This Is Camp

Today, we have two guest bloggers from our adult team. First, we have Karen McGee who will tell some fun anecdotes called "This Is Camp," in the style of her "This Is Camp - TIA" posts on her blog. Second, we have Troy Akers who joined us on Tuesday at camp, much to our joy.

From Karen:

Camp is a magical place and there are many things that happen at camp that only happen at camp. Today, enjoy a few "This Is Camp" - abbreviated "TIC" - moments from this week. Don't worry, parents: though there are many TICs, we have not seen any ticks so far.

- Yelling "shoutbacks" during every session, meal, and activity. For example, when anyone talks about "announcements," you yell out, "tell me something good!" Beware: when your campers return, you should not say the words "soccer," "chapel," or "OK." TIC.

- Waking up with achy muscles and bruises from blobbing too high. TIC.

- Nyk and Cali getting called out for being too close when they were mistaken for campers. TIC.

- Eating and screaming about Chicken on a Stick and Grilled Pizza. TIC.

- Escaping during free time to get delicious, homemade milkshakes in town. TIC.

- Re-wearing wet bathing suits in the lake everyday because there are limited places to hang them in our camp bathrooms. TIC.

- Introducing Grace hymns in three-part harmony to the camp at Stage Night. TIC.

- Being phone and media free for a week...and feeling great about it! TIC.

- Learning about community by adopting various injuries and impairments in a plane crash scenarios. And subsequently pushing, pulling, and dragging each other around the chapel to save the group. TIC.

- Sleeping so deeply on squeaky beds at night because you're so exhausted from the full and fun schedule each day. TIC.

From Troy:

Camp with the d-group guys has been a super special time. I got to arrive at the camp on Tuesday evening to a lot of the guys running out to my car to say hello and tackle me. It seems like every time we have all gotten to be around each other, everyone is so loving on each other. It's been a blessing to me to get to have the majority of my d-group here, the one I lead with Josh. Yesterday I went with Nathan Curtis, Frankie Betanco, Caleb Bergthold and some others to the climbing wall. My takeaway from that time spent was watching Nathan, as much as he wanted to climb, be a servant to the other campers there, young and old as he would help and spot them as they climbed. We had a great time in the lake yesterday and had fun trying to push each other down to the bottom of the lake. (We did this in life jackets, mind you.) Nathan Curtis, Zach Mann, Frankie Betanco and Ryan Smeltzer rocked it out and made it to the bottom and proudly rocked holding handfuls of mud to prove. The guys got it in their head that I could make it too, but to mine and their surprise, even after stacking 5 or 6 dudes on top of my shoulders, it didn't work. We had a blast though.

It's a very easy thing to forget how busy one can be back home, me with my music and work. To be here with my guys, from Grace, has been an eye-opening experience to me and a reminder that God works in the smallest of ways. As much as I desire to pour into them, they really pour into me too. There is a sincere feeling of companionship between all of the guys, and it's a neat thing to be a part of it ... even if in my head, I feel so much older! (Maybe not by TOO much.) My prayer for these guys and for the rest of the youth is that they really cling to the relationships they are building. I know from my perspective, these sorts of things are what have literally saved me in the past. There is something sincerely invaluable from having deep relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Day Three and Four

It's Wednesday already??? We're having such a great time and our schedule is packed from morning 'til night, there wasn't any time to blog on Tuesday. Everyone is doing well and the camp activities are fun.

Yesterday we had some rain that kept some of the students from getting to do the POIs that they had signed up to do, but the rain blew over and we got our Lake Time in at the end of the afternoon. The rain brought in a nice "cold front" that cooled everything off and gave us a really nice evening to be outside after worship and Checkpoint (a time for just our group to debrief at the end of the day).

The Middle School girls went on a little "field trip" to get a treat from a local place down the road from the camp that makes awesome milk shakes. They brought one back to surprise the Crossings staffer that we have sponsored for the week, Allie Thompson. The High School girls are going to get shakes today and the guys will have their turn as the week goes on.

Some photos have been posted to Josh's Facebook page and we'll keep trying to find someone with a cable that will enable us to upload photos that we've taken.

We'll check in again as time allows and you can take heart that all is well here at camp!

Day Two: The Blob

We are winding down our first full day at Crossings Camp and it has been a fun day! The morning began with a Morning Celebration designed to wake everybody up with silly skits and songs and then the students were sent to large group and small group study times throughout the morning.

After lunch, the afternoon rotations began. Our group started with "Connect," which is a time where just our group gets to spend time together talking about the theme of the day and having "Time Alone With God" (TWAG). Next, our students get to participate in the Points of Interest (POI) that they signed up for ahead of time. Several of our youth went tubing on the lake, while others played frisbee golf, mud games, Bazooka ball (like paint ball, but without paint), basketball and the zip line. The third activity for our group was Lake Sports, with lots of fun water activities, like the Blob and the Iceberg.

Photos will be coming later, but just try to get a picture in your head of one person jumping off a platform onto a big inflated "blob" on the lake and another person, at the other end of the blob, being catapulted up in the air, landing in the water. Our students had a blast all day and will most likely sleep very well tonight!

We're here!

Greetings from Crossings Camp at Jonathan Creek! We arrived at camp after an uneventful bus ride (many thanks to our driver, John Berti) and were enthusiastically welcomed by the camp staffers. We got settled into our bunk rooms, and it's a good thing we all like each other, since we are in pretty close quarters:

• 9 Middle School girls + 2 adults in one room
• 9 Middle School guys + 3 adults in one room
• 11 High School guys + 2 adults in one room
• 7 High School girls + 2 adults in one room

We've had a good time checking out all that the camp has to offer and meeting the staff. After dinner, we had our first large gathering with the whole camp and the students got to find out what Bible study group they were in, followed by a time of worship.

It's going to be a great camp and we'll be posting pictures and updates throughout our time here, so check back each day. Please be praying for God to move in the hearts of the students and leaders.

5 Days Left

Just wanted to let you know that you can follow our daily activities a few different ways.
1.  This blog. Nanette Ryan and I will be updating the blog as we're able, hopefully with some pictures.
2.  Facebook/Twitter. I'll be sending updates as time/reception allows me to throughout the week.
3.  This link.  It will show you Crossings Live, which includes pictures from the camp week, and other information.

Please pray that this trip would go smoothly, that the Spirit would work in the hearts of our students and adults, and that it would be an all-around great experience!