It was packed. Busy. challenging and exhausting. But it was also fun, awesome, and interesting!
We had round about 300 young people from over the country which makes it always interesting and I took with me two of my students (Chanteline and Indepensia) and my youngest sister (Fiyo). The schedule was basically the same as last year. We were all divided up into four teams as soon as we arrived: yellow, green,blue, and red. I was in red team the first day and then I became an orange cap the next, which were all the leaders. I shared a conference hall with 23 girls and anther woman who was also one of the leaders.Throughout the week teams took part in different activities like soccer, volleyball, and netball.They compete against each other for the 3 trophies; the Sport trophy, Spirit trophy, and the Bible Quiz trophy.
On the final night the yellow team took the Bible trophy. The Blue team took the Sport trophy and the Green team took the Spirit trophy which is more based on character, serving and a good attitude.
All the sports, the cheers and the games were amazing, but more than that one of the things that caught my attention was the brokenness, rejection and the Identity crisis in some of these youth, especially the ones they brought in from the streets. There were 4 boys and among them was a 13 year old girl named Jane. Really beautiful with light brown eyes. She didn't speak much not even on the different occasions that I have approached her. But I was able to connect the dots and get a glimpse of her life according to what she said and quietly observing her in a distance. Being there was really a challenge for her, something outside her comfort zone and she didn't really liked it nor enjoyed it that much especially the first few days but she agreed that it was good for her.
The first few days were indeed hard and a great challenge
for me too,
mostly being a leader and also having to share a room with 23 teens who came from different back grounds,raised differently and have
different beliefs.
I spend some nights awake and praying...it was a challenge. Something outside my comfort zone. Some how I could relate to Jane, at first none of us really enjoyed the situation we were in but as days went by we kind of started to grow into it. I realized that some times we need trials, challenges and a different environment in order to move out of our comfort zones and grow. Some times we need to be pressed from both sides in order to truly know the conditions of our hearts because sometimes it helps to expose the pride,self-righteousness and selfishness. Which if acknowledged, brings us to our knees in repentance and surrender. That is what the camp did for most of these young people and for me personally.
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Grace and Queen
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| I look "cool" is the word |
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| Swimming time |
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| Sports |
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| The Sport trophy: Blue team member |
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| The Spirit trophy: Green team members |
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| Final moments |
