What a week!!! Tom and I just got back from working at the Intermediate II week at Camp Manatawny. What a spiritually uplifting and changing experience. God could not have given us a better week weather-wise, and He could not have given us a better group of kids. All of the kids seemed to have a great week. I know that Tom and I did! It is exteremely sad to think that we have to wait another whole year until we can work there again!
As kids, neither Tom nor I were all that excited about camp. Neither of us really enjoyed it or wanted to go. We are now completely hooked and plan on being at camp every year. The new friends we have made will be lifelong, and the impressions we have left on the kids will hopefully be lifelong as well. It is amazing to see kids that wanted nothing to do with camp at the beginning of the week leave crying because they didn't want to leave. What a great work is being done at Manatawny.
At camp, I taught and took care of the 'pre-campers' during the morning. We went swimming each day, had a Bible story and did a craft. Hannah Kate, Hannah Fay, Seth and Zach were a great bunch of kids and already very spiritually minded at the young ages of 7 and 6!! I will miss working with them quite a lot! They did always keep me on my toes and keep me thinking. In the afternoons, I helped with girls atheletics. There were some very talented girls at camp! In the evening the campers had a 'Theme Activity' to reinforce the theme for the day. Beth was responsible for creating these activities. I would help her set-up and run each of these activities. Every night there was some special activity for the campers--either campfire (4 times through the week), a 'Staff Laugh Night' (staff improv and funny skits), or a huge game of Romans, Christians and Soliders. Debo ran all of these activities, and I helped her out. Basically, I did a little of everything through the week! I was always busy and don't feel like I every stopped. I know that is the way everyone felt though. It was a busy week.
The singing was always amazing, the conversations were always increidble, and the new friends were always uplifting. As Brett Hower put it, Camp Manatawny was just a crumb of Heaven, and he is exactly right. I have tasted a little bit of Heaven this week and I pray that I never forget that!
Now, it is time to go to bed since the staff was up half of the night playing Mofia... :)
