Photo Journal: Sunday, July 6, 2008, 1:00PM

GATES OPEN:





Today was the one day of camp that we don't have crew campers (high school age kids who come for five weeks to help serve us) and it tends to show. In actuality, we are the only ones who notice the lack of help with luggage, making and serving dinner, and getting camp ready. For the parents and kids it is business as normal. We always say that the first 3-5 minutes have the potential to make or break a camper's experience, hence why we put so much energy towards setting up Mission to the Unknown on our half-mile road into the heart of camp and why we stress and expect such a high level of enthusiasm for our counselors when a Suburban full of kids arrives in the parking lot. Robots, space beat poems, and decorations are the standard operating procedure for Sunday afternoons!

Photo Journal: Sunday, July 6, 2008, 12:15PM

BRIEFING:

Our briefing is really more of a final preparation to the start of camp. We assign people to last-minute tasks that need completion, share encouragement that we are experiencing (or needing), and take time to pray together before campers arrive. One last thing we do before we dismiss is allow one of our Program Coaches to bring his famous "no more mamas, no more daddies, Eagle Lake!" chant. It is true after all that soon there will be no more parents on our property allowing kids to, under the guidance of their counselors, to take autonomous steps toward knowing Jesus, knowing themselves, and knowing the others in their cabins.

Photo Journal: Sunday, July 6, 2008, 11:00AM

BRUNCH/PUMP-UP:Generally, when you get past the rhetoric of cliches there is a profound meaning the has gotten lost in translation over the years. Enter Sunday brunch at Eagle Lake. Every Sunday we gather to eat and socialize once more before we are swarmed with children and every Sunday we hear from someone about the staples of Sunday attitudes. I will list them in order of relevance and then dissect what the cliche actually means:

Eagle Lake Cliche #1: The first 3-5 minutes of a child setting foot on our property make or break the first 3-5 hours, which can make or break the entire week.
Translation: First impressions are important and impactful, especially those of a child. If they see tired, moping counselors they are far less likely to connect right away. If they see energy and feel loved, important, and safe right from the start, any walls or reservations they brought with them surrounding the experience are broken through far more easily.

Eagle Lake Cliche #2: Check your calendars people, you're tired. It is already the 6th week of camp. The people respond in unison, "1st week!"
Translation: Even though we have run the program identically five times in a row before today, and even though nothing is going to change this week, none of the kids coming up the hill today have ever experienced this program this summer. What might be rote and mundane to us is a thrilling discovery for every child preparing to enter the gates of our property.

Eagle Lake Cliche #3: Enthusiasm is...Contagious!!!
Translation: When you are tired, worn out, concerned about personal issues going on back home, etc., your level of excitement will rub off on kids and fellow staff. This is when it is time to leave all that at the door and give yourself to the kids your are entrusted with this week. Enthusiasm can be hard to muster, but you set the tone for the kids and staff around you.

Photo Journal: Sunday, July 6, 2008, 9:30AM

CHAPEL:

Our first activity as a staff is Chapel on Sunday mornings. A recap of the weekend, thoughts on the previous evening's Bible studies, and praise and worship outline our makeshift church in the forest. We have a different speaker every week as well. Today we heard from Mike Jordahl, one of the leaders of the Navigators' Collegiate ministry. He spoke from John 17, a parallel of our Bible study, and how we are here to do 5 things with the kids we have every week: show them God, give them the Word, pray for them, be fully with them, and protect them. For our counselors, this is such a simple encouragement in the midst of a long summer. For our staff to know that they have but 5 simple tasks to accomplish is the simplicity that will help them finish the second half of the summer very well.

Shock. Not Just a Name.

Our last week of camp started about a month ago, but with moving back to town, taking time off, and starting back in the office again there was hardly any time to write about a week of camp that was dedicated to high schoolers. We began to realize sometime last year that what we had to offer high school age kids just wasn't adequate-our feedback and attendance was proving that quite well. One of my most pressing tasks was since I started in January was to develop this program from the ground up. Don't get me wrong, I had a TON of help from other full-time staff members, the summer programming team, and even some of my supporters to pull this off. I did feel going into the week that we needed to hit a home run in a programmatic sense; and this was an intimidating prospect creating something entirely new with no opportunity to test market. All the worries about how the program would go was brought to a halt when campers arrived and we began realizing that the late nights, sleeping in, and a camp tailored to them was just the way many of them wanted to finish their summers. We started Sunday strong with Eagle Lake Idol (we actually gave five counselors the week to prepare their acts for a real cash prise of $150!) followed by a beach party complete with music, games, a bonfire, and a midnight jump into the lake. Here are some pictures from that event:

Some campers and counselors enjoying the beach party.

Campers having a blast.

The aftermath of a snack for high schoolers.

So I think the best way to explain what went down at Shock is to give a little detailed schedule of events with my commentary attached.

