SonQuest Rainforest Camp - April 15-18

As I have continued my search to find places to serve, imagine my thrill when there was an announcement in the bulletin at church about the summer kids camp coming up.  Four days of SonQuest Rainforest, a vacation Bible school (VBS) program that would be a whole lot of fun.  I thought, hey, I love VBS, I can help at that for a couple of hours a day. I emailed the children's director and volunteered my service.  When I went into meet with the children's director, Len, she seemed very surprised and pleased that I was volunteering...and more appreciative than I thought was necessary.  Must be a cultural thing I thought.

I went to the meeting a few weeks later with the other leaders, and as I opened my file and looked at the schedule, I realized this was a 4 day SLEEP over camp a few hours away, not a morning-only VBS as I was expecting!  No wonder Len was so appreciative!! (I can hear you all chuckling AT me right now!)  Okay, so it was going to be a whole lot more work than I thought it was going to be, but still a whole lot of fun.  My years at camp (since 6 months old) were going to be very helpful, and I knew I was going to have fun. The camp was in Laguna, a few hour drive away.  Have a look  http://www.re-creationcenter.com/.  The air was fresh, less humid and clear of smog. 

So at 6:30 am April 15th my wonderful husband took me to church by taxi, and reassured me I would have fun and make friends, even though I did not know anyone yet.  And he was right!  I was in a cabin with a cabin leader (Sharon) and 8 girls age 12-13.  I was the counsellor for the oldest group - 16 girls and boys 12-14 years old.  It will be hard to explain just how much fun I had!  The four days included 5 sessions around the SonQuest Rainforest material, water balloon fights, swimming in a pool with a great slide, devotions, skits, songs, really good food, campfire with smores and much more.    Camp is pretty much camp everywhere.

The kids were a fascinating mix of nationalities - Filipino, American, Norwegian, French, Chinese, Malaysian, and from Hong Kong.  Along with that, there were some kids that obviously came from wealth and had never cleaned a cabin before, and there were others who were sponsored to come to camp and lived in various projects in the shanty areas.  Many were eager to learn the parables and how much God loved them.  I will never forget the look in some of their eyes as they hungered for more.  Others had the attitude of many 13 year olds, and were more concerned about what they looked like....but that is what being 12-14 years old is all about for some.

Some highlights I want to share with you:

• it is amazing to watch kids who have never experienced a camp fire and smores to just stand in awe of the flames and heat, and to drool over the food - it really is the simple things in life and I pray I never loose the enthusiasm and joy in the simple things that we so often think we have seen often enough.
• you can get to know adults while filling hundreds of water balloons - take every opportunity to do the little things and chat with those around you.  Everyone has a fascinating story.
• you teach very well by your actions, not just your words - through saying grace before each meal as a cabin (holding hands Post family style) and pouring water into the girls glasses before I sat down, it was a joy to see the girls starting to pour water (serve) each other, and being willing to pray by the last few days. 
• 100 kids can learn five Bible verses in 4 days - ah, a personal challenge I felt and will remember when I think memorizing God's word is just too hard.
• always sponsor a child or two or three to go to camp - having watched the impact of camp on those who were sponsored, it is money that multiplies and multiplies and I will not hold back.
• do not be afraid to share from my heart - this I learned two ways - one, when I did share from my heart it opened the door for girls in my cabin to share more deeply, and two, from one sponsored boy who shared out of his diary in front of the whole camp.  He read the part a few days before camp when he and his family were praying that a sponsor would come and give so that he could go to camp.  They had almost given up hope when three days prior to camp he found out he had a sponsor and could go!  Then he shared how God has used camp to touch him and change his life.  His sharing impacted me because I saw the power of faith and prayer, and sponsorship and how his sharing impacted the other kids around that campfire.  
• at 46 years old, four days of camp is probably all I can handle!  

I have many more stories, but that is probably enough.  Here are a few pictures of these wonderful kids as we rode back on the bus (before they all fell asleep!)

And to answer your question, YES, I am ready for next year!!


P.S.  The fire in the shanty town in Quezon City is not near us (this is an immense city), but many are homeless and now in emergency shelters set up in schools (schools are now on summer break). We will share more as we hear more..... keep these people in your prayers - they have lost the little that they have.