Camp is Over

Well the 2^nd and 3^rd day of camp went well We’ve had on off rain, so it’s been a bit cooler, which is really nice, but our rooms are sweltering… and there’s no air-conditioning in them. For the counselors, our day starts at 7am as we meet together to discuss the schedule for the day, the message that will be given later that evening, and the cabin time from the night before. The cabin time is a time we have at night with the campers to see what they thought of the message and answer any questions concerning their faith.

After that the campers are up and we take them to breakfast. In between each activity there’s usually a little bit of a break for the kids to either make their way around and or get a little rest, or like most of them go play games.

English lessons are next. From 9:30am-12pm with a 15 minute break starting at 10:30am. Because we have such a wide range of the level of English speakers the 15 kids have been broken up into 4 groups. 3 who are completely bilingual in English and Japanese so they just play games with Isaiah, 8 who are beginners and split up between Kai and Jon, and 4 intermediate level kids who have fallen into my care. They’ve been great and they know much more then they think but because they’re so shy it takes them a bit to warm up. I usually get them going with a game, it makes the “warming up” process less painful.

Anywho, next they have lunch, and of course everything has an American tough being that its runs by mainly Americans. From 1-3 is rafting or swimming time. This has been a favorite however Monday’s rafting was rained out and Isaiah and his raft, which was filled with all the boys manages to tip over. One boy floated down the river, but was recovered. I unfortunately didn’t have time to go rafting though I really wanted to. Electives start at 3pm. The kids have a choice of either; Volley Ball with Isaiah, Games with Kai, Crafts with Katrin, and of course cooking with myself. The Sunday we made Chocolate Mousse and today, Monday, we made Zeppoles, Italian Dough-nut holes.

From 4-5:45pm the kids have free time and at 5:45 the kids go to dinner. At 7pm the kids have fun time. The first night each team was given a few items and they had to concoct something to hold a raw egg that would sustain being dropped from the second story of a building. It didn’t go so well, we had scrambled eggs and sadly no one received any points. They kids were given a ruler, plastic bag, 2 pieces of paper, a pencil, scissors, some tape and a balloon.

Around 8pm we have worship time and a message is given. Usually around 10pm the kids go back to their cabins and we have cabin time with them to discuss the message. Tonight however we got to have a bon fire where the kids shared what they learned at camp, we sang songs and made smores… as it started to rain.

All in all it was a great time and there still is much more that went on but words can’t give you the big picture of what the Lord is doing here. Tomorrow the kids go home and really all we can do is pray and hope the Lord will move His Spirit upon them and some may come to know him. Thank you for your prayers. Tomorrow (or I guess it's today now being that it's 12:15 am here Tuesday morning) we head back for Tachikawa.