"A change is as good as a rest."  (anonymous)

Our second full week of camp was a change of pace:  Walter stepped out of his maintenance role and I handed over the kitchen duties.  Instead, Walter became the camp speaker, speaking ten times in five days.  He had prepared five lessons at home and hoped to finish his preparations once at Big River.  We were so busy once we arrived that there was little time to spend in Bible study. The theme Walter chose was to do an overview of the whole Bible, leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ.  A tall order!

I was to lead the worship sessions during the chapel times, choosing three or four songs each session.  I tried to carry over some of the songs Caylea and Campbell (who led worship in the evening chapels and at campfire) had done.  Some of the favourites during the Junior teen camp were:  My Lighthouse, My Redeemer Lives, Awesome God, Glorious Day and How Great is Our God!  I usually had Caylea at the keyboard, Eric on bass guitar and Kervans, a cabin leader from Saskatoon area, on "Cahone" and we sounded pretty good! A Nigerian man played on drums (Daniel?).  I truly enjoyed seeing the kids begin to learn the songs, get into the actions and begin to worship.

The warfare definitely ramped up as Walter and I approach every ministry opportunity very intentionally.  Walter wanted to teach and proclaim the Gospel, giving the foundation for many young people who may not know much about the Bible and why Jesus had to die on the cross.  Each night, we prayed together in our room and every morning, we joined in the staff meeting to pray.  Knowing these kids were often from difficult family situations and did not have consistent Christian input and Bible teaching meant we felt a serious responsibility to feed them truth that would carry them for months or even a year until they returned to the Bible camp!  

How did that warfare show up in real life?  We got sore throats.  Every evening I'd have tea with honey and try to preserve my voice.  And by God's grace I would open my mouth as I stood in front of the microphone and 60+ campers and cabin leaders and songs came out.  There were also some challenging behaviours and relational dynamics in the cabins.  Some kids wanted to go home after the first day!  Eric handled the fights, homesickness and other issues with calmness and kindness.  And we would pray with whoever was handy when the issues arose.  That's our best weapon!

Although at first I missed being in the kitchen and having the satisfaction of preparing and serving three meals a day, plus night snack, it was nice to focus on music and worship.  Walter and I love to minister together, me leading worship and Walter preaching.  We make a good team!

Caylea also assigned us to help her with Tuck at 3 pm each afternoon. Walter took the boys' line up and I took the girls; we crossed off the names of each of our "customers" so they wouldn't double-dip for their daily treats.  This way we did get to know the names, faces and even snack favourites  of each camper.  

Zayne - a small boy from the Big River area, who loved collecting clams during swim time.  He wanted to keep a bucket of them in his cabin and I tried to dissuade him.  He sat in the front row of chapel with his cabin-mates, often commenting on Walter's messages when we thought he wasn't paying attention.

Jake - a tall boy from a community about an hour from the camp, who carried sticks around.  From lovely small pieces of driftwood to long branches that the wind had broken off the trees, Jake gathered quite a collection.  He gave Walter his favourite stick at the end of camp so Walter would always remember him.

Danielle - at the end of chapel one day, she wanted to talk with Walter and her cabin leader brought her over to where we were still sitting when the others had been dismissed.  She lived on a First Nation nearby, and had been to camp once or twice in past years.  With amazing articulation, Danielle expressed her concern about forgiveness.  She believed God would forgive her but she felt she couldn't forgive herself.  My heart broke as I wondered what shame she was carrying and the lies the enemy was feeding her that she was somehow so stained she couldn't forgive herself.  Walter and I listened to her, and Walter counseled her from the Word of God.  She never shared her specific burden but we prayed for her and tearfully she joined her cabin for the next event.  The next evening at campfire, she stood up and shared that she had asked Jesus into her life!  Her smile was bright and she came and gave Walter a hug and thanked him for helping her come to the Lord.  

J., S. and A. - three sisters who were brought to camp by a social worker. They were living in with relatives in a nearby city, separated from their other sister and a younger brother.  The girls were put in a cabin together but their arguments and anger issues began to spill over.  One lunch hour, S. bumped into J., a plate fell and broke and tempers flared.  Eric jumped in to settle one sister; the nurse Juliana, grabbed a broom and began to sweep up the shards.  Finally J. left the dining hall and S. shrugged and continued on to get her food. By the final campfire, two of the three sisters gave testimony that they accepted Christ in their lives.  They were smiling, singing, and hugging one another.  Their fights had made them realize they needed to change or it would end badly.  God did a miracle!

Sh. - one young lady who came with others to say Bible memory verses to me (and I'd reward them with candy).  When the other campers drifted off to swim or play at the playground, Sh. sat at the picnic table across from me and began to share her story.  She had been raped at age 12 and had an abortion.  Her life had been a series of trauma, foster homes and too much sadness for such a young girl.  I listened, asked if she had support and someone to talk to.  She was evasive and I didn't want to pry.  I asked what else she would be doing this summer and it seemed that camp was her only opportunity to get out of a situation where she looked after the younger children in the home.  I was so thankful when Sh. gave her heart to Jesus at the last cabin devotional time.

So many lives, so many precious souls!  The sleepless nights, desperate prayers and extra efforts to teach, lead worship and engage in conversations were worth it to see over 20 junior teens give their hearts to follow Jesus Christ.  The comment was that they hadn't seen this kind of response to the Gospel in a few years at BRBC.  Only the Lord could do that.

By Friday afternoon, we were exhausted, but in a good way.  We helped unload the groceries and I got my mind into the head cook mode once again.  Then we hopped on our quad and rode around the camp property across the road.  The fresh air and change of scenery was rejuvenating.  We went into town for supper at Third & Main, then came back to relax.  

Saturday, I had again volunteered to warm up leftovers for the weekend staff.  I found a couple of cookie recipes and baked several dozen for Sunday night's snack.  I wanted to get a headstart on Week 3.  I think we also watched the Roughrider football game Saturday afternoon that had been delayed from Friday night due to the smoke from the northern forest fires.  (We also had smoke around our camp and one evening the kids had to come inside the chapel for their campfire songs and sharing time.)  Five young people from Pine Ridge Bible Camp (near Beauval, SK), came to BRBC as the fires caused the camp and surrounding communities to be evacuated.  We gained a couple extra staff for the following week but it was sad that our gain was Pine Ridge's loss.

Sunday, we went to church in town.  Walter had been asked to preach and I sang a song with Faith, one of the local young ladies who served at camp.  We sang "Jesus, Thank You", a song we did in chapel at camp.  It was great to be encouraged by the family of God as they prayed for all of us serving this summer.  And by 2 pm, we were gearing up for Week 3 - Kids Camp!