Junior #1: Friday

Friday Night Pageant

What a busy day it has been. This morning our classes met for the last time. We had the campers take a test over their skills to evaluate how much we were able to teach them in this short week. We always strive to teach them as much as possible so that we can be good stewards of the investment parents trust us with for their child.

Last Day of Adventurus Class

The day continued with Super Big Event. The campers dueled in a game of boys vs. girls extreme dodgeball. The twist is that rather than simply throwing to get everyone out, there is a line of cones that each side tries to knock over as well. The cones act as a clock because the first side to knock them all over wins. This means we can start new games sooner and get everyone back involved.

After we left the field, open activities began. The campers got a chance to play lasertag, go skateboarding, play soccer, swim in the pool or climb the wall at ropes. Skateboarding was absolutely flooded with campers, but our skateboarding instructor Oscar did a great job of making sure that each and every camper got the opportunity to skate.

Super Big Event Climbing Wall

We travelled from there to the cafeteria for dinner for everybody’s favorite meal: grilled cheese and tomato soup. Then we started the most important of our week. We cleaned for the Sabbath and then made our way to the campfire bowl for Pageant. Pageant this year follows a prodigal and her journey away from God and her family. In the final scene even those with the most reason not to accept her back, welcome her with open arms. 

Welcome Home to the Prodigal

Tomorrow morning we will be sleeping in a little and having breakfast as a cabin family. Then we will journey back in time to the Sabbath Village for an interactive bible experience. We can’t wait to show them God’s grace.

Blessings,                         -Colin

Junior #1: Thursday

Light Writing from Photo Class

This morning we woke up to a breakfast of omelets and tater tots. Then we headed off to camp council where Pastor Larry shared more stories about walking the talk. The rest of the day went pretty normally. We went to our activities and then during line call batman saved the mail and brought it to the campers.

Amanda at Line Call

Today was our first deviation from the regular daily schedule. After the activity rotations and dinner (which was my personal favorite: spaghetti and tortellini) concluded, we shifted to our special Thursday evening program: Carnival. Our carnival is an eclectic and entertaining time for everyone. 

We serve Ice-cream, Nachos and Popcorn. We set up a special store and had a basketball game going all night. We even had Lasertag available for the evening, but my favorite part of the night is the Photo Booth we set up for the campers to goof off. 

Snapshot from the Photo Booth

Before any of that began we hosted a giant game of life sized Sorry in which the campers were the pawns. The twist: before anyone could move they had to answer some camp related trivia. The campers love it and the staff have a great time too!

We can't wait to get started in the morning so without further ado, goodnight.                -Colin

Junior #1: Wednesday

Blackfoot raising the flag

I’m pretty sure I sound like a broken record, but today was another great day here at PSR! We had a breakfast of waffles and fruit topping and then a flag raising done by cabin Blackfoot. At camp council this morning Pastor Larry taught us more about how to walk the talk. He even did the coke and mentos trick, which almost accidentally soaked a cabin in soda. It was all very exciting.

The morning classes then started and the campers all had a great time. In the photo class today we covered a few applications for a fast shutter speed. We shot at sports and skateboarding and showed the kids how to freeze motion with the camera.

Lunch was a hit, we had baked potatoes with chili and toppings. I asked a camper today what his favorite meal in the cafe was and he said “all of them” so I take that as high praise.

Afternoon activities went off without a hitch and then we went to the field for a game of ultimate handball. We had pizza for dinner and then cabin Nez Perce presented what must have been the most technically good flag lowering at camp this summer.

Finally we headed up to the fort for the final night of our story where Hope Gale attempted to pit the opposing heirs to the rightly estate against each other and have the winner inherit the Gail estate. When Jeremiah won and refused to finish off Rhett she ordered him killed, but then Autumn’s late husband’s brigade came to the rescue and informed Hope that Jeremiah is in fact the blood heir to both estates and that she had nearly ended the feud there by killing off both families.

Jeremiah and Rhett fight to stay alive.

The story touched a lot of hearts when everyone involved had a chance for gain, but they set it aside out of love. Jeremiah’s courage was immense to risk his own life to save the boy he thought was his enemy. That’s the kind of sacrifice Jesus made. Our kids loved the play and we do too.

I can’t wait to tell you about tomorrow. Good night!         -Colin

Junior #1: Tuesday

Cornucopia on the Field

Day two is under our belts and we are still having a great time up here. Our classes are in full swing, after administering pretests yesterday we were able to dedicate all our time to teaching them the material for the week. We cherish every opportunity we get to teach our kids and these kids absorb so much information. We have such an opportunity to influence our campers this week and we have every intention of influencing them to learn new skills and to fall in love with Jesus.

