Dear Diary,
I have a confession, I wrote my last entry about Cardboard Testimonies two days after it happened (the date it actually happened was evening of 7/10/22). While I was writing for the 11th, I was trying to remember details of the day. It was literally yesterday, but now it currently is 8:30 pm on July 12th, technically two full days have passed since yesterday morning and the details I’m trying to pen. It seems silly to hardly remember everything that happened yesterday.
Today 7/12/22 marks: Day 1, Week 2, Session 2 at 2022 WFR Canyon.
Maybe you’re wondering why it’s so hard to remember things that only happened yesterday? Time here at camp moves both epically fast and wildly slow at the same time. What do I mean?? Well, the days are long in every sense of the word but the weeks very are short. Even as I type– I’m fact checking myself. Are the weeks short??! How do I accurately describe what the last 8 days have felt like?? Each day has held so much life lived and experienced and I’m ‘only’ an a-team spouse. I’m not actively engaging directly with the teenagers consistently for 16-18 hours a day like my husband is, or the other WC boss’s, or leaders bringing campers are each week this month. I’ve definitely been more engaged and participating more than I originally maybe had planned but it has brought so much joy and been life giving to my soul serve periodically with these young adults.
I had a small flashback to the summer I served as Summer Staff Minister at Cannon Beach Conference center for three months in 2014; my desire is to start finding little ways encourage and build up the WC Boss’s and Head Leaders. They don’t have easy jobs; I know first hand how draining it can be to serve in this capacity.
This morning (7/12/22) at all camp worship, our camp director (maybe that’s his title?? I’m not actually sure) reminded all of us here at camp that our “paycheck” for the week was getting to witness the moments that commitments and lives were changing.
On the last day of camp there is something called a New Believers Walk; any camper can elect to participate in this walk if they are ready to make a first time commitment to Jesus Christ. They go on a specific walk through a part of camp with their leader and the camp speaker in the early morning. Campers find two rocks: one is thrown in a pond symbolizing their ‘old life’, the second rock is placed on a rock pile that has grown exponentially over the years. The rock pile rock symbolizes joining the family of God and putting on a ‘new life’ surrendered to Jesus. The camp speaker and their leaders pray with these campers, then at the end of the walk a volunteer gives each new believer a Bible…
Witnessing this particular aspect of camp was a first for me.
Dave, myself, and six WC kids were doing devotions together on the porch of the Sassy (snack shack) when the walk started. A holy, sacred, peaceful silence came over camp as we watched approximately 200 people (campers and their leaders) walk past. The sweetest words came when one of the WC girls sitting next to me, R., leaned over to whisper, “Wow, I got to be part of this too and I was just washing dishes this week!” Isn’t that incredible!!?! Later we found out that 144 Bibles were handed out at the end of the morning walk.
A few hours later at the end of the last club before leaving in cars or buses for home. We had a Say-So the name is inspired by a verse in the bible that says, ‘Let the redeemed of the Lord say so’. Our camp speaker, Katie Davis, invited students to come down onto the stage and write their names on an RSVP card placing it on a beautifully set banquet table in the middle of the stage symbolizing the campers’ surrender to Christ, saying yes to life with him!
Katie prompted the campers with three categories:
- Maybe your not ready to say yes to this Jesus thing, and that’s okay. If that’s you can stay in your seats and I want you to know deep down that YOU. ARE. LOVED.
- This week you said yes to Jesus for the very first time!
- This group was really awesome! She didn’t call it “recommitment/rededication” instead Katie said something like, “If you are part of this last group, when I call your group number, you can come up here to write your name as a commitment to KEEP SAYING YES.” It’s not a “starting over” it’s this act is saying, “Jesus, I’m choosing to love you, and I’m choosing to keep saying yes to you.”
This is what happened:
93-ish students flooded the stage to write their names on RSVP cards at the banquet table making a commitment to saying YES to Jesus for the 1st time.
Campers who said, “We commit to still saying yes to Jesus.”
WOW WOW WOW! WOW!
You guys, I get weepy with joyful wonder just looking at this picture.
After the Say-So campers left for home yesterday.
7/11: Campers left at 12:30p, afterwards we started working towards the All Camp Reset. Meaning after a quick lunch we started cleaning and turning over camp at 1pm.
I say ‘we’ because, myself and all of the a-team families with kiddos 4/5 years or older jumped in to help with preparing camp for the next group that came the next afternoon. We worked until a little after 4pm. It was our first day in the 90’s; high of 96ish here in the canyon. Hotttttt. There was a surprise pool party with special treats held for everyone in the evening followed by a cut throat game of Mafia back at the MCL (Muddy Creek Lodge: WC/SS dorms building).
Over all, my favorite part of everyday is connecting in some way with teenagers as we walk, work, and worship shoulder-to-shoulder. Yesterday, I got to talk with a Summer Staff (SS), S. and her cleaning partner, for the last hour or so of turn over. As they scrubbed shower stalls and I restocked bathmats in each dorm, I learned about how S. is studying to be an Speech Language Pathologist at University of Washington. It was so fun to connect over a shared passion! This college age student was absolutely full of joy and dedication that spilled out of her as she shared her heart.
It was a privilege to just be present holding space for teenagers to tell their story.
Don’t be fooled, there are some frustrating things too. Living in community with teenagers (most of whom) didn’t know each other prior to eight days ago can have its challenges at times. There have been a few know-it-all personality types starting to surface in some of the WC. The thing is these kids especially are natural leaders, it’s just completely unrefined. I’m starting to pray more specifically for their WC boss’s to have wisdom in how to guide and shape those natural strengths while their here this month. I found out today that Dave is the oldest of the four WC bosses. I believe, all of the 40ish WC kids and bosses will continue to grow this month as they learn to serve together with gracious humility.
“Hi Pits! Pits is hard work but all of you are seen thank you for being here. We love you!”
7/12: Today was the first day of week two. Five hundred and three new campers and leaders arrived, as did a new medical team + families, and new adult guests. Today was also the first day we have had of triple digit heat, everybody was drained in new ways. By dinner this evening I saw one of our WC kids, D.G. sleeping with his head on a cleared table in the back corner of the dining hall while they waited for pits duty to start following the camper meal! These sweet babes are working harder than they every have before in their lives. It’s truly impressive!!! As a camp we were challenged to think about this week as “week only”, meaning this is the only week of campers to focus on serving.
Maybe I said this before? To be honest, I wasn’t planning on documenting everyday like I’ve started to. Really it felt like that would be too big of a commitment.
Now that I’m doing it though, I don’t think I can stop. I don’t want to forget things because they have blurred together and I really don’t want to forget the themes of God’s faithfulness or the memories of connections that are being made. Hopefully I was able to tease out the details of the last two days into a few coherent strains of thought.
All my love,
Melissa
Compassionate Odyssey 