Keepin it real in Quito

I didn’t even realize until today that I haven’t even blogged about the mom’s camp and here I am, almost two weeks after the girls 11-13 camp, feeling bad that I haven’t blogged on that one yet.

Yikes time really does get away from me.

The mom’s camp was probably my favorite. Mostly because it was the least stressful.  I didn’t have to get after them for punching each other in the face or calling each other names, I just got to hang out with them.  I also think that they probably had the most fun.  It was a blessing to see some of their walls break down and seeing their faces light up when they hear about how much their Father in heaven loves them.  Just like the other kids that come to camp they’ve had years of being told they are worthless and will never amount to anything, years of deep heart wounds going unhealed and years of building up walls around their hearts.  With a lot of the families and children we work with, the women is the head of the household and if there is a father involved he is often very absent.  So I feel like if we can reach the mom’s, families will start to change.

After the mom’s camp I was busy studying for my final for a psych course I was taking and then I was on a plane back to Canada for a quick visit.  It was a surprise for my parents and it was so fun to ring the doorbell and see my parents reactions.  And it’s always lovely being back in Canada and getting some rest and visiting with all of the lovely people back there.

Then just a week after I got back it was time for girls 11-13 camp.  I was trying to plan a little bit when I was back in Canada, but coming back just before camp, maybe wasn’t the best planning on my part, but everything got done. It was a little bit crazy because I had three cabin leaders cancel on me on the last minutes, so I was scrambling to find people, preparing myself to be a cabin leader as well as run them camp, but at the very last minute (once again), it all came together.  

I think one of my favorite things about camp, is seeing the change in the kids that come, even if it is for only four days.  The 11-13 year old girls tend to come in with a lot of attitude (some of them, not all of them), but just like the mom’s camp, seeing their walls drop.  There was one girl in particular who came with a lot of attitude (there were a couple but she was the one with the most) but it was a blessing to see the change in her.  On the second to last day we were just hanging out and I asked her what she liked most about camp and she said the singing, and I asked her what song she liked the most and she said “Do it Again” and the preceded to ask me to play it on my phone, I just handed her my phone and for about half an hour she played worship song after worship song and sang along.  

Well what’s next….

Two more camps.

November 2-4 - boys 14-18 (this one has to be a little smaller because I couldn’t find enough staff)

November 9-11- girls 14-18 going deeper retreat.

Please pray for the water situation…the springs are still barely running but we have had two days of rain…pray that the tanks fill up and that there will be enough water to wash sheets between camps without having to take them into town to do it.

I am hoping to take the girls out door rock climbing, I have it set up but things can change last minute so I am hoping that it doesn’t fall through because it would be a really cool experience for them.

Well I think that’s all for now folks… thanks again, for your patience and your prayers.

 Mom's doing team building games

More team building games 

Gaga ball

Hiking up the mountain

Hungry hungry hippos...good rainy day game