It was a calm, cool, clear, morning for our polar bear swim. The glass like surface of the lake was soon broken by the chop of our polar bear swimmers. This early morning swim gave us a chance to to continue to bond with our campers.
Some of our very young campers were somewhat reluctant to dive into the icy cold water. But they really want to make the swim and prove they were polar bear material. Their counselors dove in first and trod water encouraging them to make the dive. Each camper in turn slid into the water from the far dock and made their way to the beach. There was one story which, particularly plucked at our hear strings and was representative of our role here at camp. One little camper want to claim the title of Polar Bear, but was nervous about making the swim. Once he was in the water, he swam over to his counselor and clung to his shoulders as his counselor swan them both to shore. The camper beam that he had made it to shore and met his goal of making Polar Bear.
Each counselor looks to support their camper in anything the camper wants to accomplish while at
camp. The support can happen in many ways, whether it’s an encouraging word, teaching a new skill or just being there when the camper wants to share something about their lives. After the swim and a warm shower came Activity Center time. Archery is one of the activities in which the campers can participate.
We were excited to see that the host camp has built a new archery course. Archery instructor Lee did his usual stellar job of teaching archery skills to the new campers who have not had the chance to participate in the sport of archery as of yet, and had them hitting the bulls eye and the 3-D deer target in no time.
As mentioned in yesterday’s post, this year’s play centers around a sheepfold and the trials and tribulations the sheep experience as they disobey the good shepherd and strike out on their own to discover new grass and what they perceive to be freedom. it’s not long before they meet a wolf, who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and find themselves in very dangerous situations. Today we left off with the wolf luring one of the most rebellious rams into his den and now the ram finds he may be the main course for dinner rather than a guest for dinner as he first thought. Tomorrow we learn if he ends up as the wolf’s next meal or if the Good Shepherd rescues him in time.
Tonight was both awards night and graduation night. If you’ve been following our blog over the years, you may remember that each camper receives a unique award specifically chosen by their counselors for them. For example, you might have an award for the the best zip line rider or the best dragonfly catcher. The sky’s the limit on both the creativity and categories for what can be chosen as the award. Each camper beamed as he/she received his/her award.
We had five graduates this year. A graduate is defined as a camper who will reach their twelfth birthday prior to the next camp. Each graduate wears a mortarboard, receives a RFK medal, Bible and tee shirt which states they are a RFK graduate. It’s always both exciting and sad to say goodbye to our grads. We pray that God will watch over them as they journey on to the next chapter of their lives.
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