Week Four: Craziest Week of My Life

Unfortunately, I have less than a half hour for this entry right now. That means there is no way I can express how crazy this past week was (if there is a way to express it in the first place). However, I will start to recount the week, and then probably finish it whenever I get a chance next.

The week started off well.. kind of. Monday, Doug Pollock came to speak. Doug is the Evangelism Director for Athletes in Action, so he definitely had some good thoughts and advice to kick off the week. We talked about some major Do's and Don'ts of evangelism and how to share your story well. A lot of the stuff he talked about is on his website, GodsGPS.com. The unfortunate part of that talk is the the momentum kids looks downright bored. Many were actually sleeping, a few texting. It was really frustrating that they weren't taking advantage of all the great tips and ideas that Doug was sharing. If you don't remember what momentum is, it's a program for junior and high school students to come and serve as junior counselors at camp for a week(basically they help out the counselors with whatever needs to be done). Sometimes the momentum kids can be really helpful, but seeinf them doze off during Doug's talk made me a little worried about the coming week. Did they really care? Did they really come here to grow and serve or just to hang out with their friends?

After lunch, all the counselors helped out with a program at a nearby church for special needs kids. I didn't work directly with the kids, but seeing my fellow counselors do so was amazing. Their patience with those children was fantastic. My freinds Ty and Dan worked with a boy who was autistic and had downs syndrome. They really had to pour their entire self into working with that boy, and it was great seeing them do that through God's strength. That day, they were Jesus to that little boy.

Tuesday the kids came. Before I begin the happenings of the time with the kids, let me preface with this: there were 120 kids on camp this past week- the most kids that have been on camp since it first opened. I knew it was going to be a little hectic, but I had no idea what it was really going to be like.

Tuesday morning I left around 7 to go to Crossroads (the church in Cincinnati where the kids are dropped off). They usually send a few counselors with some leadership staff to help out. The counselors job there is just to play with the kids and make sure things are in general order. Around 10 or 11 we load kids onto two buses to take them to camp. We had so many kids that we had to cram 3 or 4 kids to a seat and we had to stand or sit on the steps. Even then we had to recruit other drivers to take some kids to camp. The craziness had begun.

Once at camp, we ate lunch and found out who was in our cabin. We had 11 girls. 11 girls ages 6-9 who know no boundaries. Ah! There are only 12 beds in the cabin!. So with 11 kids plus two counselors, we had to put a mattress on the floor. Once that was sorted out, we had to get all our stuff in the cabin, change into bathing suits and go down to the pool. It seemed like all my kids were missing something. Not everyone had flipflops, or a once piece bathing suit, or a towel, or tennis shoes, etc etc. Which isn't there fault by any means, it just makes things crazier because I have to run over to King's Kloset and get them stuff.

The madness continued on Wednesday, constantly breaking up fights and counting heads to make sure they were all alive, but it probably climaxed on Thursday. Unfortuantely I have to go, but I will finish this another time.

In Christ,

Audrey