I'm not sure why I'm having a harder time working out my thoughts this year. I think it might be partly that I'm now on the leadership team for our camp, and so it feels a little closer to home to think out loud about how the week was--because I had a hand in helping to plan for it, in training the staff, in some of the decision-making during the week, etc. The week went quite well, I think, but that's coming from my biased perspective as one of the people who helped put things together for camp this year.
My role during the week was the same as it has been the past few years. Officially, my role is being part of the chapel team. Unofficially, I'm pretty much the camp clown...
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| Post Talent Show...which it's been my pleasure to emcee for the past 4 years... |
During the week of camp, I'm part of the chapel team. We put on our daily chapel time, which is a kid-friendly presentation of the gospel message, shared through songs, a Bible lesson, and a drama that unfolds throughout the week. We are also charged with putting on Breakfast Club, a time of hilarity and ridiculousness while the Guides (counselors) who work with the campers 22 hours a day get some much-needed downtime. And then there's all the other little joys--wearing silly hats, wandering around with my guitar, getting thrown in the pool fully-clothed by a gaggle of 7-year-old girls, you get the picture? It's camp, and it's fun, for sure! But because of the kids we are serving, kids who have been wounded by adults in their lives, it's not all fun. There are real hurts in these kids' young lives. But for a week at camp, they are just kids, and we're out to shower them with love, care, attention, and joy for the five days they are with us.
There are ups and downs. I've come to realize that shape of the week, having served for four years now...
- Training on Saturday, with a combination of joy at meeting up with new and returning staff, while also facing the reality of preparing for working with kids who have been abused or neglected.
- Commissioning Service on Sunday, followed by more training, and setting up camp.
- Campers arrive on Monday, with all the big feelings that come with that. Anxious kids. Anxious staff. But somehow, we all make it through the first day.
- Campers settle in to life at camp on Tuesday. Relationships between guides and campers begin firming up.
- Everyone has a great time on Wednesday, and we're in full-swing. The peak of the week for me is our Wednesday evening event: the Talent Show, where our campers get their names up in lights, and everyone cheers for them!
- Still having a good time on Thursday, but the reality of heading back to normal life soon starts to affect some of the campers. (And some of the staff too...)
- Challenges on Friday, as we wrap up camp, and have to send the campers back to their normal--whatever that looks like...and there is definitely a range, judging from the stories the kids share. There are lots of tears, from kids and staff alike. We try to hide it from the kids, and they try to hide it from us. But I think there is an unspoken reality: we love camp. We love being together for a week of respite from reality for the kids, even when it's rough on staff and campers alike.
It's always a little tricky adjusting to post-camp "normal." There are so many big feelings throughout the week: excitement, terror, hilarity, worry, immense joy, terrible sorrow, and that's just day 1. After five days pouring out love for the kids, we're all a little emotional. And then, loading the kids back onto the limo-buses on Friday afternoon...well that's just hard, any way you slice it.
And so, walking in to my office on Monday morning, when I met up with colleagues, everyone asks, "How was camp??" What do I say in response to that question?
I'm picturing the kids hiking the trails with their Guides, shooting BB guns, canoeing at the pond. I'm picturing the joys of the Talent Show, where we cheer for each camper who performs--their moment to shine! I'm picturing that bunch of little girls pushing me into the pool with gleeful giggles. I'm picturing the Birthday Party (it's everyone's birthday at RFKC!) with cupcakes, and inflatables, and getting dunked in the dunk tank by a dozen kids in a row.
But I'm also picturing the kids who have a hard time settling down at bedtime. (Why is that? Just the new place? Or is bedtime always a time of tension and anxiety for them?) I'm picturing the (blessedly few) meltdowns some Guides experienced with their campers. I'm picturing the campers who took off running, with their Guides chasing after them, since we always have at least two adults with the kids. And...I'm picturing the campers on the bus ride away from camp, some with tears, some with solemn faces, some with eyes downcast.
So I'm glad you are interested in camp, and I'm truly glad you asked how it was! But it's hard to sum it up in a hallway-conversation-sized response.
The best answer I can give is this: "Camp was, again, great and awful, simultaneously...thanks for asking!" And I'm sorry if that sounds trite or contrived, but it's the truth. The best I can do is share a short story to help give a taste of why I say it's great/awful...
I have the privilege of riding with the campers back to the church where we meet up with foster families. I hesitate to say it's a joy, because it's hard work. This year, I was one of the first on the boys' bus, and observed most of the campers get on. Some very serious faces there. Very few smiles, despite the fun they've had. Quite a few tears, honestly.
I was sitting in the back of the bus with eight or nine little boys, ages six to ten. We were waiting for the last few campers to hop aboard, when the boy sitting right beside me who had been playing it super-cool suddenly grabbed my arm. "Dave, I have to say good-by to my Guide one more time. I HAVE TO." Okay! Go, quickly!
And I watched him weave his way back up the aisle of the bus, wiggle his way out the door, and frantically search the crowd of staff on the curb, ready to wave us good-bye on the way. Camper and Guide met up, and there was a good long hug between them--a side-hug, a "safe" hug for camp, but a long hug, nonetheless. An 8-year-old boy in need of love and care, and the 20-something college grad who lavished that attention on him for a week--definitely a bond that was formed there.
As the camper made his way back down the aisle of the bus, he headed straight toward me, plopped down next to me, and began weeping openly. All I could do was pat him on the back to let him know that it was fine to cry it out. What could I say? "It's going to be okay?" "You'll see him again next year?" "Jesus loves you even in the hard times?" How am I to know if it's going to be okay for him? How am I to know if he--or his Guide--will be back next year? The truth of "Jesus loves you" is real, but not the right time for this message. And so I patted his back as he wept; sitting in silence with him as the driver put the limo-bus into gear and we headed down the driveway. I was misty-eyed too, honestly.
See what I mean? Camp was great. So, so amazing to be part of this team, and to meet up with these fantastic kids! But camp was also awful. It's just SO hard to send the kids off at the end, even though I hope and trust that God goes with them, wherever they are headed.
To give a fuller answer to the "How was camp??" question would require a deeper conversation to try to paint the whole picture. Or...maybe you'll just come and join us next year and experience it for yourself firsthand?
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