Monday: Adventure Race/Campers went with their small teams all throughout the property completing tasks that ranged from intellectual to physical to simple 50/50 decision making. The first event was our separation event. It took teams anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes to figure out what is odd about the following paragraph:

"Gatsby was walking back from a visit down in Branton Hill's manufacturing district on a Saturday night. A busy day's traffic had had its noisy run; and with not many folks in sight, His Honour got along without having to stop to grasp a hand, or talk; for a mayor out of City Hall is a shining mark for any politician. And so, coming to Broadway, a booming bass drum and sounds of singing, told of a small Salvation Army unit carrying on amidst Broadway's night shopping crowds. Gatsby , walking towards that group, saw a young girl, back toward him, just finishing a long, soulful oration. "

Still stumped? The paragraph has no "e"s in the entire thing.

Tuesday: A counselor's favorite, Messy Games. Basically we thought of the most messy, gross, and nasty things we could; anything from slathering a teammate's face with peanut butter and trying to stick cheese puffs to it at a distance to making sundaes on people's faces from five feet up. Here's a few pictures:

A Work of Art.

Life as a Plate.

Wednesday: Capture the Flag...enough said.
Thursday: Tournament Time. Campers selected their own teams for a variety of tournaments. There was basketball, volleyball, and ultimate tournaments going on in different places of camp. Winners took on pre-determined counselor all-star teams.

It was important for us to come up with a variety of new activities for these kids other than just a change in program. Campers were able to participate in paintball, mountain biking, climbing, swing dancing, and a hip-hop concert from a local act. These new activities allowed campers more freedom to choose a skill that interested them and experience some new things.

Throughout the week campers had integrated Bible studies, quiet times, and speakers that adapted our theme verse for the summer, 2 Corinthians 3:18, just for them. All in all, 125 kids had a great end to the summer.

Leading

"Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness."
-Psalm 72:3

"May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth."
-Psalm 72:6

Psalm 72 and particularly these verse have spoken so much to me about the leader I want and need to be here. It has occured to me through a long process that this is not the easiest job in the world. I am 23 years old and I am in upper management, but even more than management I am also leading a ministry. If only it were as cut and dry as simply managing people and a property in my task oriented gifting; but this place is so much more than that. It is a place where 24 hours a day, at least 5 days a week, we are a tightly knit community woven together for one purpose - the lives of children.

Verse 3 reminds me of what this place has been for so many children, but also for so many staff. Far be it from Eagle Lake to give a manufactured mountain top experience, but we know that in these mountains it is so easy to connect with God in a way that perhaps some of these college student desperatly need. Here, it is so easy to submerse oneself into spending time with God getting to know Him. Perhaps it is the evident beauty or the mountain air, perhaps it is the intentionallity, perhaps it is just the special nature of being just a little removed from city life. My good friend Joel Pontius used to say, "If you want to get to know God, you've got to go where He is." He demonstrates Himself clearly in this environment.

Verse 6 is for me. Now this psalm is a prayer that King Solomon wrote. I am no king, but I am leading people, and what if my leadership, my management, my ministry could be as refreshing as rain? What if the very way I lead this staff and the programing team could be refreshing to them as showers to the earth? This is a remarkable concept. Remarkable especially for a person like myself that is so task oriented. You can join with me and pray for that kind of leadership if you like!

Proven

Orientation is just a memory, the air is warming up, and the aspen trees are turning a summer dark green. These things let us know it is June, but they aren't anything like a camp full of kids. Last week 70, this week 150, who knows for next week. There is a special buzz about this staff. They are so eager to love and counsel; it is very encouraging to sit back and just watch their enthusiasm for the kids they have been entrusted with. I'm in awe of them. During the spring I remember trying to figure out why we were so short on staff applicants and why we were scrambling to find staff even through late April. The only thing I could think of at the time was perhaps this is the Lord's way of providing. This job is not easy. I am a sound engineer, a game coordinator, a zipline runner, a public relations specialist, and a million other things because I am a camp director, and having a staff that didn't feel drawn here would be terribly difficult. They are...and they know it. They prove themselves by their actions.

Well Under Way

Staff orientation is well under way now. We are on day 6 of an intense 10 day program designed to instruct counselors on how to be successful this summer. Today is our famous "Day in the Life" which is designed to give couselors hands on training, and to give them the flavor of what a day at Eagle Lake looks like before they actually get kids next week. We started a 6:00 this morning with a mock Dippy Club (kids do this during the week too and get the coveted Eagle Lake Dippy Dogtag. Some of them have tags from the past six years and love to show them off at camp). This year 45 degrees didn't feel too terrible! We went through some of the large team games we'll play this summer and moved on to "Actor Training". With this year's theme being Epic 2007, we thought putting on an adventure race with an acting theme would be a perfect choice for the kids to do first thing Monday morning. Here are some of the pictures of counselors learning Actor Training:

Counselors participating in Actor Training. This event is called, "Slow it Down" is a slow motion battle sequence. Points are awarded for creativity and dramatic effect.

Counselors dance it out in "Stomp the Lawn."

Running through the obsticles in "Costume Change."