June Camp

When Dave and I first started chewing on the idea of a Service Trip to Rehoboth, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.  But, my going would depend on having some place to put our kids.  Well, God worked that out perfectly for us when we learned that our project in Rehoboth would be running the first week of their June Camp and our kids were invited to enroll and attend as campers while Dave and I worked on staff with our youth group!  I am not sure who had the better week-- those of us who were so blessed in our work with this camp, or those of us who had straight-up fun attending it, making new friends and learning new skills!

While Delia kind of got to know everyone, Ella formed tight bonds with just a few fellow campers.  One friend in particular, Maya (below), became so close, Ella shed a good amount of tears at goodbye time!  They have exchanged addresses and plan to be pen pals.  I loved hearing stories about how my girls, though not official staff, found their own ways to serve the camp and their new friends.  One girl attending the camp seemed very nervous and shy.  She did not talk to anyone in a voice above a whisper...except Ella.  With Ella she was comfortable and out of her shell.

At June Camp orientation, we were reminded that many of these kids live in a dark place.  June Camp is a place for them to feel safe and unconditionally loved.  We were told that our greatest job would be to "bring the Joy of the Lord" to the campers.  I proudly say that I think we achieved this!  The team of students we brought were SO AWESOME!  They spent all their energy actively engaging these kids and finding new ways to deepen relationships with them.  We arm wrestled, signed shirts, played tag, danced, braided hair, pushed swings, gave countless hugs and saw smiles every day.  June Camp would have happened without us, but we feel we did what we came to do to the best of our ability and glorified God in the process!

June Camp runs every day from 8:00 to 3:00.  In the morning our team divided up to lead age groups through various stations that Rehoboth staff taught.  I had the first grade class (that's my crew in the above picture) and our rotations included reading, math, science and outdoor activity.  Dave led the 4th graders and had Ella in his class!

Then in the afternoon, the kids could sign up for more specialized activities for the week.  They could pick two from this list: computers, soccer, cooking, art, dance, drama, woodworking, and outdoor games.  Our team also divided up to help lead these sessions, depending on what gifts and interests we had.  Ella chose cooking for her first rotation and learned how to make homemade ice cream, cookies and pancakes.

 Delia chose dance and learned how to do some fancy ballroom steps with a partner.  There was only one boy in this section, so all the girls had to take turns and share him! :)

Then for their second session, both girls chose drama, which Dave helped to lead.  The girls will both tell you that June Camp Drama Class was their favorite part of this Rehoboth trip.  They spent an hour each day playing improv type games.

Then on the last day of camp, their class went on the stage in the cafeteria and performed for us all while we ate lunch.  They loved it so, so much!

I helped lead the art class.  We spent the week working with bright colors and textures to make Eric Carle inspired layered murals and collages.  The kids that came to me picked art because they had an interest or gift for it, so working with them was really exciting.

In his night talks, Dave engaged us in conversation about "Kingdom Building".  Again, we were so blessed to be able to take this short time to do God's work and learn so much from it.  What a privilege to participate in the building of His Kingdom this week!  The following are just a few of my favorite shots of some people in our group, not posing, but showing true love for the June Camp kids they came to serve...