Weeks 3 & 4: Rock River and Camp Illiana

July 02, 2016

Weeks 3 & 4: Rock River and Camp Illiana

Rock River Christian Camp

Due to me having less than 24 hours at LCU during these past two weeks, I wasn't able to blog about each individual week. I know you were all very disappointed (LOL). Our week at Rock River was really awesome. In the mornings, we would split up in groups and go to service projects around the area. I ended up going to three different ones throughout the week: a nursing home, a camp at the YMCA, and the Freeport Park District.

This was the first time the camp had done service projects, and the campers really loved it!

The overall theme of the week was PLANTED coming out of Psalm 1. We were all challenged to memorize this chapter as well.
Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Each individual day had a theme such as: Damaged, Rescued, Grow, Flourish. I could be missing one, but I'm not sure.

During free time, I was always playing sand volleyball with lots of campers, camp team members, and a faculty we called Magic Mark, who was a former professional beach volleyball player. One time Mark and I challenged some campers/faculty to a game of 2 on 6. Whoever won had to be slaves for the winning team at supper. It was super fun! (Mark and I won btw!)

Another highlight for me was when we had a Carnival one night for "Happy Fun Time". The deans divided that faculty up to be in charge of different stations. Mine and Cassie's station was the hair styling station. They provided us with all the hair spray and styling gel we could dream of. This was one of the results:

Another night during Happy Fun time, we put on a variety show (A VARIETY SHOW?! WHAT'S A VARIETY SHOW?!) Aly and I, along with two other girls from Greenville College named Marlene and Kayla, sang and danced to What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. We called ourselves Four Directions. We had some choreographed dance moves, brought the dean up on the stage and sang to him, and all wore hats and flannels. Singing with these girls has been one of the highlights of my summer so far.

It's always hard to say goodbye to the friends we meet at camp! (Rodney and Matt from Ozark)

Camp Illiana

After less than 24 hours at LCU, we met with six other camp teams in Washington, Indiana. Illiana was the biggest week our team had been at so far, and it was super fun! We got to do a lot of the outdoor elements with the campers, such as zip lining, a high ropes course, a giant swing, and paintballing. The campers loved all of it (and so did the faculty).

During the morning the first few days, we bused the kids to town to volunteer at the Powerhouse. The Powerhouse is an organization that specializes in after school programs for kids who don't usually have a lot of opportunities. They take field trips to the outdoors and much more that you can read about on their website. www.washingtonpowerhouse.org

Groups of us went on prayer bike rides, prayed with pastors, did work around the Powerhouse and around other houses neighboring the Powerhouse.

Wednesday night, we went to Evansville, IN to an Otters game. The bus ride was an hour, and we sang popular songs/chanted the

ENTIRE ride. We probably did our Nursery Rhyme Rap five or six times throughout the entire camp, but we loved every second of it. The Otters ended up winning, due to our stellar fan section. There was a bench of players in front of where we were sitting, one of which we figured out was named Tyler. We yelled at Tyler so much because we wanted him to dance for us, but he wouldn't do it. I ended up getting a foul ball that one of the players threw to me, then we were allowed on the field at the end of the game to get autographs and pictures.

The last night, we had a dance/pool party complete with Ice Cream and an AMAZING DJ who did a great job keeping everyone hyped. That was another highlight of my week.

The girls in my room were so great. Getting to know them this week and talk to them about the Gospel and what that means for them in their lives and families was so special. I'm so grateful to have this experience this summer. It makes all the night of 5ish hours of sleep worth it.