Last week me and my brothers had the amazing opportunity of volunteering at Trail Ridge Bible Camp in Hillsboro, Wisconsin (in the Tomah area, South of Eau Clair....).
Seth and Leif were on the grounds crew, while I was a counselor for the week. What a wonderful experience!
I had 8 girls in my cabin, with the help of one other counselor, Miss Esther. Our girls (ages 7-9) Nichole, Kyra, Aleksa, Annie, Ethne, Hailey, Carisma and Emily were all amazing girls in their own way! Throughout the week, I learned to love each of these girls so much. Of course, we did have struggles with a couple of them, but thankfully the Lord gave my patience to deal with the problems that arose in the week.
Throughout the week we went swimming at the pool, played games with Mr. Keith a couple times a day, attended Chapel, sang fun songs, ate Chef Bob's food, played at the snack and game shop, and even went canoeing at the lake on Wednesday. Cabin devotionals was a really good experience as well. Most of the girls in my cabin had never heard, or done devotionals before..... there were good questions and fun discussions.We also had Talent Night on Wednesday, and Skit Night on Thursday. Both were lots of fun, and I even played a duet with Mr. Vick on the piano, and him on the organ (it was SO much fun!!!!). On Friday night we had the most powerful chapel service; explaining about how Christ died on the cross and rose again to pay the price for our sins. Afterward, us counselors went into the auditorium, and campers that wanted prayer, or had questions could come and talk with us.... Carisma, who was my most difficult camper through the week, came in wanting to know more, and at the end of the night, asked Christ into her heart. Immediately, she went to all the other girls in our cabin and asked for forgiveness for the things she did to them throughout the week. There was a change in her; I didn't have to ask twice to get up, and she did things willingly. Since she is so young, I am just praying that the Lord will continue to teach her, and have her grow closer to Him. That very same night, the whole camp had a bonfire at the bottom of the hill, and kids were able to tell what they loved about camp, or favorite things that happened during the week. My girls almost had me in tears because of all the sweet things they said. It's one of those things, where I would strive to be a good example to all the campers around, and pray that they notice a difference, and even when I think nobody sees it, they really do notice it. The kids feedback just encouraged me to keep striving forward, walking in the Lord's path, and being a good witness of His son Jesus Christ.
To sum up the whole week: It was AMAZING. Seeing how God worked through each and everyone of the staffers, the joy in the kid's face, and all the lessons learned and memories made.
Most of the staffers spent the weekend together, and went out to Subway on Saturday night. Later that evening, we had a bonfire, and went down to the old farm house to explore. It was a nice time to relax, and just be together. On Sunday morning, we packed up our things, went to church with the whole staff, and Seth, Leif and I made our way back home to little Oulu Wisconsin. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I got in the vehicle, and slept the whole 5 hours home.....
I would like to thank everyone for your love and prayers throughout last week, all of us staffers at camp needed, and appreciated it. I am going to go to Bluewater Covenant Bible Camp in August to be a Lifeguard for a week, so I would appreciate if you would pray for me in advance to that....
Thank you. Much Love, Hannah Jo
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