Pre-Teen Camp

What a fun weekend. I loved this age group, as did a lot of the staff. There were lots of good questions, attentiveness in chapel and also fun at all the activities. I mentioned in the last email about need for male leaders, God supplied J! On the day camp started we got two more, just the right number. We are thankful that this week God has supplied all the leaders needed already for the fourth and last camp, we have at least 40campers coming.

The week started with a super smoky evening due to a fire north of us. In the cabin at night we prayed that the smoke would go away and I am certainly thankful that it did all go and we had clear air. The sunshine did not last for every day. One night we had a thunder and lightning storm which was cool and loud from in the cabins. Our girls rearranged the mattreses so we were closer to them.  However, as with every night, Tetley and I were blessed to have our girls go to sleep straight after we said Amen each night.

This week I was just on one activity, the mountain bikes. We rode around the tracks in the bush around camp for about 30mins then we pulled up at a camp fire spot and I would tell them a story about being lost and it getting dark and they would have to build themselves a hut for the night. It was lots of fun and some cool huts were made before riding back to camp.

We went for a walk to the river the back way one afternoon. My job was to walk at the back which gave me lots of time to have some amazing conversation with some of the slower walkers. We got to talk about creation and about how amazing God is.

On a different afternoon we walked down to the river via road for a swim. I had not intended to swim but decided to paddle. I ended up getting my shorts wet then one of the boys offered Tetley and I a ride on the tube, well that went good till near the end when a whole bunch of kids decided to join us and I ended up swimming. First swim for the summer!

Talking to the girls in our cabin was such a joy. 4 out of the 6 have Christian backgrounds and the other two had some exposure but knew very little. I was thankful that I got sometime during the week to spend just chatting in free times and after camp fire one night. I saw God answer my “Nehemiah prayer” when starting a conversation that went out of my depth. Each week I see more of God working as I depend more on him.

This has gotten long, there is so much to tell about the fun week of camp so I will finish with our skit night.

Each cabin was given a passage and a box of costumes. Ours was Daniel in the Lions Den and our costumes were animals. So the skit went like this…. Darius was Doris the Zoo Keeper, Daniel was Danielle a horse and the others were animals in the Zoo who didn’t like that Danielle got to walk around and be put in charge. So they came up with a plan that if anyone feed any stray animals they would be thrown in the Lions cage, this was to save money of course. Danielle feed a stray sick frog and was thrown in. The girls came up with their own lines and did an excellent job. I was the lion in the corner and just had to prowl and roar whenever someone mentioned lion or came near. The whole evening was a lot of fun.

Today is the day of rest and preparation before the next camp comes in tomorrow. Please pray for strength and unity in the staff as we go through our last week of camp with lots of campers and quite a few new staff.

Day Off

Because Kids camp was a short camp I took a day off from cleaning up and preparing for the next camp. So in that day I went with Amy, Lacey and Lorne Theissen to visit Camp Stagitawa trail Rides camp which is the camp they help at in the summer. 

The camp is 2hours east of Blueberry and situated in a valley. There is a cabin which is the only permanent building and it is used as the cooks store room. The campers and wranglers sleep in Tepees which I think is super cool.

The point of the camp is trail rides so that is what they mostly do. We arrived in time for chapel and breakfast and then joined the ride. In total there were 28 of us riding. The horse I got to ride is the Paint called Dove behind the wonderful horse named Broomtail. If a child does something bad Broomtail is who they ride. One of the boys had heard about Broomtail and wanted to ride him. So Lacey and I quickly added some features to the broom. His face was priceless when he realised that Broomtail was not a real horse.

When we stopped for lunch the field had wild strawberries. They are small but really yummy, all the better after riding for 2hours and picking them yourself. We roasted sausages and had vegies which we had all carried in backpacks and saddle bags. 

It was such an enjoyable ride going through bush, across creeks and up and down hills. A great way to be outside enjoying God's creation. It was very warm out, we have now had a whole week of temperatures in the high 20's, getting up to 32^C. Now it is back to preparations ready for the camp that comes in tomorrow.

Kids Camp

What a contrast, from a small teen camp to a large Kids camp. In the end we had 42 children aged 7-9. There were certainly a lot of cuties amongst them. There were six girls in my cabin, all of them precious in their own way. They were well behaved and I am so thankful for the opportunities I had to talk with them one on one. 

