4 State Fall Retreat

So, it has been quite a while since I have last written a blog but it thought that it would be quite fitting to write one now after a recent trip back to VCBC for the 4 State Fall Retreat. This past weekend during my fall break I had the opportunity to work at the fall retreat. I knew it would be a short trip for the long car ride there but something told me that it was more than worth the late nights and long car rides. I had a wonderful time. To my surprise I ended being a cabin leader. I wasn't really expecting this because I would only be there for one night. Later I found out that reason. I was to be the cabin leader for 2 high school girls one of which has high functioning Autism Asperger's. I was kind of shocked but the Lord comforted and settled me down. After this weekend of seeing camp friends and meeting this girl with Asperger's I've learned something new about myself. I guess I always knew this but I never really thought that it was true. I've learned that there is a large part of me that has a passion for kids with Special Needs. For the past 4 years I have slowing been put in situations where I have come to know and love several kids with all sorts of specials needs. Such as, Down, and Asperger's. It wasn't until this past weekend that I realized that I might have some type of calling into a special needs ministry. I'm not sure what that looks like yet but it is all in God's hands to take care of.

Prayer Requests:
For God to reveal to me the right path of ministry to pursue i.e. Special Needs, Camping, Children's...
To stay motivated with my school work and to try my hardest in all of my classes in other words to be a well rounded liberal arts student...

Coming to a close of a chapter...

I realize that this post is a week overdue... you'll just have to deal with it... My last day of camp of the 23rd of July. Looking back on that week I realize that it was one of the most eye opening and stretching weeks of camp that I had had the whole summer. I had a family with 4 kids, 9, 7, 5, and 3. The youngest has down syndrome. She was such a sweetie. I could have taken her home! During this week I also caught a cold. This made me even more irritable than usual. Because of this I had to rely even more on God to help me finish my camp experience on a high note. I will certainly miss the friends that I have made at VCBC this summer and I can't wait to see them all again next summer! The reason that this post came so late was because this past week I was in Tennessee with my Dad's side of the family for a reunion. We spent lots of time doing all sorts of activities from ziplining to zorbing to go karting to hiking to falling and swimming in waterfalls. Lots of memories were formed this week as we spent time in the Smoky's with each other.

Young Teen 2

This week has been very interesting. I have really had to work hard to get the girls in my cabin to mesh with one another. All is well though. There is a sickness flu thing going around camp right now. Prayers that I stay healthy for the last week of camp would be awesome. My campers are really great. I have enjoyed getting to know each and everyone of them. Prayer for tonight would be great. We have our weekly campfire tonight. Campfires tend to be very emotional because people share the things that they believe God has been teaching them this week. Sorry this is short but not a whole lot has really happened this week.

Prayer Requests:
That I would finish my time at camp strong and energetic.
That I would stay healthy
That the staff would be energetic and continue to base our energy off of Christ.

Family Camp is over onto Young Teen 2

Well, I'm exhausted! It's been a crazy week! But it has been a good week. I was the family assistant for a family of 5. 3 kids Hannah 5, Samantha 3, and Sara 18 months. There's not much to say other than I was basically a babysitter for 7 days this week. Plus a little more. Once again I'll go over some highlights of the week.
1. I slept on top of a yacht underneath the stars all week! It was great! I loved it!
2. I got paid to play with 3 girls all week.
3. I found a colony of ants in my suitcase this morning. GROSS!!
4. I got to spend the weekend with my wonderful parents and Nanny!
5. Only 2 weeks left! :(
6. Only 2 weeks until the family reunion!! :D
7. 2 campers from broken homes accepted Christ as their Savior this week.

Prayer Requests:
That in these last 2 weeks that I would be able to serve with the same amount of energy as I did the first week of camp.
That I would be able to serve the next group of campers as best as I know how and that I would be an example of Jesus' love in their lives.

Junior Camp 2 ends on to family camp!

