I have not been to camp in over 7 years. This camp was so different. First of all I am now married, thirty-something and mother of two boys. For this camp I was not cast in the role of camper but in the role of dorm leader (for females 16 and above), teacher and kitchen assistant.
My hubby and I were asked to teach at the chapel session on Monday. This was a breakout session separating the guys and the gals for a talk on sexual purity. According to my hubby his sesson went excellently. I can only give details on mine since I was there:) The young ladies were fun to share with. They were very open and were honest in the way they expressed themselves. We had loads of laughs and lots of sharing. I pray that what was said to them would be brought to their minds whenever they face situations that tempt them to compromise in the area of sexual purity.
I thoroughly enjoyed sharing with them and being honest about the issues that confront them. It is my firm belief that young people do not need fancy terms and generalities. They encounter specific and graphic information everywhere they go, so we should as their leaders speak to them in terms that they understand(not vulgarly of course) bringing it home to where they live and what they experience. Honesty is better than generalities. Generalities don't help when you are faced with a guy breathing down your neck asking you to do stuff that's not right in the eyes of God.
The main issue here for these young ladies was not so much the actual act of intercourse but the stuff that leads up to it. I was able to share with them several different ways to handle and avert the petting, fondling, caressing and kissing that is reserved for marriage.
Anyway, on to the pictures. The school wall had this on it. It was wonderful to see the positive messages that greeted the children who come to school here every day.
Every day on camp presented a different fun time. We were not short of food, fun, fellowship and spiritual edification although the weather was rainy for the first couple of days especially in the mornings.
The campers were divided into 4 groups. Each group was assigned a different area to clean up and take care of each day. There was kitchen duty, chapel duty, bathroom duty and yard duty. Here are some pics of some of those activities:
Kitchen duty:
Yard duty:
They were quite creative using plastic bags as gloves:
Bathroom duty:
The youth president(a teacher by profession) and a couple other youth(one also a teacher and the other a college student at 15yrs) assisting a high schooler with her school work. Pretty amazing how they all just surrounded her and all tried to help her figure it out.
Some of the younger kids playing a game of UNO during free time.
Day 2 was Sunday and we were visited by the Senior Pastor, his wife and some folks from our home church.
The worship session on Sunday morning:
Our Senior Pastor brought the word. How about that podium? (one of the speakers from the music system - LOL!)
The lunch spread was fabuloso! We had baked macaroni and cheese, potato salad, red beans, baked chicken, baked green banana pie, cole slaw, tomato slices and rice.
The youth president also baked bread on Sunday afternoon.
That evening we had an exciting walk up the road to the village
The youth president climbing a tree to pick guavas to eat.
We were able to explore to our hearts' content the home of an English gentleman who was in Dominica for a month doing some work on his island home.
The house was so fabulous we asked the youth president for some time in the program that evening to make a slideshow and oral presentation to the rest of the campers.
On the way there we got a chance to pet a grown rabbit at this little girl's home
and on the way back the ones who did not get to do that got a chance to pet a baby rabbit.
They also got a soldier crab
and a grasshopper.
At the chapel on Sunday evening a number of young men were given the opportunity to share on various portions of scripture.
The worship session after the young men shared:
Day 3 was Monday and the breakout sessions were awesome as I mentioned above but the evening session took the cake. The Spirit of God descended in our midst and made Himself known in a mighty way. There was not a dry eye in the place. All the young people down to a 5yr old had tears and were moved by the Holy Spirit. After we had a time of explosive praise and worship, the atmosphere changed and the Lord just moved in. My brother in law's wife who was visiting the camp that day with my brother in law and nephew was moved by God to go up on the altar and speak passionately to the young people. While she was doing that the Spirit of God moved upon me to anoint every young person there with oil.
Then the youth president(also the worship leader) just started to speak forth some things and my hubby went and prayed individually with folks who were in almost uncontrollable tears. Some of them crumpled to the floor while being prayed for, others cried out, others worshipped with passion, others ministered to each other while hugging and crying. Stories afterward revealed the depth of ministering they received. Persons spoke of issues of forgiveness that came to their minds, others spoke of an unexplainable warmth and love and touch they felt. Others spoke of how free they felt. We saw young people hands raised. Young people who had never before been seen to express themselves in worship were seen and heard singing out to God tears in their eyes. Guys as well as girls were in tears. They moved among each other hugging, crying and praying for each other while my hubby, his brother and the youth president laid hands, moved among them and spoke in the microphone as led by God.
It was the most awesome outpouring I've ever witnessed among young people. What made it so heart-touching and satisfying for me was to hear them speak of what happened to them. One boy went up to his sister's best friend and asked forgiveness for something that he said to her months ago. I mean it was just awesome. I was behind the camera when the Spirit of God moved in full force and it was my assignment from God for the night to document each and every moment as it happened so that the Senior Pastor and his wife could see what happened as well as for a witness and reminder to those who were there of what happened.
After it was all over it was into the early hours of the morning, the youth president declared that with the atmosphere the way it is we don't have to go to sleep and trust me many did not. They stayed outside relating and replaying the events of the night and how they felt, what they witnessed and just enjoying it all over again. During that time my hubby had the blessing of being able to lead a young lady to Christ (ALLELUIA!!!!!!!)
This camp was great. There was a pillow fight that even the leaders were part of.
Almost everyone put on their bathing suits and had a water fight in the yard on the final day of camp.
This is a camp that the young people will never forget. And neither will the adults who were there. I tried my best to tell you what happened but this was one of those 'you had to be there' experiences. Enjoy some more pictures below. There were four or so other 'paparazzis' and one of them had over 600 pictures. I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of our camp. They are still talking about it. The Senior Pastor wants to extend the length of the camp and also do a churchwide camp after hearing the reports from the young people themselves.
Games on the court across the street on Monday afternoon:
The view from the school yard where we camped:
The island of Guadeloupe visible in the distance while standing in the British gentleman's yard
One of the classrooms set up as a dorm room for camp:
