Just a regular week at the office...JUST KIDDING!

This week, Mon. thru Fri. (today) Kember and I began work as counselors at Camp Good News (CGN). CGN is a Christian day camp with the motto “the camp that changes lives! CGN seeks to teach kids about Jesus who might not have a chance to learn about Him otherwise. I had a blast my first week of work! I was assigned to work with the 5-8 year old boys along with another counselor named Randy.

Our day would start at 9:00 AM with staff worship and devotions. For half an hour, we would sing praise songs accompanied by the bongo drum, read the Bible, and close in prayer. Meanwhile, the bus rolled in and kids started filling up the auditorium. Once the staff devos broke up, the counselors picked up their kids. Randy and I took our little guys – ten of them - out to the basketball court to do devos with them. I loved getting to spend that time teaching them about God...but we had to find creative ways to get the boys to sit and pay attention.

Some of the other activities that filled the days were daily swim hour in the lake, art, Bible lessons, and missionary story time. On Monday morning, our group played with the slip-n-slides. A huge sheet of thick plastic was stretched out on the hill with three slip-n-slides set up near the top. The boys went wild! They ran and slid and splashed all over the place. Randy and I had fun racing them down the hill on our stomachs. We all were soaked when we came inside for Bible! We had a daily field activity - classics like ultimate frizbee, and some homemade ones, like the “marble toe crunch”. Creative play in Oak Hall was also a part of every day. Oak Hall is one-room building full of checker games, puzzles, blocks, books, and a humongous bin of Legos. The possibilities for fun in there are endless.

Although working at camp IS tons of fun, it’s also challenging. Keeping discipline, order, and peaceful relations between ten little boys gets interesting. Like on Monday morning. Right before Randy started the devotion, a couple boys were walking around the edge of the concrete pad, one or two others drifted off in search of acorns or stray marbles, and the others chatted. As I watched the scene unfold I thought “What should I do? What have I gotten myself into??” Although the task looked daunting Monday AM, we found ways to accommodate our campers’ individual needs as the week went on. Breaking into two groups during devos helped the boys focus, and making 8 yr. old Alex (our wanderer) my “special helper” prevented him from wandering. :-)

As I spent some time in the Word early this AM, I read a verse from Exodus: “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” God spoke to me thru that verse. It was like He told me “Take care of those kids at camp in my name – for ME. I will repay you in my own way – I will bless you and give you what is right.” He truly blessed this first week at camp...I can’t wait to see what He is going to do at Camp Good News in the weeks ahead!