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It is here. The dreaded beginning of the end. I guess I don't really know when the end official started, Maybe it was last week when I started to get sentimental over the silly things like this is the last Thursday of a full week, or the last lunch of chicken wraps, but it was the things like last SALT growth and last camp church service for the staff that really got me thinking about the "lasts".
I wasn't the only one either. Most of the staff is feeling sentimental over the "lasts". As this week marks the last week of summercamp, the "lasts" have been coming in hot: the last registration, the last hamburgers and fries night, the last cabin photos, and the last cabin covenants. Certainly those are not the last of the "lasts", and probably the "lasts" are not going to get any easier. As someone told me today, "Get it together, Sam! Summer isn't over." I could probably write a sappy summer post all day long, but when it came down to it, summer isn't over. Today, we welcomed a whole batch of new fledgling and peewee campers and they deserve a week the same as the campers who come the first week of summer. If I am stuck in the corner being overly sentimental, I will miss the opportunities that God is placing right in front of me. Tonight before bed, I asked some campers how day one went. Most responses were met with uncontrollable grins and answers like "super fun". Then I asked, "Well, do you think you will stay another day?" You can imagine what they responded with. It reminded me that these campers weren't worrying about the "lasts" because to them it was just the beginning of something great. My last Sunday night campfire was their first and my last time teaching the theme song, was their first time learning it. So, I held in my sentimental tears and looked at the campers in front of me. Their faces weren't holding in tears or looking over the dinning hall in remembrance, instead they held wonder and curiosity as they tried a new game with our friendly neighborhood pirate, Captain Crispy and when they laughed during campfire when Anger tackled a shark. My "lasts" were their "firsts" which made them just as special. In that case, it isn't the beginning of the end, but the beginning of a new week. Although I know that the "lasts" are coming rapid fire, but having these campers here is keeping us together. They are giving us purpose and they are giving us ministry. The smiles and the laughs and the silly responses are all followed by those spiritual truths that even the youngest child professes. These moments are near and dear to us the same this last week as they were the first week. So the rest of the half week will be a jam-packed, stupendous week of programming to close out the summer as we go out in a bang. May this week be full laughter instead of the sappy moments of the "lasts", because this is just the beginning. Chosen and Redeemed, Sammie Siev Sometimes people ask me to describe Camp Phillip and very commonly I respond by saying “Heaven on Earth”. Maybe you have a similar sentiment if you have been here before or maybe you are wondering if that could even be possible, but my friends, I felt that "Heaven on Earth" feeling today sitting in the arboretum.
Let me set the scene for you. The sun was beginning to peak over the trees and the entire camp was seated in the grass still wet with dew. With sleep eyes, the crowd of campers and staff began to sing songs of praise. Eventually the birds and the bugs joined in harmony with the voices and guitar. The glorious sun began to flood the trees and warm our hearts as the wind through the leaves added our percussion. Spending time in creation with the Creator, what a way to start a day! In those moments of morning praise, I felt completely content. What else could I want other than a praise and worship service in the middle of God's creation. Every Wednesday of a full week, we participate in this opportunity and it really is a slice of heaven. We do a lot of crazy things at camp, and I mean crazy, but Morning Praise is a moment of calmness and serenity where we personal connect to our Creator through songs and prayers in the most earnest, sincerest form of worship. With the summer coming to close (Yes, I am trying not to cry too.) these are the moments that I will cherish. When I am back at school, I will be sitting at my desk thinking about camp and sitting in the arboretum listening to campers sing their hearts out for God. When the leaves start to change into fall colors, I will be thinking about the warm summer sun peaking over the trees. When the days seem long, I will remember my "slice of Heaven on Earth". My prayer is that the moments like this stick with the campers too. I pray that when all the campers go home and life gets difficult, they can remember the glorious moments like Morning Praise. May they cling to their Savior as tight as he clings to them. Chosen and Redeemed, Sammie Siev There was an emergency at camp, today!
