Joy Bible Camp 2013 Part 2

Boys' Pool Time

"May His beauty rest upon me

As I seek the lost to win,

And may they forget the channel,

Seeing only Him"

In camp ministry we desire that boys and girls have fun but more importantly we desire that they know the Savior. As we seek to win the lost and to share the gospel of Christ we pray that they would not see us, but rather Christ reflected in us. That is the heart of Christian camp ministry.

An Ultimate Chaos Medic

Tonight was the last night of Joy Bible Camp #1 for the summer of 2013. The kids had a blast with the theme dinner and though it was too rainy for a campfire outside we had a good "campfire" time inside the chapel with sharing and singing.

For the past 7-8 summers I have had the role of counselor but this year it's been quite the change to step back and delegate more responsibilities to others. I love to be a part of the action especially when it comes to camp activities but I'm finding a separate and equally rewarding role in being assistant director/director at JBC this summer.

Have the kids grown in the Lord? Definitely yes. Have the counseling staff grown in the Lord? Definitely yes. Have I grown in the Lord? An emphatic yes!





Prayer Requests

• Health of staff: some counselors have lost their voices and are struggling with tiredness and colds
• Prayer for safety of Camp #2 campers especially as they go rafting
• Prayer for Uncle Bob (McKemey) as he speaks at this upcoming 2nd camp

Praises

• God's protection over the campers during camp #1
• Some of the counselors have had some good 1-on-1 times

Medic

The camp speaker and his wife!

Ultimate Chaos Bombers

Ultimate Chaos Activity Stations

Ultimate Chaos Activity Stations

Medic

Bomber in action

A friendly medic 

The Can Stack activity

The pool

Waterpolo

Joy Bible Camp 2013 Part 1

In Joshua 11 the people of Israel are 'between a rock and a hard place.' They have come out of Egypt and after the 10 spies (not counting Joshua and Caleb) gave bad report at Kadesh Barnea they spent 40 years in the wilderness. Upon returning, the LORD helped them to take the city of Jericho and then Ai and then they defeated the five Amorite kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.

This is not the best way to make friends in a foreign land. Lo and behold, a great force comes out against them in Joshua 11. Without going into great detail we can summarize the situation by what the writer says in verse 4:

"And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariot. And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel"

By human standards, the people of Israel are outnumbered, out-skilled, and out-of-the-running. However, causes the scales of the balance to be weighted in Israel's favor is that they have the LORD. This is what the LORD says to Joshua,

"Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give them over all of them, slain, to Israel."

What can we learn from this? We know that our God is greater than man's greatness. His strength is greater than man's strength. And when He gives His word it is accomplished.

At this time, I am at Okutama Bible Chalet (OBC) and our first group of campers will be arriving this very afternoon. Thus far, the Lord has provided us as staff with a wonderful training time and last night we had some time for worship, testimony sharing, and prayer.

Please join with us in prayer as we seek to share the gospel with kids and as we desire to invest in kids lives.

Below are a couple of photos from our trip by train. I'll try to send some updates throughout the camp so that you can know better how to pray.

Talking on the train

Maintenance Guy: His nickname is "Microphone"

The escalator

Conversations

The teddy bear mascot "Boof"

Our mascot once again. The counselor behind is nicknamed "Teddy" 

The view from my room onto the Okutama Valley