Although this week had several stressful moments I believe that it has been the best week of camp so far. Not that my other camp s weren't good it's just I saw God do amazing things through awesome opportunities. On Wednesday Night I had the opportunity to pray alongside 2 of my campers as they accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. It was very neat to see how interested they were to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Their questions were deep and meaningful. I'm super excited for what God has in store for these beautiful girls. This week I got to witness God's work in a girl who is bipolar. At every turn of the day I was experiencing things that I had never experienced before. This week was very eye opening for me. Although I may be physically drained from all of my loving in moments when frustration would normally kick in God opened my  eyes to see things from a new perspective. I would say this week has been a fantastic week. GOD IS SO GOOD! Today was a very relaxing day. I went to Prairie Du Chein with Autumn today. We went to the Shoe Dept, Maurices, Walmart, and watched Mr. Popper's Penguins. For dinner we went to McD's, the worker made a mistake and I got a free ice cream cone out of the whole ordeal. Then I came back to camp and thought I would move my belongings into the yacht that I get to stay in this week. Yes, I'm staying in a yacht. To find that it was still a disgusting mess because of the boys that had last lived in there! GROSS!!!!! But all is well now!

Junior Camp 2

So this week has been interesting! I have had a camper in my cabin who is bipolar. Last night was a rough night for us. Prayers would be greatly appreciated this week as we finish up. It's as the week goes on and the more tired she gets the harder it is to control her. The other girls in my cabin have been great! It's been such an answer to prayers that they have not reacted to my special friend. 2 of my 3 campers came back to recommit their lives to Christ last night. Tonight we have the campfire. Next week we have our first family camp. Then my parents will come up for the weekend!!

Favorite quotes this week:
What do you think was invented first, bandanas or headbands?
I fell asleep on the toilet last night!
"I want to create a fish companion site." "Like eHarmony for fish" "Yea exactly!"

Halfway Point!

Senior High camp is complete. I'm exhausted! Today I'm going into Lacrosse with some of the girls here at camp then I'm going to bed early. 

Prayer requests and Praises:

Rest and Relaxation this weekend

This coming week is junior campers. I will start the week with 3 campers and a co counselor. One of the campers is bipolar. She recently changed meds and attempted to commit suicide last week. 

Rest and sleep

I've made it to the halfway point!

Rest and sleep

Sleep in sunday is tomorrow!

Senior High Camp cont.

Senior High Camp is coming to a close tomorrow. I have really enjoyed this week and the relationships that I have been able to form with some of the HS students. It's weird to think that I was in their shoes not too long ago. So once again here are some highlights and significant events.

1. We finished reading the Bible from cover to cover non stop on wednesday around 7:30PM I got to read 1, 2, and 3 John.

2. I'm running on 4 hours of sleep and lots of coffee.

3. We had a few kids come to accept Christ for the first time this week. One of them came to camp as a claimed atheist who had thought about suicide on a regular basis.

4. I got to have another one on one with one of my campers. She shared some deep stuff with me. Some of the things were the same that I struggled with. So I got to share some of my input from my own experience with them and knew exactly where to find biblical help as well.

5. I have been in charge of the bungee trampoline during instruction hour 2 this week.

6. We have had rain everyday except today! The sun is finally shining!!!

Senior High Camp

So this week has been interesting. Once again I will make a list of the events.
1. The urinal in an all girls cabin (for this week it is all girls) flooded. So I got to sprint all the way to first office to call maintenance and then ran all the way back to the lodge to attempt to turn it off. In the mean time water is gushing out and falling through the cracks and leaking into the room below the bathroom. yea, it was "fun"
2. I had a really nice conversation with one of my campers yesterday about missions. We talked for hours about what we feel God is calling us to do with our lives.
3. I shared my testimony with my campers last night.
4. I got to spend hours in the dish room today... wet... hot... sweaty...gross... yea... :/...
5. We are spending 24 hours everyday reading the Bible. We hope that we finish the Bible in its entirety by the end of the week.
6. I have 7 entertaining high schoolers that are going into their sophomore and junior year of high school.

Young Teen Camp comes to a close!

