Out of The Mouth of Babes

Tomorrow I will leave for JCLC Carolina, a camp held at Fort Jackson for JROTC cadets like myself. The stay was only supposed to last until friday but I received a letter in the mail this past Sunday informing me that the dates would be June 16th-June 22nd. Monday through Sunday. This is most unfortunate for me because it means having to miss Patriotic Sunday at my church. Instead of rambling about how stupid it is to hold a camp that takes up the most common time church services are held in the area, I will leave you with a recap of my five days of Junior Camp this past week.
Junior Camp is a camp that my church holds every summer for kids going into 3rd-7th grade. I was an assistant counselor as well as a worker/helper. So much has happened this week that I know I have forgotten a lot and I won't have all of the memories recorded, but I will hold on to the lessons learned and decisions made. The night before I left for camp, I was completely distraught. I was crying and praying to God to take me out of a situation similar to one in my past that He removed me from. Other people's bad choices were affecting me and it had gotten to a point where I just felt that I could not handle it anymore. I prayed that the kids at camp would understand that their decisions don't just affect them.
My stuff was packed up and ready to go on Monday morning. I headed to the church to help sign in the kids and get lunch ready for later that day. Little did I know that all the running around I was doing then could not compare to how much work was ahead of me. I began to get nervous on the bus ride there. How can I take care of so many kids? What if I mess up? I wanted to be a positive influence on the kids and somehow impact their lives. I made up my mind before unloading the luggage on the campgrounds that I was going to try my best to not ask anyone to do anything for me, keep my stuff neat, never be rude to a child(or anyone for that matter), and help out in anyway possible.
While the campers were being divided into groups, I helped out in the kitchen preparing lunch for over 100 people. It still surprises me that we were always able to have everything ready for meals when everyone arrived at the cafeteria and had enough food for people to have seconds every time. The first time in the kitchen was actually the easiest because we had made the sandwiches before we left from the church. From then on, everything was prepared right before it was served, which I thought to be a near impossible task, but somehow it always worked out.
Later that night we had a chapel service with a message on choices. After chapel we always played a game that all the campers could get involved in. The first night was Alien Invaders. Campers waited at one end of the camp ground while counselors hid in the woods. The kids had to make it to the chapel porch before they got tagged. I went to help prepare snacks. After snack time was counselor corner. We had the kids sit in a group in our cabin and each night a different counselor spoke. The next morning everyone was supposed to wake up, but that proved to be a difficult task considering half of the group had stayed up extra late to talk to each other. We had cabin clean up time, quiet Bible reading time, and then off to breakfast. After breakfast, the cleanest cabin would be announced and that cabin would get served food first for the next 24 hours. After breakfast they had to attend a morning chapel service(which left me time to do most of the unfinished cleaning). Team competition changed everyday and lasted long enough for almost everyone to play two games each. They had lunch later on and after lunch was swim time for girls and individual competition for the boys. Then they switched. Supper would be ready by the time they were done. An hour was set aside after supper everyday for free time, and if the kids wanted bonus points for their teams, all of them could attend choir for the last half of free time. Right after choir was the game, then snacks, and counselor corner again.
That was the routine for the week.
My experience was much deeper than a mere routine. I was always busy doing something whether it was watching the kids at swim time, helping out with competitions, making the food, distributing it, cleaning up the cabin(which was never 100% until everyone left and the counselors completely cleaned it out), or helping in the snack shop. Even while working, I still found time to spend with the kids. I learned most of their names. I learned how to not just deal with, but actually communicate with the kids who were always whining or would not pay attention. I gained so much experience by being around them and just talking with them.
The second night, I had been thinking about my situation back home and how upset I had been. I honestly had lost faith that one person in particular could ever be saved. How hypocritical of me, right? I consider myself as having an extremely large amount of faith and trust in God in all things and yet I didn't think He could ever save this person. Nor would this person ever turn to Him anyway. But the second night at camp, the little girl in the bunk next to me randomly began to tell me about King Ahab and that he was the most evil king ever and he got saved. I really needed that story then more than ever and I still can't believe it came from the mouth of a child. It really proved to me that God can use anything. He is there and He cares more than you know.