Day Four – Speedboats, Waves, and Sand

 It is another sunny day for our campers, buddies, and staff. After a good breakfast, the campers attended J-Zone, a time of teaching, music, puppets, and drama.

Sue tells the story of Joseph as a slave in Egypt. 

A camper plays the role of Joseph in chains.

During J-Zone today, Bible Teacher Sue continued with the story of Joseph.  Sold to a man named Potiphar, an official of the Pharoah, Joseph was recognized for his education, leadership, and God’s favor on his life. Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his businesses and household.  But Joseph’s world crashed down around him, when he was falsely accused of attacking Potiphar’s wife.  Joseph was sent to a prison that was established to hold prisoners of Pharoah.  The prison warden recognized that Joseph had the favor of God on his life and was put him in charge of the prison. This is where we leave Joseph for now. 

Campers riding in the speedboat 

Campers riding in the speedboat 

The campers were able to spend the afternoon on the waterfront, swimming, boating, and playing on the sandy beach.  The campers were able to skim across the water in the camp speed boat.  All were smiling broadly and laughing as the enjoyed the ride. 

Camper takes a swim

Camper catches a water beetle 

Buddy displays the camper's big catch  

Today was the last day for fishing. Many campers surrounded the fishing hole in hopes of one more big catch. This hope became a reality for one of our campers, who reeled in a fish over 18 inches. He hold the largest fish record for our this camp's season.

This evening was a time for distributing awards. Each camper was given an award that reflect some of the things they enjoyed during camp, such as best zipline rider or bug box builder.  The evening ended on a happy note.

Day Four Is a Day for Grads

 Today started with much like other days at camp.  First a hot breakfast, followed by Breakfast Club and then J-Zone.  In J-Zone we heard the account of Daniel, who was pulled for his homeland and taken to a foreign country.  Daniel, renamed Belteshazzar, was chosen to serve the king Nebuchadnezzar.  Daniel was singled out by his enemies for praying to God, rather than considering the king a God, as required by law.  Although this brings trouble for Daniel, in the end God recognizes his faithfulness and helps him persevere. 

Campers play King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel with a little coaching from Pastor Sue

Our campers can relate to Daniel's story, sometimes moving, possibly experiencing name changes, and experiencing being the "new kid" in class.  We learn that through it all, God will help us deal with our circumstances.  

After lunch we headed to the waterfront to ride the camp pontoon boat. This boat is new to our camp and the campers really enjoyed the experience.  The rest of the time was spent swimming and enjoying the beachfront.  

Camp pontoon boat

 On Thursdays, we celebrate our graduates.  Campers are considered graduates if they will reach the age limit for attending camp. Graduates receive a medal and a new Bible to take with them as they head into their next adventure.

Prayers for our graduates  

Ready for the traditional throw of caps in the air.

Graduations are an emotional time, knowing we might not see our graduates again.   

Wrapping up our evening was a time to reflect on what our fears might be and how we can replace those fears with hope.  Campers, buddies, and staff were encouraged to write their fears on a rock and throw the rock into camp pond as a symbol for releasing our fears and refocusing on hope. 

Camper and buddy toss their rocks with fears written on them in the pond

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 6-7.