So, my Young Teen campers left today. I had such a great time this week. It was fun because I got to play the older sister role as opposed to playing mom (which is what I was the prior week) I really enjoyed just getting to hangout with these girls and getting to invest in their lives for the week. So, once again I will list a few significant details about the week.
1. I had an indian name this week: Chief Boulder haha :D
2. We had a pet named Sherman the Wormen.
3. I wore a clip on neck tie for a whole day because of a dare during Skittles (refer to a previous post to find out what Skittles is)
4. I got the shyest girl I know to talk with me for 40 minutes straight.
5. I had a camper with a form of Tourette syndrome. I did not know this until she had a break down on the last night. Everything is fine. She just had a lot of "stuff" building up in her.
6. I went kyaking with 2 of my campers for their one on one.
7. I led the archery instruction hour.
8. I discovered a new love for cottage cheese.

Prayer Requests
Next week we have 200+ senior high students coming. A normal week of camp has 100+ kids of camp. So there are lots of mouths to feed and people to house.
Continual growth of the hearts of the campers that were here last week and the ones that are still to come.
Rest and relaxation- there are going to be some late nights and early mornings this week. Like 12 and 1 at night and 7am wake up calls

Young Teen Camp!

So, I'm a day into young teen week. I have 7 girls instead of the original 6 that were planned. I have 2 girls that are going into high school 4 8th graders and 1 7th grader. I originally was very nervous for this week because I have a hard time relating with these kids. But, I'd say that the week has started to get a lot better. Today I got to play frolf (frisbee golf) with 2 of my campers and then I helped 2 of my campers with the bungee trampoline. Then I helped teach the first instruction hour of archery which 6 of my 7 campers are in. And that's my week so far in a nut shell!

Junior Camp 1 comes to a close...

So, I have survived my first week of Junior Campers. It was not easy but it was a lot of fun at the same time. I'm always amazed at how I come to camp to make in difference in other peoples lives and some how God always ends up having the people make more of an impact on me than I had expected! To some up the week I'm just going to say a few things that I was faced with during my first week.
1. One of my campers was a Celiac as well as Lactose intolerant. This made having meals as a group a little more difficult. I learned how to be careful with labels and made sure to double check every single food that went into this girls mouth.
2. I learned how to discipline without actually having to discipline. 2 of my favorites for bedtime. Girls the next word that comes out of your mouth I will take a minute off of your free time. 2, The next person who talks is waking up early tomorrow morning. These two work wonders especially if they love free time and sleep.
3. I learned that little words can go a long way. By one camper saying to another camper "be quiet" this can mean so many more things when one of the campers is having an off day. This happened to me. One girl to another to be quiet the next thing I know there is a girl running into the room in tears because of these 2 simple words.
4. Skittles are more than just a candy. They are a game. Kind of like truth or dare. Each color represents a different action you must do. Example, red= camp crush, purple= counselor approved dare, green= embarrassing moment, yellow= say something nice to someone else, orange= your favorite bible verse. It's especially a lot of fun when lights are out and you are playing with the light of glow sticks.
5. Kids say the funniest things. That's pretty self explanatory but there have been many times this week when I have burst into laughter because of what a camper has said.

Finally, tomorrow I get 6 young teen campers. Please be praying for this week because it is this age group that I struggle relating with the most. During the jr. high years of life kids are at a very awkward stage of life, they are trying to figure out who they are, they are growing, they are emotional, and they are confused. This was the worst 3 years of my life. Pray that I would be a positive and enthusiastic influence in the lives of these jr highers!

Week one cont.

So week one is almost over. It's hard to believe that it's almost over. I feel that within the past 24 hours so many things have happened at camp. Yesterday was wacky water wednesday. I spent 4 hours at the lake throwing kids around and playing the dunking color game. I got to do 5 of 7 one on one yesterday. I built a sand castle and went canoeing. Last night my girls were being very disrespectful when it came to quieting down to sleep. Here was my response (mom would be proud) (in a mother like tone I said) Girls, the next word that comes out of anyones mouth is a MINUTE OFF of FREE TIME!! Hahaha they went dead silent and didn't say a single word after that. I will definitely be using that again tonight! Last night and this morning the children had opportunities to pray and accept Christ into their lives. I had the chance to lead one of my girls in prayer to accept Christ into her life. It was a very cool experience one that I have never had in my life before. If any of you have the chance to pray along side a child as they accept Christ into their lives cherish that moment because it comes from pure sincerity and innocence. I have really been enjoying my time here. I look forward to the opportunities that are still ahead of me!

