Colombia

So here it goes, another camp in the books and it was a full one.  20 beautiful girls ages 8-10 and 9 staff… every single bunk was used minus one.  And despite them coming together a little late, the are BEAUTIFUL and the girls and staff loved them and they go perfectly with the rusticness of camp.  It feels so good to have the bunks done and now even more then ever it looks like a camp, which of course makes me excited. We did a little bit of a longer/harder hike with these girls and it actually turned out exactly how I wanted it to.  There was lots of complaining on the way up, a lot of them telling me they didn’t want to go any further but once they got to the top, the loved the view, loved hanging in the hammock and loved playing the games up at the top and on the way down they we’re all smiles.  I always ask them what their favorite part if camp was, a lot of them said the hike.  ( Well almost all of them say the food… we make sure to fill them up...

Once again it’s been way to long (I really have to stop starting my blogs like this I know) and so much has happened and there is so much to tell, I have no idea how I can fit it into one blog post.   It’s been a crazy three plus weeks and of course I’ve meant to blog on various occasions but between it being busy and tired and having a broken computer (still broken but hopefully it will be fixed soon) I just kept putting in off, but tomorrow life is going to get busy again so really its now or never. At the beginning of June for one week and wonderful group of 8 people from my church in Canada came.   It was such and incredible huge blessing having them here and man did they ever work hard. Camp got a Gaga Ball Pit, a sweet fire side, an A frame team walker and two pairs of team walking skis (pictures will be attacked for the last two).   Not only did camp get all that sweet stuff and that they finally made it look like a camp.   I got three solid deliciou...

Once again two months have passed since my last blog post and life has been CRAZY but so good.   I have water which is awesome… we pumped water a couple times and then pretty much everyday in April it rained, which filled my tanks.  No more saving my dish water and flushing toilets once a day with that. Even though the tanks are overflowing a little, I still try and be a little conservative with my water. My mom also came for a visit at the end of April beginning of May which was awesome and so nice to have her. Two good friends of mine moved really close, if you had a good arm I am sure you could throw a football from my front door to theirs, which is really nice actually.  I have my space when i need it but still have community really close. I have had two different Colombian team come up for a day and help get things ready and they worked hard and got a lot done.  Cause there is A LOT to do and if I am being honest sometimes I get overwhelmed with...

I can hardly believe I have been back for almost two months, it feels like I just got back but at the same time if felt like I have never left.  It has been so AWESOME being back, it has been so good to re connect with old friends and to get the ball rolling on setting up camp.  I feel like I have so much to say but I will try and be choosy and not ramble on to much. Well number one, we have almost everything we need for camp.  All the kitchen stuff is bought, the table and chairs and all the bedding.  It was quiet fun when we went to buy the kitchen stuff, me not being kitchen savvy, especially when it comes  to what would be needed for 30+ people, I just sat there and my friends went around and put stuff in a pile, but we did get a super good deal and it was a lot of fun.  For the table and chairs and the bedding, a friend went around the centre for Bogota (not the best place to be wandering around) and checked everything out and found the stores tha...

The count down is on… my ticket is bought and I will be leaving the great white north on January 10th, approximately 36 days, just over a month, and I am SOOOOOO excited.  Don’t get me wrong, I will miss all you guys like crazy and probably even shed a few tears in the good byes, but I am so excited.  I have been missing Colombia like cray and I can’t wait to start the next part of this crazy journey God has me on.  I am so excited that we have a permanent home for Camp Gozo, I am so excited to go and buy all the stuff to furnish camp and to get camp started, apparently the kids have been asking when we are going to do camp again, but I just may be more excited then they are.  I am also excited to have visitors (hint, hint).  So to say the least there are a lot of reasons to be excited. There are also a lot of reasons to be thankful.  I am so thankful for my time here.  I am so thankful for the time that I got to reconnect with old friends and for...

So much time has passed and so much has happened that I don’t even know where to start… It was a wonderful, fun filled summer, super busy but super awesome at the same time.  I spent three weeks a Frontier Lodge, an outdoor adventure camp.  This was an awesome experience and I learnt so much, I also met some pretty wonderful people, which makes any experience that much better.  I learnt a lot that I can take back to Colombia and Camp Gozo and maybe even some future staff, which would be a double bonus. I also spent two week at Bethel Bible Camp.  The first week was children’s camp and that was such a special experience.  My brother directed and it was my niece’s first time at sleep away camp and I just pray that it plays as huge of a role in her life as it did in mine.  And then to end off camps for the summer I did girls camp at Bethel as well.   I also managed to do a week of camping with some good friends, so while I ended the summer a ...

Where has the time gone… it’s already mid June and my sabbatical is pretty much half over.  I thought that I would be bored after getting back from New Zealand and trying to find things to occupy my time, but it is the complete opposite, I am going to have to remind myself to take time to rest, cause I think that’s what your suppose to do on a sabbatical, but don’t quote me on that, I have never taken one before so I am not 100% sure what I am suppose to be doing (insert smiley face). I thought I would just take a minute to update you all and let you know what I have been doing to keep busy.  For all of you who were asking and still not sure, I am going back to Colombia.  So far the plan is end of December beginning of January.   This summer I will be busy at camp, starting with three weeks at Frontier Lodge in Nordegg  at the beginning of July and two weeks at Bethel Bible camp, both in August.  With the rest of the time I plan on catching up ...