Somehow at exactly 7:15 pm, we were all transported to a mountain called K2 where two climbers had been lost. Good thing, our campers this week are professional search and rescue teams who were ready for the mission to find the missing climbers. Along with their guides who looked like various people who didn't really look like the sherpas that we are used to seeing, the campers set off to search every inch of camp to find the climbers. As I watched, I could feel the hope and determination to find the climbers like they forgot that the "missing climbers" were just some staff dressed in camo hiding in the woods. The task was not easy. With every step, the campers were met with the challenges of the natural elements. The threat of frostbite, hypothermia, and avalanches were everywhere. If a group encountered frostbite (that looked suspiciously like staff members dressed in all white) the camper would loose a limb for the rest of the game. Hypothermia, on the other hand, would leave the campers frozen on the ground until a medic came to save them. Avalanches were the worst of all. If you got tagged by the scary avalanches dressed in masks and football pads, the whole group was left buried in snow until another group came to dig them out. For the middle of summer, we sure had some strange things to worry about! In the end, the campers found the missing climbers and flew them to safely. Somehow right on time, we returned to camp just in time for snack. Its funny how that works. Evening games have way of transporting us. Tonight, suddenly, we were no longer in woods outside of Wautoma, WI worrying about how much we perspirated in song period, Instead, we were almost ready to pull out our winter parkas to shield us from the elements who were chasing us all over camp. Tonight was not unusual. Every night our evening games take us to new places and bring on new adventures. Whether it is becoming ninja masters, building a boat to escape an island full of hunters, trying to cleanse a horde of zombies in the lake, or battling swashbuckling pirates, every evening game takes us far away from Camp Phillip and deep into the depths of our imagination, and the best part is that we will always be back at camp at 8:00, in front of the dining hall, waiting for snack. So next time you are at camp, make sure you come to see the magic that happens at 7:15 every night. You never know where we might travel to next. Chosen and Redeemed, Sammie Siev Picture this.
6:45. After dinner, the entire camp comes running from the activity field where they had been playing Bula Ball, Corner Court, or Sandman into the Dinning Hall. Shoulder to shoulder, the campers and staff begin chanting in anticipation for the famous event. As I look around the packed room, smiles spread from ear to ear as bodies begin to move. In an instant, the guitars start plays, the beats from the kahone begin to echo, and the melody of the accordion floats through the air. Within minutes the air in the Dinning Hall becomes thick and suddenly everyone starts to look as sweaty as the Israelites walking through the desert, but that doesn't stop the jumping and dancing. Singing fills the room, almost as if the sounds could shatter the windows. Intense emotions of joy are evident from the faces of the staff and the campers who wildly move about the Dinning Hall to the rhythm of the music. As for me, I stand at my perch in the front clicking the slides with the singalong words, watching the joy flood the room as the entire camp praises their Savior. That is SONG PERIOD. This week, I felt it. Maybe it was the beats, maybe it was the hot days getting to my head, or maybe it was the over 100 voices joining in song, but I felt it. It was the warm and fuzzy feeling that runs up and down your spine and energizes you in contentment. As I stood there listening to the music, I couldn't help but think this is what Heaven will be like. Now, I can neither confirm or deny that we will sing the "Hippo Song" or "Steppin with the Shepherd" in Heaven, but the sentiment is still there. In all the craziness of song period, one thing will never change. It is 30 solid minutes of praising God with our voices and dance moves. I can feel God working in those 30 minutes as we go crazy for him is our songs of praise. Today, as we said good-bye to our 6th though 8th graders, I felt a little sad. In closing service, they sang their last songs with exuberance and intensity, and I thought to myself, "I'm really going to miss them." But then I thought of the feelings I had felt in song period all week. "This is what Heaven is like, " I reminded myself, "And someday all these campers will be in that heavenly chorus." So it wasn't good-bye, it was more like, "I'll see you when we sing a heavenly version of 'Christ in Me' with a heavenly accordion." So the good-bye seemed to become a little easier knowing there is a reunion in sight. Until then, we will bask in the glory that is our earthly song period and all the craziness that comes with it. Chosen and Redeemed, Sammie Siev ,Last night at campfire, we took it way back, like back to the beginning of time. We looked at the story of Adam and Eve...with a few twists and turns. We watched Adam and Eve, all dressed in tan go from the happy loving couple to the sinful people who learned that they were naked. (Don't worry. There was no nakedness involved.)