Some of my favorite quotes from this week:
Me- While I was "sleeping"
Camper- "hey guys lets go into the bathroom and listen to my ipod"
Me- "thanks for letting me know!"

While at archery with "Robin Hood"
Camper- "I learned how to potty train while watching Robin Hood"

Camper- "hey Mom... i mean Alison'

First Week of Campers!

So, I've had about 2 full days with my campers now. They are such a joy to watch and interact with. I am quite exhausted right now but I'm grateful to have time off.  I'm thinking that I am going to take a nap during rest of my break. Don't get me wrong I'm having a great time but I'm wiped! It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be the half way point of the week. I look forward to continuing to grow closer to my girls this week.

Staff Training

Well, what to say... this week has been crazy. There have been tough moments, happy moments, sad moments, and funny moments. All in all, I can say that I'm going to really love even through the hard times.  So to keep things to the point and interesting I'm going to give a few highlights or significant events of each day this past week.
Friday night: camp arrival
So this day was very hard and very fun. I really had a hard time saying goodbye to my parents. It was a combination of straight up nervousness and being scared because I didn't know a single person around me. So the camp director, Camie, put me straight to work "snuffing snakes" with the craft room facilitator, Lindsey. I now have a new friend! :)

Saturday:
This day was pretty dull. I pretty much spent the whole day doing CPR and First Aid training. At least I can now say that I am CPR and First Aid certified for the next 2 years!!! That doesn't mean I want anyone to go choking on me now!

Sunday:
I experienced a church service and Iron Ridge. This church also serves as a pizza place and a movie theater. It is the owners way of evangelism. I really enjoyed it. Sunday afternoon we did the Staff Jam. This is basically a time to get to know more people in a team setting and to build trust among the other staff workers.

Monday:
I spent monday going over a lot of the staff manuel stuff and learning more tips about being a cabin leader (counselor.)  We camped out and cooked out on monday night. It was great being able to build a campfire and sleep underneath the stars with absolutely nothing between me and the open sky above! It was great waking up in the middle of the night to seeing all the stars in the sky.

Tuesday:
Today we had a trail breakfast. We went up the hill to have heart attack toast, hash browns, and scrambled eggs. Then we went through rotation/instructional hours like bungee trampoline, pony rides, and archery. Then we talked about the different personalities of each and everyone of the staff. I'm a golden retriever!

Wednesday;
We spent this day in prayer and fasting. We started at 8 and broke that fast at 4:30. We spent time praying for our campers, ourselves, and many other things. This was a very neat day because I had never experienced anything else like this before.

Thursday:
We spent today practicing how to share the Gospel with children and teenagers. We were role playing and acting as if we were not Christians to have an example of what a child might say in and experience like this. Then I spent the afternoon in the craft room making binoculars, and sorting jeans!

Friday:
Today we were working with our instructional hour groups. I am an archery instructor. I get to hand children weapons!! ;) And then apply it to the Christian lifestyle. Then we practiced the games that the campers will play during the week. Such as, assassins with water balloons, prosecution, and gold rush! We also practiced for our opening session, closing session, and our Heehaw performance!

Saturday:
This morning I moved between cabins 4 times because I didn't have enough beds for all my campers next week. Then I cleaned my cabin, Then I had the rest of the day off. I went to Walmart and Whippy Dip (an ice cream shop but not as good as ivanhoes) and Subway for dinner. Now, I am in the staff lounge writing this blog!

Prayer:
For the 7 girls that will be in my cabin this week.
For wisdom and guidance as I experience my first week of camp.
For the kids to be openminded to the words that the speaker will say about Jesus Christ.

Here I come!

So, this coming summer I have been given an awesome opportunity to work at Village Creek Bible Camp as a cabin leader and swing crew member. I'm really getting excited and also really nervous for what this summer has in store for me. I know that this summer is going to be a time for growth and stretching. I know that God is in charge of what is going to happen this summer. I'm going to try my best to update this blog regularly while at camp. I can't make any promises though. I will be gone from May 27 until July 31st. Although my last day of camp is July 23. I look forward to sharing about my experiences of camp and the adventures that God takes me on this summer.