Monday, July 20, 2009

Football Was Made for the Rain

(Written on Saturday Night)


But we didn’t actually play football outside today – which was a pity because it was our “Superbowl” theme day. It’s cold for summer, the temperature has been hanging around 60 degrees for a high the past couple of days, you know it’s cold in July when you step outside at three in the afternoon and can see your breath. And it’s been raining – so during activities time, a torrential downpour that started sometime yesterday (Friday) night and had been pretty much going on all last night.
SO --- we didn’t “grunt” and drag a camp full of kids outside to play in the mud (German kids don’t quite like getting dirty like American ones do). So there I was in the middle of a room of German teens teaching them how to play paper football… Its amazing. I haven’t shared any of the academic lessons from high school (I take it back, I helped one camper with math homework once) but the game we used to kill time with during study hall came in handy in a pinch. So we had a massive round robin paper football tournament.
And the verdict --- They LOVED it.

And its days like these that I realize how much I love my job.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Post for 2 Days


(This part was written on Thursday night, at around midnight... internet was down over here on Friday).

So the first day of camp was today, actually by the time this is posted it will be “yesterday.” This is round 8. In some ways the start of camp feels very familiar by now – the awkward first greetings, trying to get through the first round of chapel and room times, trying to forge the start of relationships. However, this is the first time I’m “Directing.”
The truth is: I’m nervous. On the other hand though, God has brought together an amazing staff from all over Europe and North America. And I can say, and be totally honest, that each one of them is deeply appreciated. I’m constantly amazed at how different personalities can work together to complete a whole.
I can’t claim to be any kind of “great leader.” I know my strengths, I know I do have some, and I know my weaknesses as well – in a lot of ways I’m so very glad this staff is around to pick me up when I fall (because I know eventually I will). Directing, at least so far, has also made me keenly aware of just how much each person on a team is needed, from job they do to the personality that they bring to the table.
I feel like I’m writing a really sappy post without an edge, so let me just clear up – I’m absolutely positive that in a couple of days we’ll have some serious issues, not necessarily because of any particular person, or group, but because any group of people who work hours as long as we do, in an already stressful situation is bound to have them. I’m just praying that God gives us all the wisdom to make it through those situations with as much grace as possible, and that the campers can see him through that.



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Ok --- I'm writing this next part on Saturday - so the first full day of camp is over already. We've survived the first wave, and now the grind out till the end of camp 1 is on. That's kind of a negative way to put it. In some ways it always feels like that - conserving energy to try and stay as even keel as possible. But the scary thing is we only have 1 week left with the campers. A week isn't a lot of time.

It hits me harder every year. You start one of these camps and then blink and its over. Its amazing what God does during such a short time. And I'm already dreading saying goodbye to everyone. The community that we work so hard to build in the 2 weeks together as a staff, and then for 9 or 10 days with the campers is over... and you'll never get that same group of people together again. Its gone, relegated to memory, and pictures, dreams and prayers.

If you're reading this. Please pray that our staff could continue to get good sleep, that we'd have wisdom in our interactions with the campers and that we'd continue to serve God in our actions, words, and attitudes.


Steve

Saturday, July 11, 2009

And in the red corner we have...

So I've had the theme song from Rocky stuck in my head for the past few days... The best reason that I can think of why is that I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of a colossal boxing match, and we've just finished the opening rounds...

What that means is baisically.... ENGLISH CAMP STAFF GETS HERE TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok, thats a lot of exclamation points, but I think you get the picture. Its been kind of a brutal, long work week, and I realize my days are going to stay busy, stressful, and long. But the payoff starts tomorrow when we start getting our staff in. I'm all sorts of fired up and ready to go. I'm celebrating my last night in my appartment with some frozen food and a movie... Trying to take my last couple hours of relative peace and quiet and milk them for all that they're worth... cause I won't get much more until August.

That being said, I'm hoping to keep my blog relatively updated while at camp. I won't be able to do much, however I should be able to ge ta few pictures up, as well as a few stories and prayer requests as we go - so keep reading!

In leaving you I'm posting the short version of a video that will rear its ugly head at camp this year --- Yes that's me with a 500g hamburger... no I don't normally eat like that... yest I know I'm feeding into the American sterotype posting this, no I'm not trying to prove it right ;-) (You just gotta trust me on that one)