Camp Mischewana

Last week was different in a good way. We arrived at the camp in Hastings Michigan and once again gratefully found air conditioning in the chapel. We set up the stage and headed to our lodgings. This was where we realized this camp would be different. The lodge, called Shawandasee, was incredible and I actually fell over when I walked in the door. Our eyes first fell on the fireplace and the canoe hanging from the ceiling, next the couches, projector screen and kitchenette. Downstairs we found ping-pong and foosball. We felt like we were in the wrong building or at least like we would be crammed in the building with other camp guests. But as it turned out – we had it all to ourselves. It was such a blessing to have a “home” on the campus where we could go and be ourselves together. That night we had dinner with the kids and played the first worship set on a stage with stained glass and air-conditioning.

By day two we began to discover that for the first time this summer, the team was not expected to do much with the kids. This is where the week got harder. For the last 3 weeks our focus had been on connecting with the kids as opposed to focusing only on being the band and playing music. We started to feel like we couldn’t properly minister to the kids because we had little opportunity to interact with them personally. All of us felt it but we didn’t talk about it until Tuesday night when we found that everyone was restless and discouraged. The meeting took place after the first worship set we had ever messed up during. Kids seemed distracted and disengaged, which added to our confusion. The meeting was the best thing we did all week. We talked and came to the conclusion that no mater how the kids responded to the worship or how much time we were given to be with them, our responsibility was to worship with all our hearts regardless of the response; and to do all we could with the kids but not to become discouraged when we were given free time. It was amazing to see what God did with that when we got out of the way.

For being relatively small, the camp had a lot of really cool things. Zip line, high and low ropes, a mud pit, tubing, water trampoline and blob, outdoor chapels, archery, slip and slide, sandy beach, etc. We had a lot of fun getting to know a lot of the counselors this week. These counselors were true servants and were a lot of fun getting to know. We had a lot of random fun stuff happen this week, like Chris and I and 3 other people getting to cut someone’s hair. Chris, Anthony and I went tubing with three of the counselor/lifeguards and had a blast. We had a hoedown with square dancing, hay bail tossing, and pie eating (I got 3rd, Denny 2nd) etc. We spruced up a mud pit for the kids to play football in and made a video about it. The water was cold… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrdnYccHd2Y. One of the other awesome things that happened this week was getting to know the speaker Joel. We enjoyed going with him out for pizza one night and having a birthday pizza/cake party for Chris H. in our Lodge with him. He was a great speaker and we had a blast working together. Finally, one of the favorite events from the week was getting to be involved in skit night. The team put together an improv skit where we played various roles such as male models, pro wrestlers, racecar drivers, and Anthony played a televangelist. We also did another skit which turned out really well involving pickup lines!

By the end of the week we were bewildered at how much the kids response to worship had changed. We got to see the transformation of a group of kids from bored and zoned to engaged and alive. God truly did a work in hearts this week and as always, it was humbling yet incredible to be a part of it. We then packed up and drove to my house for the night. The guys went out and saw a movie, while I stayed home and got to hang out with mom and dad, which I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated ☺ Mom made one of her famous pies as well as here unsurpassable white chili! It was so good to be home. In the morning we drove out to Bay Shore camp in Sebewaing MI.

PS because the internet at Bay Shore was difficult to access, this post came a week late. Hopefully I will be able to post about Bay Shore later today before we head to the Frankfort Family Camp tomorrow! Thanks for reading! Keep praying!!