We had a delicious lunch of mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables and then headed off to afternoon activity rotations. Then we went to the field where our Activities Coordinator Judith led us in a game of cornucopia. Cornucopia is a great game of free for all dodgeball kind of like “steal the bacon” we played in middle school. We view it as a safer alternative with much more entertaining results and the campers love it. It’s even the staff’s favorite game.

Outpost tonight was really interesting too. Autumn Wrightley went to her mother’s family for help, but when her adopted brother found out she had a son to be an heir to the family, he made a plan to protect his sons fortune. Tomorrow night we will find out what Autumn does to rescue Jeremiah from the Gail family.

We hope each and every camper has fun this week at PSR,       -Colin

Junior #1: Monday

A Shot from the Photo Class

Today was so much fun. With just one day under our belts I can already tell that Junior camp is going to be great. These kids are so much fun. They can stand in a straight line, they answer questions and their sense of humor has evolved beyond jokes about bodily functions. We love these kids (I know, I say that about all our campers, but its true). 

A class very close to my heart began today. Our digital photography class got their first chance to go shoot in the field at our Archery department. I love working with the kids as they develop into young photographers. Our curriculum is actually based a college photo curriculum adapted for younger kids and they leave here with all the knowledge they need to be strong amateur photographer. 

The gratuitous plug for my favorite class aside, the rest of the campers had a great time too. We had breakfast burritos in the cafe this morning and then we headed off to camp council where we heard our first message from Pastor Larry. Pastor Larry used to be a staff member here and now he is back to bring the word to our campers. 

Go-Karts after we came back from rainy day.

The rest of the day went according to schedule, except for a brief reprieve during the first afternoon activity rotation when we had to go to rainy day schedule, but our staff didn’t miss a beat and the campers had just as much fun playing games indoors.

In our first night of outpost we saw a young boy kidnapped by the evil Gail family and his mother run off for help. Tomorrow night we will find out where she goes and what the plan is to get them back.

We are so excited about camp this week,         -Colin

Discovery Camp: Final Day

The Sabbath Village

What a way to end the week!  The morning began with breakfast baskets so the cabins could have some time together eating as a family. We sang songs together and then headed down to our sabbath village for our sabbath morning experience. The kids had a great time interacting with the inhabitants of the village until the evil governor arrived, but never fear Jesus was there to give the town hope and empower them to drive to governor away. 

These boys are God's soldiers. Singing at camp council.

We escaped the heat for lunch in the cafeteria and had some sabbath quiet time. Then we went to the Ponderosa Room and had our Sabbath Church Service with a message from Pastor Benny. 

We split up into groups for our sabbath afternoon program and came back together for vespers to close the sabbath. From there we headed over to the Campfire Bowl for Saturday Night at the Ranch. We sang songs, watched some hilarious skits and found out who won Cabin of the Week and Ultimate Cabin. We were also treated to a glowstick firework show presented by the staff.

Today was packed with programming for our kids to end camp in the right way. We will be sad to see our campers go, but next week’s campers will get here soon after.

Don’t forget that camper pick up starts tomorrow at 9:30 and ends at 11:30.

Blessings,    -Colin

Discovery Camp: Day 5

Prayer Circle before Pageant

Is it really sabbath already? This week seems like it has flown by so fast. Surely yesterday we were welcoming the campers into the Ponderosa Room and sending them to their cabins. Nonetheless, a week full of memories is under our belts and we are preparing for our Sabbath change of schedule.

Flag Raising

Today we started with a sweet breakfast of french toast and from there we had a flag raising by Counselor Kristin and cabin Cheyenne. We went to Camp Council and from there we went to our morning rotations. Lunch was a summer favorite: corn dogs and watermelon.

Fun at the Archery Range

An hour later we met on the field for a game of handball. The kids had a blast getting the ball from goal to goal and our staff had a great time keeping up with them while they ran on the field. We opened the ropes course, the pool, drama and lazertag for super big event. The rest of the day was set aside for getting ready for the sabbath.

Then came our favorite part of the week: Friday night pageant. The stage flooded with campers committing their lives to Christ. We sang our hearts out as one by one the cabins went off to debrief after the program. Nothing excites us more than when a camper gives his life to Christ.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day as we celebrate the sabbath together. I can’t wait,        -Colin