Adam and Eve were temped by the devil portrayed by a staff member in all black holding a large plush snake who taught Adam and Eve the meaning of "wink wink". The finally ate the forbidden fruit that seemed a lot like the bananas that we had for breakfast. Just like the Bible story, Adam and Eve ate the fruit, became sinful, and realized they were naked, which meant holding leaves over their tan outfits for the rest of campfire. But the story doesn't end there! In their desperation, Adam and Eve tried to get back into the garden that was guarded by Harold the Hark Angel. (No he doesn't sing the Christmas song). So Adam and Eve hatched a plan with a Vampire they met along the way who was also kicked out the garden. Their main plan who to pull a Trojan Horse on the Angel and sneak in as the pizza delivery guy. So Eve, still dressed in her leaves drew a mustache on herself, wore a hat that said, "Pizza Guy" and casually walked up to Harold the Hark Angel and said, "Pizza Delivery!" The plan of course did not work. Our silly fictional campfire did, however, end the same way as the true Biblical account. Adam and Eve had to live with the curse of sin and a promise of a Savior. It was fun to giggle about the silly version of the story, but it made me think about how powerful the account actually is. God gave Adam and Eve one rule, and they broke it. That meant that not only did their lives change, but every person from the beginning of time was impacted. God acted justly in disciplining them, when he sent them away from the garden. From that point on they needed to entirely learn a new way of life. But our God is a merciful God. He didn't just leave Adam and Eve with a curse, he left them with a promise. They would forever sin, they had the eternal promise that God would send his son to defeat the power of sin in our lives. The power of the Gospel was there in the garden, there at the cross, and here at Camp Phillip. The Gospel is in the campfire, outdoor sports secession, and meal, at the lake and ropes course, its in the actions of our staff and the songs we sing. Its everywhere! So our goal is to impart that Gospel to the campers, so it can infect every part of their lives too. So we laughed until our abs hurt as Eve pretended to be the Pizza Delivery Guy, but our hearts thanked God for the Gospel in Genesis and that same Gospel that still lives here at Camp Phillip. Chosen and Redeemed, Sammie Siev Currently as I write this at about 2:00 p.m. on the Fourth of July, I have counted that we have sang "God Bless America" 14 times today and 6 of those times was before 8:30 this morning. I guess you could say that the Fourth of July is a big deal here.
Our morning began with a parade around the soccer field with everyone dressed in red, white, and blue and on top of that the Jesus Cares Campers wore necklaces, face paint, hats, and so much more to show their pride for the country. There was real genuine joy when we faced the flag for the national anthem. From there we walked around the soccer field waving flags and singing, "God Bless America" and chanting, "USA! USA! USA!" Our parade finished with the Pledge of Allegiance and then breakfast. Since then, there has been spontaneous breaking into patriotic songs as the joy for the Fourth of July grew and grew. (I even heard we might even get to see some fireworks tonight.) Our whole week has been a blast, and I know that the Fourth of July festivities did not disappoint. As fun as all the festivities have been, I think we have all taken the time to reflect on the country God has given us. The freedom our country celebrates today mirrors the freedom we gain in Christ. My friends, we were all captives to the worst master, sin. None of us were even close to being able to free ourselves, but Christ broke our bonds with a wooded cross and an empty grave. Every day is an independence day for us as we bask in the Creator's freedom. The smiles that the campers had this morning can be our smile every morning, for we are free from Britain and free from sin. Chosen and Redeemed, Sammie Siev
Yesterday morning, almost every girl at camp woke up early for one of my favorite activities at camp. We joined in fellowship of our Savior and our hair. As the sun peaked over the trees the girls gathered on blankets and leaned eagerly over their Bibles while the staff did their hair.
The purpose was three-fold. First, the girls get to casually hang out with each other. Second, it gives each a girl to spend personal time with a female staff member who is braiding her hair. Lastly, and most importantly, it allows the girls to become closer to God by reading and meditating on his Word. It was a precious moment as I twisted hair into braids, spending quality time getting to know those sweet young Christian ladies. Hearing their small voices talk about the big life-changing gospel message. This is truly what camp is all about: sharing the love of Christ with young people. It warmed my heart to see the little faces nose deep in the words of our Savior. I pray that the quality time that I spent with those young ladies impacts them in more ways than just getting their hair done, but also in their relationship with Christ. Not only is this week GAP camp, but it is also the first full week of camp! So far, this week has gone very smoothly. Our staff was beyond prepared and the campers were beyond excited. These 4th through 6th graders are so full of life that we couldn't wish for a better group.
In the past few days, I have been talking with the campers just getting to know them a little, and one conversation has really impacted me. It was Monday night and I sat down next to a girl sitting in the dinning hall. Naturally, I proceeded to ask her the "classic counselor questions". It lead to me asking how her day was going. She told me that she had played a new game with her friend at the waterfront. I responded with, "Oh did you come with your friend?" Bashfully, she shook her head and barely louder than a whisper said, "No, I made friend." Doesn't that just make your heart melt and your eyes tear up? It sure did for me as we sat there in the dinning hall. Don't worry, I did play it cool in the moment, but on the inside I was dying from how precious children are sometimes. Not only did that statement make my soul happy, it also made me think. Some of my best friends are from camp. Our friendships have lasted through being campers, junior staff, and now SALT staff. Confidently, I can say that I am not the only one who has made forever friends her at camp. Relationships are definitely one of the largest blessings that God has given people at camp. Whether it is three campers that form a peach at the waterfront, peewee parents bonding over being free from the children for a few hours, or SALT staff member praying with their prayer partners, Camp Phillip has become a haven for building positive Christ-like relationships. My prayer this week is that all those relationships that God built in this place are sustained and maintained throughout the years. Chosen and Redeemed, Sammie Siev |