First Half Underway!
June 28, 2010We have made it through Training Week and our first three weeks of campers. Things have been anything but dull out here. Here’s a quick run down of the major stuff.
Training Week went very well. Lots of good times were had, new friendships were formed, and we prepared for the summer ahead. We even had Todd Tunnel come to Camp of the Hills to teach the point system as it has been used at in school systems and at Boys’ Town. This meant that when the kids arrived, we were as ready as we could be.
When the first 55 kids showed up at our doors, we were astonished at how well behaved they were. It was a wonderful week to start off our summer. Our counselors were able to ease into the summer, but something was missing. Even with a couple of very energetic kids, this was not what we had signed up for.
When Week 2 finally arrived, CotH was finally seriously underway. 53 elementary campers had come for a taste of what Camp of the Hills was, and we were excited to give it to them. These campers presented many more challenges, which is just the way we like it out here. After a week full of tougher situations but great rewards, we looked forward to our first middle school week.
Unfortunately, we only had 23 campers show up out of the 40 who had signed up. Instead of resigning ourselves to a small week, we started calling foster homes, community centers, and other contacts in search of campers. By Wednesday, we had grown to 57 campers. While the week was difficult in many ways, I have heard many counselors say that it was one of their favorite weeks ever. Deep discussions took place, more mature campers were loved, and true friendships were forged.
And now, we look ahead to the coming week. More than 80 are signed up to attend camp this week, but we’ll see how many end up at camp today. But no matter how many we have this week, I have a feeling that this week is going to be a good week.
One thing I love about you all is made so clear in this blog post: “Instead of resigning ourselves to a small week, we started calling foster homes, community centers, and other contacts in search of campers.” So many churches, so many camps, so many individuals would not have even felt like they had to “resign” themselves to that kind of thing. They would have been relieved at the chance to take things a little slower, have things a little calmer. They would have enjoyed the smaller week as a break from the hectic schedule of the rest of the summer. Not Camp of the Hills. Praise God! God is alive and at work in you!