Time to Serve! (Mark 10:45)

PLACE: PSR Camp

YEAR: 2003

SESSION: Junior Camp #2

DAY: Friday, July 11th 

TIME: 10:31 PM

MISSION: Clean North Village Bathrooms

After Pageant the assistant camp director pulled me aside and asked me if I was busy. After a week of working in the cafeteria (an unexpected assignment that I definitely felt was beneath me) I was tired and more than a little moody. 

I probably gave her an answer like 'yes', but what I remember is walking up to the bathrooms with a toilet brush, a gallon of bleach, and a promise that 'others' would soon be joining me to help.

I must have waited a few minutes, but eventually I started the job myself. I distinctly remember this particular job because when I walked into the bathroom I immediately walked back out to take a breath.

We had a big international group that week, and in their cultural tradition toilet paper doesn't go into the toilet bowl, it goes into a provided trash can. However, there were no trash cans in the bathroom, so the paper was piled high on the floor.     

This is the kind of mistake, as a camp administrator, that you only need to make once. Today we have signs in the bathroom to remind our visitors, but in 2003 we did not have any indicators or directions for our guests.

As you can imagine, my mood did not improve over the course of the next hour. As I was de-gloving after the job was complete (around 11:30 pm) the camp supervisors and a few more volunteers did show-up just in time to watch me throw away the empty bleach container and toss my shoes (and socks) into the trash can.  

That was a long time ago, and it's almost a fond memory at this point.

Nowadays I still have the opportunity to clean bathrooms (the glorious life of a camp assistant director) and I'm really more than happy to do it. When you are a leader at camp, people see you as an authority figure, but what we really do is clean a lot of bathrooms and assign ourselves other inglorious duties that some would cringe at. 

    

I'm really proud of the team of servant leader's we've assembled to work at camp this summer; they really want every staff member & camper to experience success (even when that means a clean bathroom).  

We'll see you at camp!

~Jeremy

"For even the Son of Man came not to served but to serve, 

and to give his life as a ransom for many." ~Mark 10:45