Back to ABK

Going into our fifth week we were excited. We were going back up to Camp ABK! We didn’t have a church camp to fill that week, so we were able to go back up north to be counselors. This time it was different from our first week. The first week was sports week; this week was teen co-ed week.

When we packed up our things and put them into the car, we didn’t have any soccer balls and we weren’t driving up in the missionary mobile. It felt a little bit weird driving up with the whole team in the car instead of the van. We left early in the morning and made it to Massy just in time for the last bit of church. After church, we headed to camp for the camp meeting. We met our co-counselors, reconnected with the staff, and got ready to meet our campers for the week.

I was a little nervous before the girls came because I didn’t know what to expect. There were nine girls in our cabin and I didn’t know how we would get along, what the girls were like, or if we would connect. Why I was nervous about this I don’t know. You would think by this time I would be able to trust in God that everything would work out according to His purpose.

Sunday was a day just to get to know each other and to go over camp rules. That night before we went to bed, my co-counselor (Andrea) and I had devo’s with the girls. We talked about beauty and challenged the girls to go without make-up for the week (with the exception of banquet). At first the girls didn’t want to do it – it was teen co-ed week after all!

The next morning, I was woken up by Alyssa with a great big hug – highlight of my day. To my surprise, three of the girls decided to try to go through the week without make-up. The schedule for the week was really different from what we were used to. There was scheduled time for R & R! The afternoon is when we did our options. I was in charge of beach volleyball. Then we had free time and free swim, where we decided to have AIA hang-out time….on the water, going wakeboarding and tubing – no one else was allowed to come. Then we had dinner, camp wide game, chapel, and then either campfire, skit night, or coffeehouse.

Throughout week the sand was way to hot on our feet, and no one really felt like playing volleyball, so we hung out in the shade instead. After getting to know everyone a little, I decided that they all needed to know where Smithville was in relation to ABK: we created a map with a water bottle (lake Ontario), and some sticks (the tallest being the CN Tower), a smaller one for London (the other instructor was from there), a medium sized one for Smithville, and then a couple for camp ABK, Sudbury, and Sault St. Marie. It was great. I told them all that there would be a quiz the next day, and that the most important points to remember were Smithville and London. To my surprise, the sticks stayed in the ground the whole week.

Wakeboarding and tubing with the team was the best. It was such a great time to relax, hang out, and have fun. We took turns on the tube, sometimes we were just by ourselves and other times we took turns going in partners.

There are so many stories I could tell you about. Stories about the games, stories about tubing, stories about chapel, stories about skit night, stories about coffeehouse, and stories about cabin love. The thing I can’t get over, so how well our cabin devo’s went. Since I had nine girls 14-16 years old and they wanted to hear all about relationships, I thought it was best to talk about being a woman of God. Each night was a different topic. What beauty meant to them, self-esteem and how to deal with it, the hope we have in Christ (Craig’s story), relationships, and what it means to be a woman of God. I tried to make it as interesting as possible, yet still getting the point across. I often shared a personal story from my life. I didn’t really realize the impact I had on these girls until later on in the week. One of the first nights, I remember looking at all the girls as I was talking and it amazed me that I had their complete attention. They were all looking at me and actually listening to what I had to say. It was an amazing feeling. Near the end of the week, Andrea, told me that as I was sharing one of my stories (one of the hardest ones I shared) there was one girl crying. I couldn’t believe the impact I could have on these girls. They looked up to me so much and wanted to know my opinions about guys and dating, my relationship stories, my friends, my spiritual life, what I was going to school for, what I did during the summer – everything about me. It just blows my mind. These girls were more to me than just the girls I counseled, they became my friends.

Leaving camp early, leaving these girls early was one of the hardest things I had to do this summer. After just a week, I had to leave these awesome girls and go back home. Home, 6-7 hours away. Living 6-7 hours away from ABK means that seeing these girls again is doubtful, although it would be amazing to see them again. During the long drive home, it was Rueben who kept me away. For most of that drive home, all we did was trade stories about our week, our cabins, and our new friends.

Before we left, our speaker, Steve, read us Philippians 1:3-6 "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Whenever I think, hear, or read that passage, I think about ABK and the people there and smile because I am lucky to have such an experience.