Birthday....

So Its my birthday today. I'm not sure which is stranger, turning 25, or being away from home on my birthday. Even in college I ended up making it home on one of the weekends around my birthday to see everyone. That's not really possible here and now though. Its not really "homesickness" just kind of a weird feeling. Almost like the feeling thats starting to sink in that I'll be home in a few months. Really, my term here is almost over and its really time to be making decisions about the "future" (Nebulous, I know).

SO... That all being said, I'm doing well. I'm going to go home this evening, go to some friends' for dinner... watch a movie and go to bed. (I guess if that's my birthday itinerary then I'm getting older).

Baseball = Cultural Experience

I invited the guy who just started his year of civil service with us over for dinner and a baseball game last night --- It was a great cultural experience. We at calzones (homemade) and watched the Indians loose (horribly). But it was still a lot of fun. Its amazing how many little rules or concepts we take for granted in a game like baseball though: tagging up, leading off, infield fly rule... Seriously at the beginning I was explaining everything from Balls vs. Strikes, and how a Pitcher has to go about trying to get batters "out." But yeah... Loved doing it. It was a lot of fun (I told him that if there's any way to get a football game in over here he's got to come over for that... Good news with football games is that with the time change they'd be on Sunday evenings over here... which means... it'd be a nice way to relax for a little while after Sunday evening soccer (I'm a weekly regular there... my skillz are still terrible, but I'm getting better Scored twice last week).

Right

So today my friend Stephan is starting his year of civil service. I'm actually pretty excited about it as he's doing it with Janz Team... which means I get to harass him for the next couple of months!!! Seriously though, I'm really happy that he's here. He was one of "my boys" the first time I came over to English camp in 2005 (I can't believe its been that long). He and his brother are both reasons why I've kept coming back... and I'm just thrilled to get a chance to work with him together on a couple of projects this fall. I'm just kind of dissappointed that I won't be able to be here the whole time he's doing his civil service (I go home to the states in December).

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Ok... So this is not the famed English Camp update article. That's coming. I promise. This is a little bit more mundane than that. I've had this song stuck in my head for about two weeks now. The band came up on my internet radio station, I liked the song I heard, so... like we all do in the age of iTunes, and online music services... I went and checked out some of their other music. Long story short I've had their CD on constant rotation for the past two weeks... and it hasn't let up. So I'm sharing the love, and embedding their official music video from YouTube on my blog. The band's name is Metric ... They're an indietronic group based out of Toronto (Yeah Great Lakes region... even if its on the other side of the border... gotta represent). The song is called "Gimme Sympathy." And to answer their question in the chorus... The Beatles, hands down (2 words on that "White Album")

Ok...

So its been WAYYYYY too long since I've updated it. For good cause --- I think. Things got kind of crazy towards the end of English Camp and are just now, this week, really starting to slow down. There's actually a lot of cool stuff happening that I feel really fortunate to be able to be part of, and things I/We are looking into doing. More information on that coming in a later post.

I really feel its kind of necessary to write a brief post now summing up what happened at English Camp this year, and then later this week writing a longer one (With lots of pictures of course) with more information about the specifics of what happened at camp.

In a word camp was AWESOME. I'm always amazed at how God uses these times for so many different purposes. I would guess that on average about 75% would already consider themselves as Christians. We move a total of about 200 kids through our regional camp program each summer. That means at a conservative estimate about 50 of those kids are not... Our conservative estimates (understand that these numbers are in no way OFFICIAL but come from talking to different directors etc.) have the number of first time decisions for Jesus at about 15... that means about 1/3 of the kids who came not professing to already have accepted Jesus found him this summer. Now I realize that not all these decisions will stick (yes I've read the parable of the sower... yes I'm definitely a realist, and yes I also realize that not all of the kids claiming to already be Christians really are). BUT IF THAT DOESN'T GET YOU FIRED UP TO GO TO WORK... seriously I don't know what would.

Oh... and that doesn't in any way shape or form reflect recommittments, rededications, or any other kids of decision... JUST a first time decisions to accept Christ as Savior. More to come later... (stories... specific stories).

Hopefully in the next few days I'll give a more full picture of what happened at the two camps I was at... Show some pictures, and share some stories.

Sunday

Sunday is secretly my favorite day of camp. Actually I don't think its that much of a secret. Basically, outside of church, meals, and then chapel, the day is "free time" for the campers, which means that we (the staff) get a chance to mingle and just spend time with the kids without constantly worrying about the schedule or or respective jobs. Yesterday was an awesome day for that. We watched a movie as a camp, we hung out, we played Ping Pong... I'm just sad that there's no real chance like that again at camp... and that it comes pretty close to the beginning of camp rather than later on when we all know each other better.

A New Day, Another Adventure

Goooood Morning CAMPERS!!!!

Ok --- I love how each camp is totally different than the camp that came before it. Each staff brings its own culture, and each mix of kids is different. Its part of what I love so much about our camp program --- Its unpredictable, and there are always new challenges.

Camp 2 started a couple of days ago. So far its been interesting. I feel like I've spent less time working with the campers than ever before (which is definitely true). But its been rewarding in its own way. Its been great getting to know the team I'm working as part of - Most of them are from California, and their energy is kind of infectious :-).

There have been challenges as well --- Yesterday we lost a camper. Its not that we did anything wrong. A girl came down with a terrible headache the first day of camp that didn't let up. By yesterday afternoon she was lying in her bed, writhing in pain, hyperventilating. We called an ambulance and took her to the hospital in Loerrach, about twenty minutes away. My friend Anne, one of the translators at camp, and I drove behind her. After a couple of hours of waiting, she was transferred to a different hospital in Freiburg where they could do more tests... Her parents are picking her up today. Needless to say as a camp we're concerned about her. So if you could keep this girl in prayer that would be greatly appreciated.

Also if you could keep the combined English Camp Staff in prayer. I know that each staff member at each individual camp would greatly appreciate the prayers!