Camp Tales, Part III

This morning Susan's dad, Roger, drove to Badlands Ministries south of Medora, ND to pick up Suzanna from her week-long session of Bible camp. I have asked her to report on her week as a Pioneer:

I got to Bible camp Sunday at about 4:00 P.M. We signed in, and then we went to our cabins. First we went to Abigail's cabin, and then we went to mine. My counselor's name was Brittany. Some other girls in my cabin were Tori, Autumn, Lataea, Aly, Kaitlynn, and Stephanie. Then Mommy and Daddy had to leave, and I went with my cabin to the playing field by Bethlehem [our dining hall]. We played a game called The Name Train; that way we could all get to know each other better.

Here is my cabin, called Isaiah. [And they called the wind Mariah. --Daddy]

After that we went into Bethlehem for supper. We sang grace, and after every grace, we yelled, "Hey, Ginny and Christina, what's for ___ [name of meal here]?!" It was fun getting not to have to use your indoor voice in Bethlehem! Actually at Bible camp, they encouraged us to use our outdoor voices everywhere . . . but not past 11:00 P.M.; that was bedtime.

We had to wake up at 7:30 each morning. We had half an hour to get to the dining hall. Some people went to Jordan River [our bath house] to shower, and others showered at night. After breakfast we had cabin clean-up time. Some cabins had to clean Jordan River and their cabins; some people had to clean just their cabins. The first day we [our cabin] had to clean Jordan River. Brittany said that was a good thing--then it was over with, and we didn't have to clean the bath house ever again that week.

Here I am goofing off on my bunk.

Then we would have Bible study. Some of the themes for our verses were, "God's justice is surprising," "God's justice is the cross," "God's justice is action," "God's justice is everlasting," and "God's justice is power." Then we would have crafts--but not just any ordinary craft, no, no, no! It would have to do with our themed verse for the day. On the day that God's justice was surprising, we surprised other people in our cabins with bracelets. Then when crafts were over, we would go play a game. During the game when God's justice was everlasting, we pretended that we were mustard seed bushes. Since they don't come out very easily, the game went like this: If one person got caught, then he/she would have to sit down until seeing that the person who caught him/her got down. Then everyone who got caught by that person got to get back up. It might sound confusing, but it was so much fun.

After that we would wash up and get ready for dinner. We would do what we did at every meal: grace and yell at Ginny and Christina. After dinner was over, there was Sabbath; that was a time of rest from 1:00 to 2:00 P.M. No getting out of our bunks, no talking, and no being loud. Pretty strict, huh?! When Sabbath was over, the kids who signed up to ride horse got to ride horse. While we were gone horse-riding, the other kids would play games. Some hiked in the Badlands, and some stayed in Medora. By the time the kids who were riding horse got back, all the other kids were already eating supper. We all got in, and we ate, too.

Here I am on my way to Bible camp; I am so excited!

Then we went to our cabin to get ready for the all-camp game in which the whole camp played a game together, even the counselors, and the only boundary was where camp ended and started. Then it was time for a campfire. We went and had worship around the campfire, sang some songs, and saw a skit done by the counselors. Then the counselors would say, "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord," and all the campers would yell in their loudest voice, "PRAISE BE TO GOD, AND WE-E-E-E WILL!"

Then we usually had an hour before bed to go take showers if we wanted to and have devotions [where we just talked about what happened that day and asked questions or told stories or maybe played a game with just our cabin]. Then at 11:00 P.M. sharp, lights out! And then, a new day, which went again just like that. Having Brittany as a counselor was so-o-o-o much fun, and I can't wait until next year!

This is the best counselor in the world--Brittany!

P.S. See also this, this, and this.