Summer Camp 2008

LET'S HEAR IT FOR SUMMER CAMP 2008! YEAH! God is B-I-G Big, I'm watching you like a llama, let me show you my Sumo Flop followed by Chicken of Death, AND other inside jokes that only we can understand! Yes!

I was at Summer camp from June 22nd-June 30th. June 22nd-26th was the Middle School Camp, and the 26th-30th was the High School Camp. I was a leader at both. I had a 7th grade Bible Study and a 9th Grade Bible Study. However, we used the same curriculum for both. We talked about Creator God, Omni God, Capable God, Sufficient God, and Famous God (although I personally rephrased the last lesson to "Glorifying God" because of some personal word issues)

Each camp was a five day camp. Each day included Breakfast, Devotion time, Worship, Small Group time, Lunch, Recreation, Free Time (3-4 hour where they could choose between various activities), dinner, Family Groups, Worship, Peer Groups, Late-Night, and then Lights Out.

I'll go ahead and divide this blog into two sections so you can get the full effect of both camp experiences. I won't be able to cover everything, but this should at least give you an overview.

Middle School Camp:

I was really excited about this camp because a couple guys from my Lifegroup were coming, and some more that I haven't really met before. I ended up having a really great group of guys. They talked, didn't really pull any pranks, were respectful an listened, and were nice. I had some problems, but nothing really huge. Our camp speaker was Chris Brooks. He was great. He has actually spoke at some camps and retreats I went to a while back. He is a fun speaker and a deep speaker. We all learned a lot from him. My favorite thing that he talked about was the story of him and his father. It's a longer story, so I may tell it sometime in the future. Worship was led by the Joey Everett Band/9th Hour...not really sure of their official name right now. They always to a fantastic job. I was really impressed with my group and the group we brought. They were serious when it came to their faith, and I see such great potential in the group that was there. I just hope they don't wait to really dig into their faith.

High School Camp:

I was very nervous about this because I have never really worked with High School Students before. I must have been hyper because of my lack of sleep or nervousness because they thought that I was a, "Fun Teacher" and apparently I acted crazy and easily distracted. But my goodness...these boys asked some deep questions! There were several I had absolutely no answer for and I had to ask Chris (our middle school minister) about them. However as the days went on the teaching got easier and we had some really great discussion. Once again I was blessed with a great group of guys. Our Camp Speaker was this guy named Afshin Ziafat who is Iranian, grew up in Texas as a Muslim, converted to Christianity, and is now a world-wide speaker telling his story and sharing the gospel. What God did in his life is amazing...I can't do it justice on here, so I'll leave it at that. Michael Boggs who leads worship for Kairos at our church led worship for this camp. He is an amazing worship leader and a really cool guy. I ate lunch with him and his band a couple of times. Awesome people all around.

Camp was a very good experience. I learned a lot about teaching, how BIG God is, I learned about myself, my friends, I felt that I got closer with the students as well as the ministers, and I really felt God stretch me beyond my capabilities. If it weren't for prayer, I wouldn't have gotten through the week!

I could go on and on, but I hope this gives you a glimpse into what Camp was like.