CEF Camp

Camp is over, Yay! This camp was hard. It's not to say I hated it, it's just that it was one of the more difficult camps I've done. Actually this camp went really well. It was full on, went really fast and completely wore everyone out, but it was fantastic.
On Sunday all the leaders arrived and we had leader training and games and stuff. I met the girl who was going to be my co-leader for the week, and we got along well, which was great! We also realized we live just down the road from each other - how cool is that!? She even baby sits my next door neighbours children :).
Monday morning all the children arrive- I'm not sure how many this camp, but probably 65-70. 6 little girls ages 8-10 in my team. Getting the hang of all their names was hard. They had such weird names!
For the next few days we did heaps of games and activities - got covered in mud, got majorly sunburnt, and we even got to light our own little team camp fires and cook sausages and marshmallows.
The reason this camp was hard was because the girls I had were not the most well behaved girls that ever walked the planet. They got very tiring very fast, which was not a very good thing. They almost constantly fought with each other, or wouldn’t do what they were told. At times it was hard to keep my cool. There was a couple times when I felt like dragging those little darlings to where they were supposed to go - not a very good feeling, but it was all worth it in the end. There is something amazing about knowing that all those children heard the gospel, and that even if most didn't get saved, they have in their hearts and minds the Truth. We can only pray that someday, perhaps when they are older, they will remember the bible stories and memory verses they learned and it will somehow bring them on their knees before their Maker. And that is a thrilling thought. To give hope to children in a desperate world. Where their families are in pieces and many have "issues", behavioural, emotional; etc, and then they come to camp and find that Someone truly cares. When I think of it like that, it makes all that stress and tiredness and plain hard work all worth it. And I can't wait for next camp :)

Here is a poem I wrote, which says a little about CEF camps :)

The Camp week

Day 1 is so scary

Where icebreakers abound

Old friends are still there

And new ones are found

Day 2 is the day
That camp really starts

70 children arrive

With wide open hearts

Day 3 the children

Are all settling in

We remember their names

Now let the fun begin

Day 4 it’s getting tiring

Late nights and early mornings

The children know us better now

And that should give us warnings

Day 5 is the long haul

And you very soon find

That patience is a virtue

 Everyone should mind

Day 6 camp is almost over

Hugs and lots of goodbyes

The last songs we sing together

As we leave to our separate lives

And though it has been hard

And went in such a whirl

The gospel has been told

To every boy and girl

That makes it all worth it

It’s why we put up with the slack

And the next time camp is on

We leaders will be back

~Rachel