Church Camp 2011
Well, we had another great year at Church Camp. This is the second year that Gess spent the night. (For grades 1 & 2 they spend 2 days and one night at camp)
I have to tell you the funniest thing she did this year. Gess is NOT a huge fan of noise, especially noise from people talking too loudly. At camp they really encouraged the kids to be loud. They said this is the time when you are allowed to be loud at church so take advantage of it. Well, Gess spent quite a bit of time with her hands over her ears, that is until she figured something out.
They also have a rule that while you are allowed to be loud, when the leaders need you to be quiet you must obey. So they have this game. If they want you quite they raise their fist in the air and get quiet. When you see that, you also raise your fist in the air and get quiet. The goal is NOT to be the last one talking. It actually works really well and the kids all get quiet and pay attention fairly quickly.
Well, after we had SMORES at the campfire we went to watch our camp director Buddy use some Science to illustrate some gospel truths. Well, that got the boys really excited and they were pretty loud but by this time, Gess knew what to do to get them quiet. As they got loud, she raised her hand, then others raised their hands and even the leader raised his hands, getting them all back quiet and paying attention again. A few ladies and I were laughing so hard because none of the kids were aware that it was Gess, not a leader that wanted them quiet! It was so funny!
Anyway, our theme for camp was going on a road trip. We talked about how important it was to follow the signs on the road, just like it was important for us to follow God's Word. Our missionary had been to Africa and she taught a song in Swahili. She was also a native of England so she used her roots to share the gospel by using a tea bag. Yep, you read that right, a tea bag. Kids just love illustrations like that and it was pretty cool. I found a link to The Teabag Gospel where you can see how it's done. Gess sat through all the services and listened rather well.
Here is Gess and our missionary speaker. We snapped this as Gess was on her way to the water slide.
Gess just loves music which is usually her favorite part. Being able to dance around the church is a fun change of pace too. They used the Go Fish Guys Let's Sing songs for part of worship. That's great because Gess has that DVD and is familiar with those songs. From that DVD they sang, Ten Commandment Boogie, Lord I Lift Your Name on High, and Bible Stories. They sang some other songs too, including this one which was new for Gess.
For crafts the last couple of years they have been painting blocks that they will use to decorate camp. The blocks they made last year were placed in front of the office. They painted flags from different countries on them to represent all the places that missionaries go to spread the gospel. Gess painted a flag from Denmark, we found that easiest. She got to see it in place this year! Here she is in front of it.
They also made some doorknob hangers. She enjoyed both activities.
At night in the cabin Gess wanted to sleep on the top bunk, but since she has a tendency to fall out bed, mom said no! Here she was trying to confiscate my bed!
In the evening we would lower the flag and have a time of respect and prayer. In the morning we would raise the flags, say the pledges and pray before breakfast. Here she is waiting for the ceremony to begin. (You can see a couple of road signs behind her)
There was also plenty of playtime. Gess got pretty good at shooting baskets!
It does take some work to help Gess stay on schedule and on task, but she did pretty good. Next year her age group stays for a whole week. At this point I am not sure she is up to it but a year can bring lots of changes, so we shall see. All in all it was a great camp and I am glad we went.
I have to tell you the funniest thing she did this year. Gess is NOT a huge fan of noise, especially noise from people talking too loudly. At camp they really encouraged the kids to be loud. They said this is the time when you are allowed to be loud at church so take advantage of it. Well, Gess spent quite a bit of time with her hands over her ears, that is until she figured something out.
They also have a rule that while you are allowed to be loud, when the leaders need you to be quiet you must obey. So they have this game. If they want you quite they raise their fist in the air and get quiet. When you see that, you also raise your fist in the air and get quiet. The goal is NOT to be the last one talking. It actually works really well and the kids all get quiet and pay attention fairly quickly.
Well, after we had SMORES at the campfire we went to watch our camp director Buddy use some Science to illustrate some gospel truths. Well, that got the boys really excited and they were pretty loud but by this time, Gess knew what to do to get them quiet. As they got loud, she raised her hand, then others raised their hands and even the leader raised his hands, getting them all back quiet and paying attention again. A few ladies and I were laughing so hard because none of the kids were aware that it was Gess, not a leader that wanted them quiet! It was so funny!
Anyway, our theme for camp was going on a road trip. We talked about how important it was to follow the signs on the road, just like it was important for us to follow God's Word. Our missionary had been to Africa and she taught a song in Swahili. She was also a native of England so she used her roots to share the gospel by using a tea bag. Yep, you read that right, a tea bag. Kids just love illustrations like that and it was pretty cool. I found a link to The Teabag Gospel where you can see how it's done. Gess sat through all the services and listened rather well.
Here is Gess and our missionary speaker. We snapped this as Gess was on her way to the water slide.
Gess just loves music which is usually her favorite part. Being able to dance around the church is a fun change of pace too. They used the Go Fish Guys Let's Sing songs for part of worship. That's great because Gess has that DVD and is familiar with those songs. From that DVD they sang, Ten Commandment Boogie, Lord I Lift Your Name on High, and Bible Stories. They sang some other songs too, including this one which was new for Gess.
For crafts the last couple of years they have been painting blocks that they will use to decorate camp. The blocks they made last year were placed in front of the office. They painted flags from different countries on them to represent all the places that missionaries go to spread the gospel. Gess painted a flag from Denmark, we found that easiest. She got to see it in place this year! Here she is in front of it.
They also made some doorknob hangers. She enjoyed both activities.
At night in the cabin Gess wanted to sleep on the top bunk, but since she has a tendency to fall out bed, mom said no! Here she was trying to confiscate my bed!
In the evening we would lower the flag and have a time of respect and prayer. In the morning we would raise the flags, say the pledges and pray before breakfast. Here she is waiting for the ceremony to begin. (You can see a couple of road signs behind her)
There was also plenty of playtime. Gess got pretty good at shooting baskets!
It does take some work to help Gess stay on schedule and on task, but she did pretty good. Next year her age group stays for a whole week. At this point I am not sure she is up to it but a year can bring lots of changes, so we shall see. All in all it was a great camp and I am glad we went.
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Julieanne
http://www.JoyInOurJourney.com