Well, I am happy to report we survived another year of camp in always hotter-than-blazes, and this year now dryer-than-blazes Brownwood, TX. To my knowledge, we came home with the same 31 kids we went off with. And to my knowledge, they each had a fantastic week.
Thanks and kudos to our children's pastor Judy Bryant, who truly did an outstanding job as the camp director this year. A huge thanks also to our youth pastor Ben Ondrak, who rolled in on Saturday after having been gone on our mission trip for 10 days, and then turned around on Monday and rolled out with us for a week's worth of rest in a smelly cabin with a dozen plus elementary-age boys. The summers are very demanding on Judy and Ben and their families. Yet it is evident that what they do is a labor of love.
Then there were the adult sponsors. We may well have some of the most-selfless, most-loving, and least-gripeless youth leaders I have ever seen. Most of these people gave up a week's worth of vacation for the sake of our kids, and I never heard one single complaint. If there were complaints, they were about adult bodies' not being what they once were. I most definitely did not hear complaints about camp food, "kids these days", or the fast one our pastoral staff pulled to get them into this.
As I watched these counselors pouring themselves into these kids, I saw Christ standing amidst children two millenia ago, saying, "Let the children come unto me and do not stop them." The sponsors had their their backs climbed on, and their arms leaned, their shoulders cried on, and their patience pushed on all week. They wiped tears away from kids' eyes, snot from their noses, and blood from their scratches. They sat down to study the Bible and talk about Jesus' great love and then stood up to do something called the "Chicken Dance" - what happens at camp stays at camp! It was truly a great week and these were truly amazing sponsors.
As we boarded the bus to head back to Lubbock on Friday, everyone was all smiles. We put a worship CD in and the kids clapped and sang. We watched as the boys and girls passed notes written to each other in Spanish. This was especially enjoyable to watch since the kids don't even speak Spanish. After things settled, I talked with the kid across the aisle about her desire to be baptized sometime in the future. I then turned the other way and talked to the kid next to me about his grandpa, whom our church buried just a few months passed. Before we knew it we were already in Abilene and I sat in a Subway and watched as one of the adult sponsors bought lunch for one of our kids who didn't have enough money to eat. Then we all loaded back into the bus, and we adults took two Advil - one for the shoulders and another for the back - and then closed our eyes. When we opened them again, we we could see the roof of the church. We were glad to be home, indeed. But we were also glad we went.
Not long ago I was talking with Helen Moss, resident woman of abiding faith and sage-like wisdom. She was telling me what the minister who officiated the wedding of her son and his wife said at the service. "Marriage is joyful, hard work," she said. As she said that, I thought to myself that that pretty much says everything I've been trying to say about following and trying to be like Jesus. It's hard work to labor in this field - two Advil hard work; but it is also such a joy to be here.
Camp was hard work. But it was joyful, hard work. And I thank God for it.
I thank God for every bit of it.
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