Well, the Red team didn't win, but I had a great week anyway. We got third place. One of the highlights of the week was when the team honored me at the end of the week by giving me their flag. :) Though we played hard, and tried to make sure we always had our buttons (nametags), we rarely won a game so it wasn't that big of a surprise when the standings were revealed. Congratulations to the Green team, led by a fellow PHC'er, my friend Matthew du Mee! I want to thank my fellow Red team counselors once again for helping me in my first time as a team captain (and first time at camp). Thank you Mr. Addis, Mrs. Holligan, Miss Corridori, Miss Marlatt (Sherri, another friend of mine from PHC), and Mrs. Stevens!

AWANA camp is an experience I'm sorry I missed when I was younger. Though it obviously wasn't as intellectually stimulating as Worldview Academy, it was very spiritually impacting and emotionally moving. Most of all, it was a lot of fun. The team spirit and thrill of competition is high. Plus, Bible memorization is a big part of the week (of course, it's AWANA), which is a very good thing. Every day the kids go to a Bible class, and every evening is a chapel with worship and preaching. I was counseling junior highers, so it was a little below my level spiritually, but I still gained from it.

The one part of camp I'd say hit me the most was Mrs. Stewart's talk on eating disorders. I learned so much that I didn't know before. It can be so dangerous physically when young women, and men, are psychologically hurt by not feeling accepted and valued by God, their family, and friends. The Stewarts are the AWANA missionaries who run the camp, and their daughter died around eight years ago because of complications from eating disorders. I was very moved and am glad I am aware of the issue now.

I should talk about my Teepee. I was assigned to be the counselor for 10 seventh and eighth grade guys. The accomodations were, well, a teepee. It was like a tent, but round, and the poles came together in the middle at the top. There were beds underneath. It wasn't that bad, especially because the canvas could be rolled up in the afternoon to allow it to air out and stay cool. The guys were, well, hard to control most of the week to be completely honest. A couple of them were well behaved...yes, I said a couple. For the first half of the week, I concentrated on making sure they didn't kill each other and took a shower at least once, so I didn't really get to bond spiritually with them that much. One guy, Josh, went forward on the first night of chapel, and I could tell that God worked in his life through the week. He, and two other of my guys, shared testimonies on the last evening of how God had changed them. That was encouraging, especially because my nightly devotions were, shall we say, weak. I have very little experience at sharing spiritual things from my heart off the cuff to junior highers. But God worked despite my failures. He definitely deserves all the glory for anything good that happened last week with my guys.

I had a good time getting to know the other counselors through the week also, especially Mr. du Mee, Mr. Quade, Miss Cullers, Miss Corridori, and Miss Marlatt. Shhh! ;) I should mention Mrs. Holligan, Miss Struebal, and Miss Day too; it was good to meet and talk to them as well. The weather was great; it got very cool in the early mornings. The food was good, most of the time. I didn't request special meals, so I basically ate a lot of salad, fruit, and side dishes. It was ok. There's more I could and probably should say about camp, but I can't think of anything right now. So I'll go ahead and post this and add to it later if I think of something.