Youngteen Day One!

Youngteen is off to a great start! The week is already out to be a great one! Today was supposed to be rainy and stormy all afternoon, but so far the weather has been fine! However, storms and strong winds are being forecasted for tonight so please pray for safety and peace of mind for all the campers and staff.

The campers have already been playing games, learning about Jesus, and doing awesome camp activities and it is only MONDAY! Yesterday all of the campers arrived and moved into their cabins. Parents were able to help them settle into their cabins and hangout for awhile, but by dinner all the parents were gone and camp had officially started!

After dinner the counselors took their cabins on what we call a “walkabout.” During the walkabout they showed them all the areas of camp and took swim tests. After that all the cabins went up to the “5 Acre Field” to play a huge game of tag before chapel. During chapel that night all the counselors introduced themselves in some goofy and creative ways! Then Dan Mayer, the Program Director, went over the week, explaining important rules and also talking about some of the exciting activities that will happen this week.

Once all the introductions were done and rules covered, the band Pursuit came on stage to lead everyone in worship. After worship Josh Koskinen, the speaker for the week, shared a short message and introduction. Josh was the speaker last summer and he is super excited and pumped to be back this summer. His talk was on our theme “Game On.” He shared about how we need to commit all of our actions to Jesus. He encouraged all of the campers to start committing their actions to the Lord this week.

After chapel, the teams for the week were announced! The first thing the teams did was choose a name. As always the names were very creative! Here they are: Green Galloping Giraffes, Bold Yellow Mellow Jello Fellows, Pretty Perfect Perpetually Predominantly Purple Packmans of Phantom Ranch, Orangealicious Fergalicious Makem Go Bananas. Once the teams had settled on names all the campers headed back to their cabins and played some get-to-know-you games before bedtime.

Today everyone woke up bright and early at 7 a.m.! Before breakfast the campers get ready for the day and clean up their cabins. During chapel the camp nurse goes through each cabin and checks to see which one is the cleanest. Then at evening chapel she announces the winner! The cabin who wins gets extra points for their team, so it can get very competitive!

At 8 a.m. the campers gather at the flagpole for the flag raising and prayer for breakfast. Breakfast this morning was pancakes and sausage! After breakfast they have a short devotion time in the chapel called “Morning Focus.” Then the campers break back into their cabins for cabin small group and cabin activity. Cabin small group is a time for the campers to have discussions about what they are learning this week at camp, and also memorize verses. After small group they start their cabin activity. This is a time set aside for the campers to do an activity exclusively as a cabin such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, paintball, or many other awesome camp activities.

Once cabin activities finished the campers headed up to the “5-Acre Field” for the first team game, Scatterball! The campers had a blast running around and competing against each other. After the game it was time for lunch and then the “chilax” time. Chilax time ends at 2 p.m. and the campers then go to a skill builder. Campers can choose to go to a variety of different skill builders each day. They have many different options ranging from sports to crafts. After skill builders it is camper choice or free time! During camper choice the campers can choose what activity at camp they want to do. For many campers they spend this time cooling off in the lake but some play paintball, make crafts, or go on horse rides.

Camper choice goes until dinner. After dinner the campers will play another game and then have chapel. Take a look at some photos from today and look for more camp updates tomorrow!