There are two times that I remember well. One was explaining what John 3:16 meant while helping two of the girls learn it in our cabin time. The other was at the end of camp. One of my girls was not picked up till late so I had almost 2 hours with her. It was so sweet to hear a child putting into rhyme her understanding of what we had been learning. I desire more and more to have faith like a child, in that I will believe what God says and trust it. There were many other times at during meals and activities when I got the privilege of sharing God with various children.

We had been praying for male staff and God provided one more on the afternoon camp started. That meant we had four male leaders and 22 male campers. So the games room in the basement was cleared out and 16 mattresses moved in. God had worked ahead of us and of the 14 boys in the "Blueberry Bunker Boys" cabin not one of them was a trouble maker. So the two leaders were able to manage the large cabin and still have an enjoyable time. For those who are thinking of adult child ratios, it is different here and we can have 1:8. We are continuing to pray for male staff with the next two camps also having more than one cabin worth of boys and only two leaders

The teaching during the week was top notch. The children learnt and we were reminded about who God is, His different attributes and saw them in the different Bible Hero stories that were told. I was also excited about fannelgraph being used. The children listened well and one of my girls was also keen to sit with me and follow along in my Bible.

We ended up only having campfire one night but it was a good time. We did some singing and listened while Stash shared his testimony in a way that the children listened as he interacted with them. I may have got a little distracted at one point when I could hear this bird in the tree behind me.

Being first aid for Teen camp and Kids camp was also very different. Kid's camp was a lot busier and a lot of Bandaids were applied. I also had the job of giving a little boy ear drops who didn't want them. His leader would get him to me and then I would turn around and he would be gone, under the bed and behind the door were two of his hiding spots. He was a fun little guy and we got through it.

I have been so thankful for the wonderful teaching on Sundays at church the past three weeks. After the children went home I was a little sad. Wondering how I could possibly do follow up, if I would see any of them again, if there would be a way to encourage and remind them of what they had heard. God brought the remembrance the previous Sundays sermon about how we can have joy, that there is a past history of God we can look at and there is a bright future and with the two things I do not need to get sad but rejoice in what God has done and what he is going to do. I still don't know what the future holds, but I know that God holds the future and he is trustworthy.

Teen Camp

It was a smaller camp with only 10 teenagers, 6 boys and 4 girls. It was nice in that was an ease into the camps to come.

Each morning we started with staff meeting and accountability groups then we would take our cabin out to the challenge course to do one challenge before breakfast.

During the week I was helping with the climbing wall and also riflery. I was in charge of field games.  I am also the first aid person for the week. Doing all these and being a cabin leader kept me busy. Despite all the busyness we still got time to spend with the girls in the cabin with a cabin quiet time after lunch each day. The picture to the right is taken just before our show time, each cabin had a passage that they did a skit from. 

One afternoon we went for a walk down to the river for a swim. I did not swim but it might have been better than being eaten by the swarms of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are big and leave red itchy bumps that stay for a while. The lesson I learnt was take insect repellent.  

After that we had a hotdog roast for dinner. Three nights during the week we also had camp fire in the evening before bed. At this we sang songs and a leader shared their testimony.

The food at camp was so very good. I am not sure I will get used to having cooked breakfast every morning. Each morning it is something different and the lunches and dinner are good meals, it's just like having home cooking. Including home made bread rolls and noddles. Before meals we had to line up and the straightest line would get to go in first. Sometimes we also had to do something else like recite memory verses or sing a song. This day one of the boys cabins decided it's straight line would go the wrong way. 

We had chapel twice a day with singing, teaching and memory verse learning. The teaching had a gospel message as well as challenges for those who are Christians. I was challenged about stepping out in faith and also during the week about having compassion. As the first aid person I was challenged that I needed to show love and compassion even when a child seems to be making it up or exaggerating. The singing had a mixture of fun action songs and quieter songs. It was cool to see the kids, who at the beginning of the week would just stand there, joining in and listen carefully. I was encouraged by the girls in my cabin pretty much motivating themselves to learn the memory verses, all four of them could say all five at the end of the week.

I got really tired part way through the week with staying up late and such but I am very thankful for the answered prayer in having strength and energy to the end. I am thankful for the talks that Tetley and I were able to have with the girls in the cabin. We have come away knowing we have to trust God to continue to do work in their lives and I am praying for wisdom in how to do follow up.

Something else we are very thankful for is how good the weather was. We had a thunder storm which lasted for a short time and then heavy rain one evening but nothing that required changing the programme. This is a full circle rainbow, around the sun with a planes trail that was above us while at the river.

