Kid’s Camp 2009

Every February, we have the privilege of hosting a team from Varsity Bible Church in Canada who, in turn, hosts a 3-day camp for the students at our TEARS School.  This camp is an opportunity for these children to get away from their barrio for several days and play games, swim, and learn more about Jesus.  For the past 3 years, I’ve been on the sidelines of camp.  In 2006, I was the TEARS team coordinator, so I was busy doing the details of the Canada team that was here.  In 2007, I had a nasty case of bronchitis and was unable to help out at all.  And, of course, in 2008, I was giving birth to Mia Grace while the camp was happening!  This year, I was THRILLED to be able to participate.  At first,  I wasn’t so hyped up on being a counselor (of 4th grade girls, nonetheless), but it turned out to be an extremely fun group of girls who made me laugh a lot.

Now, being a counselor comes with some “perks,”  which basically means that you get tortured unnecessarily.  Ok, it’s necessary in order to keep the kids happy.  My “tortures” over the 3 days were as follows:

1)  A contest to see how many marshmallows I could put in my mouth and still say the word “CHEVERISIMO,” which means “really cool” in Spanish  (4th place)

2)  Digging for treasure in a mud pit

3)  A cake eating contest, in which I promptly gagged on the first bite and almost threw up un front of the entire crowd  (last place)

4)  A carnival on the last night, in which the kids could play games and earn money.  They used their money to buy a chance at “vengeance” on their counselors by throwing flour or oatmeal on them or putting them in a dunking booth.  My sweet girls didn’t want vengeance but plenty of the little boys did!!

I’d like to interject a side note that the water in the dunking booth was FREEZING cold.  I know we are on a tropical island, but it does get cold here, and February is one of the coldest months for us.  Not to mention we were in the mountains, which is automatically 15-20 degrees cooler….AND it was at night, so you can shave off another 10 degrees or so….AND the water was from a well, so you can shave off another like 50 (ok, maybe 10 but it felt like 50) degrees!!!  I’m telling you, it was COLD!!!!  And I should also add that it was my dear, sweet hubby that paid for the above “dunking.”  So sweet…..

Our teaching theme for the weekend was on storing your treasure in heaven because “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  The kids enjoyed treasure-hunting pirates that visited us during each session to teach us.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend full of fun and learning and growing deeper in our walks with Jesus!!  Many thanks to the Canadian group that invested so much time and money in planning and pulling off this event.