Junior 2: Monday

Happy 4th of July!!

Today I hope you not only think about how great it is to live in a country that can declare freedom, but I also hope you think about the freedom we are offered in and through Christ! Even in the midst of chaos and sin in a world that is not entirely free, we are able to live a life of freedom because of Christ's sacrifice, and I definitely think that's worthy of celebration and pursuit!

That being said, today we are not only celebrating a National Holiday, but we are also celebrating because our second group of Junior campers have arrived!! :)

It is certainly an exciting day!

Our campers arrived this morning, and many of them were wearing very patriotic attire! After everyone was settled into their cabins and we kissed our parents goodbye, we all headed down to the gym to kick off the new week!

We gathered together to welcome everyone to camp, and to go over some basic camp rules. After the staff acted out short rule skits, we split everyone up into four teams that they will be enjoying activities and playing games with throughout the week. The teams got to know one another by playing name games, and also came up with team names! This week the team names had to be a state name, and a plant! We had everything from the Wyoming Weeds, to California Cactus! It's looking to be a great week with names as cool as those! :)

After coming up with team names and decorating team flags, it was time to head up the hill for a picnic lunch of hot dogs, fruit, chips, and popsicles!

When our tummies were all full, we came together for a camp picture and then went off to our cabins for cabin time to go over basic cabin rules.

After cabin time, the boys went out to start their Bible study while the girls went to take their swim tests and learn how to canoe! When they were done, the boys and girls switched activities!




Today's Bible study can be found in 1 John chapter 1. Our counselors talked with their cabins about times they had personally experienced God in a very real way, and the campers had time to reflect on times they might have experienced God as well. It was an introduction to our theme this week, which is "Alive." This week we will be talking about what it's like to become "Alive" in and with Christ, and what it looks like to live a life with Christ.

This week our campers each have a booklet with the passages of scripture in them, and will be highlighting, underlining and circling various words and phrases based on their color code. This gets the campers to be interactive with the text, and dissect what they're reading. It also has the campers read the passage multiple times, which often furthers deeper understanding of what they're reading as well. So far this summer the campers have loved getting to look at the Bible in such a personal, tangible way!

Following Bible study and swim tests/canoeing, the camp was opened up for free time! During this time, campers can play tether ball, GaGa, carpet ball, nine square, and more!

After free time, we all gathered together for a delicious dinner of spaghetti, homemade bread, salad, and banana pudding for dessert! It was a very satisfying and tasty meal, prepared by our awesome cooks!

When we were all finished eating, we gathered together in the chapel for worship and a message from Monty Harlan. Monty talked to us about how we have become dead in our sin, and why we need to become Alive in Him.

After chapel, we took a break at the Snack Shack, and then went down the hill for our evening game. Tonight's evening game was Rocket's Red Glare, to celebrate the 4th of July!

When the game came to a close, we all went back to our cabins to go to sleep.

This week is off to a great start! We can't wait to watch our campers learn and grow even more. We are continuously praying that God would be working in each of their hearts. Here's to a new week! :)