Today is a quiet day to get ready for the next camp which is kids camp with 35campers registered. We are trusting God to provide the male cabin leaders we will need as still only have 3 and 21 boys. I am thinking that now I will go and take an afternoon nap before working on the rest of my to do list. 

Staff training week

What an amazing week. I certainly have much to give praise to God for. Before the week started I was a bit nervous about what all the staff would be like and how I would fit as everyone knew everyone else. What God answered my prayers abundantly.

Staff training went from Sunday afternoon through to Friday afternoon. By Monday it was evident that we were all getting along well and having a wonderful time. I have come from the week so encouraged to be working with a group for the summer that love God and serve him joyfully, even in cleaning bathrooms.  

                           

We had lots of teaching. Some was to challenge us personally in our walk with the Lord, others were practical how to do things that will happen during camp. Some great things is our accountability groups. Throughout the summer we will be meeting in the morning for half an hour to pray together and encourage one another in both what we are doing and in spending time with God each day.

Each night we had a campfire. There was singing and sharing of testimonies. This is the same pattern that will happen during the camps. Time around the camp fire is good even if the mosquitoes here are really bad, they are big and bit even through clothing. 

One evening we went for a walk to the river to have a campfire down there. The lighter didn't work so there was no fire till we got back up (good practice for camp - always check the lighter works). However, we enjoyed ourselves, taking fun staff photos and some testimonies were shared. 

This is the wonderful summer staff. We all have a camp name, from left to right they are Buckles, Boots, Giggles, Sunny, Sparkles, Muffin, Birdie, Tetley, Mango, Stache, Kiwi, Pippin and Gimili. 

We are thankful to God that already we have seen much answered prayer during the week. There have been more camp registrations and we have enough male cabin leaders for Teen camp starting tomorrow. There are some other staff that have committed to various camps, still needing male leaders for the other camps. We are praying that some more girl campers might come on the day.

Please pray for us all during the week, that we will work together in unity and each of us will be an example of Christ to the teens that come. Please also  pray that we will have wisdom and insight into how to share Christ with them and opportunity to share with them throughout each day.  I am excited to see how God is going to work through us this summer, what a joy it is to serve Him as part of the body of Christ.

Longest Dad = Summer

June 21 marks the longest day here and it is when they say that summer starts. It is looking good with yesterday and today being lovely warm days. Making it to 24^C.

This is the sunrise which is at 4:14am. As you can see it is already very light. I don't know what time it gets light but it is early. I did go back to bed after taking the photo.

This is the sunset at 9:50pm. The sunset last for ages and will stay light for another hour. 

I took this photo the night before on my way home from Bible Study. It is taken at 11:30pm, to give an idea on how long the sunsets last for.

The longest day was a wonderful day here. So much was achieved. Mary and Stephen Noble arrived the day before and it is great having them here. Mary is programme director for the Summer. We have been working on the schedules and bouncing ideas back and forth. At the end of the day we had a time of singing and prayer. Mary played piano, I was on clarinet and Stephen joined us on the ukelale.


I am super excited that summer is here and camps begin. The camps start tonight with a Seniors Retreat, followed closely with the staff training beginning on Sunday afternoon. After that the camps look like this:
Teen Camp July 1-6
Kids Camp July 8-11
Pre Teen Camp July 15-20
Junior Camp July 22-26
Possible day camps for younger children July 27 and 28
Beyond Blueberry Trails July 29-August 5.


Please be praying that more campers will come and that God will also provide the staff needed. Please pray for wisdom for each of the leaders as we interact with children, that we might have insight into how to share Truth with them that these camps might have an eternal impact in the lives of children. 


We have so much to be thankful for, what a mighty God we serve. 

Music Festival

Although I would have loved to have been home and at Impact Bible conference in the weekend just gone we had lots of busyness at camp so it wasn't too sad.


Every year a gospel music festival is held at Blueberry Bible Camp. There are music groups that come from as far as Manitoba. It was an enjoyable weekend. I did not hear very much of the music as I was in the kitchen helping with cooking for the musicians and the other people involved. We fed between 70 and 100 for each meal. I am learning about different foods, in particular Mennonite food which is common here. The forecast was chances of rain but God is good and apart from a couple of second shower is was lovely weather. 

A duck nest found in the trees when we were getting ready.

The view from the lodge of everyone listening to Sunday Morning Sermon.

The dining hall at Sunday Lunch

What a joy it is to be able to serve God alongside brothers and sisters in Christ.