. It’s very special to share those important firsts with some of these kids.
Lexi met the B. family when she volunteered for the middle school drama production a few months ago at the international school. Lexi particularly connected with Justin’s older sister, but because she wanted to travel to States this summer was unable to attend camp. Lexi and Justin are quite similar. They’re both born performers and never meet strangers. It was clear God brought this family into Lexi’s life. She has been praying for this family for months and was stoked when Justin’s mom signed Justin and his brother Tomi up for camp. They were both a joy to their counselors, cabin mates, and all of camp. Tomi was the star of BlueSky’s Best Dance Crew on Thursday night with his break dancing. Justin’s counselor, Bryce, reported that because Justin hadn’t heard much about the Bible before camp he was very interested in starting from the beginning and reading each night during devotion. Bryce said Justin would just read aloud from Genesis while the cabin listened. Then they’d all discuss. Can you imagine: nine 7th grade boys reading the Bible together each night and discussing calmly and honestly? God truly does miracles in a camp cabin. Thursday night Jason talked from the stage about Jesus. The title of the talk was Unexpected. Then last night at Summit Fires I also talked about Jesus and his rescue of humanity. This afternoon (Saturday) during our staff meeting, Mike, Tomi’s counselor reported that Tomi, too, had been asking many questions throughout the week. Mike said that this morning Tomi decided he wanted to follow Jesus and trust and believe in Him. In that same meeting Lexi shared about the great conversation she had at closing with Justin’s and Tomi’s mother and how they are planning to go out for coffee sometime next week. Although Mike returns to the States in August, Bryce and Lexi will be around serving in student ministry roles in the school where this family attends. Isn’t it great how God weaves our lives together at just the right time for His purpose?!
Many of the campers this week were hungry for truth. Counselors in every age groups reported that their campers were asking really great questions and were looking for honest answers. The middle school girls asked Anna and Stephanie questions like, “Why do you believe all this? How is this important to you?” Anna said that it seemed like they had never been told about Jesus and wanted to know the truth and decide for themselves whether to believe. Jackie, Alex, and Kaitlyn said that their Suswa (7-9 years old) campers were also asking really good questions like, “What happened to people who died before Jesus came?” The Suswa counselors said their campers were soaking it all in and were very hungry to know about Jesus.
Overall, session 2 of Camp BlueSky 2011 was amazing. We had more campers than we prayed for and aimed for and the staff did an outstanding job. We are so grateful to be a part of this part of God’s story is the lives of these families.
Here are some final pictures of 2nd session:
Lexi met the B. family when she volunteered for the middle school drama production a few months ago at the international school. Lexi particularly connected with Justin’s older sister, but because she wanted to travel to States this summer was unable to attend camp. Lexi and Justin are quite similar. They’re both born performers and never meet strangers. It was clear God brought this family into Lexi’s life. She has been praying for this family for months and was stoked when Justin’s mom signed Justin and his brother Tomi up for camp. They were both a joy to their counselors, cabin mates, and all of camp. Tomi was the star of BlueSky’s Best Dance Crew on Thursday night with his break dancing. Justin’s counselor, Bryce, reported that because Justin hadn’t heard much about the Bible before camp he was very interested in starting from the beginning and reading each night during devotion. Bryce said Justin would just read aloud from Genesis while the cabin listened. Then they’d all discuss. Can you imagine: nine 7th grade boys reading the Bible together each night and discussing calmly and honestly? God truly does miracles in a camp cabin. Thursday night Jason talked from the stage about Jesus. The title of the talk was Unexpected. Then last night at Summit Fires I also talked about Jesus and his rescue of humanity. This afternoon (Saturday) during our staff meeting, Mike, Tomi’s counselor reported that Tomi, too, had been asking many questions throughout the week. Mike said that this morning Tomi decided he wanted to follow Jesus and trust and believe in Him. In that same meeting Lexi shared about the great conversation she had at closing with Justin’s and Tomi’s mother and how they are planning to go out for coffee sometime next week. Although Mike returns to the States in August, Bryce and Lexi will be around serving in student ministry roles in the school where this family attends. Isn’t it great how God weaves our lives together at just the right time for His purpose?!
Many of the campers this week were hungry for truth. Counselors in every age groups reported that their campers were asking really great questions and were looking for honest answers. The middle school girls asked Anna and Stephanie questions like, “Why do you believe all this? How is this important to you?” Anna said that it seemed like they had never been told about Jesus and wanted to know the truth and decide for themselves whether to believe. Jackie, Alex, and Kaitlyn said that their Suswa (7-9 years old) campers were also asking really good questions like, “What happened to people who died before Jesus came?” The Suswa counselors said their campers were soaking it all in and were very hungry to know about Jesus.
Overall, session 2 of Camp BlueSky 2011 was amazing. We had more campers than we prayed for and aimed for and the staff did an outstanding job. We are so grateful to be a part of this part of God’s story is the lives of these families.
Here are some final pictures of 2nd session:
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