7/18/2010

Go Tell Summer 2010 part 4

Well my friends, on July 10th I made about a 4hr trip over some crazy mountainous roads with my friend Timmy to West Virginia Wesleyan College. Upon arriving we had a tour of the campus (it was the first time Go Tell had done a camp there). We then went to our dorms (the dorm room I ended up in had a trash bag right in the door and it stank...oh well), I was in an apartment with Shane, Josiah W., and Timmy (when we get together there are some interesting experiences like spontaneous singing and laughing :-p). A bit later we helped ATF bring in equipment into the Wesley Chapel (it had pews and is quite traditional) and when we were done it looked AWESOME!

Monday all the Campers (over 200) had arrived by 4pmish. That evening our camp pastor, Jordan Easley, spoke, and Unhindered led worship (they were there all week!). The next day (Tuesday) I got up around 7:30, went to breakfast and at 8:15am went to the Intern meeting in a room in the chapel. I then went to a Breakout session (its a bible lesson that Quinn Cole led). I had to leave early because I was doing the voice for the Heart Skit (we did it for the 10:30 service). That afternoon I was the ref for a dodge ball tournament. The winners of the tournament played the Interns (we won). Then we had dinner and then Adrian Despres spoke (check out www.adriandespres.com). Wednesday was fairly similar to Tuesday. For the Wednesday evening service we had the opportunity to do the King Skit (I was the king, which was fun!). Ergun Caner spoke that night...the following night my buddy Rick Stanley shared his story (Elvis is his step-brother).

Then Friday was the day to break down everything. We packed ATF up and friends headed out. That evening a group of us (Jenny, Sarah H., Sarah Q., Timmy, Shane, Josiah, and myself ate at CJ Maggies and then everyone but Jenny went and saw Inception, excellent movie!). Saturday I packed up, ate at McDs with everyone mentioned above but Jenny and then headed home to northernish VA (got home at about 3pm, it was about a 3 1/2 hr trip).

What great things God allowed me to be a part of this last summer. I was able to aid in molding the lives of some very impressionable and precious kids (with Kids Camp in Taccoa, GA). I also started friendships with young people in Liberty and West Virginia. I also had an amazing opportunity to use my schooling and the passion God has put in my heart for Drama Ministry. This summer has helped to solidify my desire to do Drama Ministry and helped me see what God's vision for it is. My prayer is that God takes all that happened this summer through these camps and causes them to last. Lord, take the seeds we sowed into these young people and youth workers and may they be nourished and help them to grow into something SO BEAUTIFUL that people can't but help see Jesus Christ through them! In the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour, AMEN!!! (and now, on to Costa Rica for a week beginning this Tuesday...please be praying for us!)

Adam Parker <><

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose" Jim Elliot

7/09/2010

Update #3 on Go Tell Camps 2010

Evening Game Time
The Iceberg with the Wet Willie in the background
Inflatables!

Water games on the Rec Field

Hey all, I know it has been quite a while since an update, here it is. So, I was in Toccoa, Georgia, for two weeks and I had the opportunity to work in the Kids Camp (the kids are about from 3rd grade to 5th grade). This was actually the first time Go Tell has done a Kid's Camp which is so cool! I had such a BLAST with them! As many of you know I enjoy making different voices and the kids loved it! There was about 23 kids the first week and about 27 the second week.

Here's a quick glimpse of a typical day in the life of Kid's Camp:
About 7:30am get up
Get breakfast before 8:10am
At 8:10am be in the Intern Meeting(also, possibly meet with the Kid's Camp staff), we go over whats happening that day
9am be in the basement of the dining hall (this is the "Headquarters" of Kid's Camp) and have a time of worship with the weeks' worship leader (we had Ryan Wingo and Brett Younkers) and then the camp pastor would share a message
10am-11am we would head out to the Rec Field where we had Inflatables set up (refer to my Photos)...the kids also had various other things to do at times like water games...tennis...football.
..nature hikes...etc...during this time.
11:30am-12:10pm we had lunch
12:15pm we would split up into our Small Groups and have a time of talking about the Bible and things of God. We also would hand out and play a game.
1:30pm-3:30pm We went down to the water...the kids could swim, go out and float on tubes, canoe, paddle boat, climb the Iceberg, go down the 150 foot Wet Willy Slide, and if they were going into 6th grade they could go out on Tubes behind boats with Ryde On.
3:30pm-4:30pm the kids could go clean up and have a break
4:30pm was dinner
5:15pm we have Praise time...then there is a message shared with the kids
6-8 we play games and there is a snack sometime at this time as well
And then at 9pm the kids leave...Phewwwwwwwwww

So, as you can see we spent a lot of time with these kids! We spent about 37 1/2 hours with these kids each week. I really grew to love these kids. At the beginning of one week I met a kid named Katie. I went to give her a high five and she just looked at me and said something like she didn't give guys high fives. She looked so serious as well. I then looked at her and told her that by the end of the week she would be smiling. And sure enough, by the end of the week I would just have to look at her in a serious face and she would break into a grin :-) It like Jesus said in the Bible, "Let the little children come to me and do not forbid them for such is the kingdom of heaven"!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, here I am now at Liberty University where we just finished up our 1 week Go Tell Camp here. We had Kristian Stanfill as our worship leader. The Interns would have a meeting in the dining hall at 8 in the morning. We would then go to a group from a church and play a game and then one of the interns (Benji did it in mine) would lead a discussion/teaching time). We would then head over to the Schilling Center where the Camp Pastor (this week was Christian Newsome) would bring a message. We then had lunch and then Rec Time till about 4 or 5. Then dinner...then evening service (we heard from Rick Stanley, Adrian Despres, Clayton King, and Tony Nolan this week)...

There it is in a nutshell. Thanks for reading! Love ya'll

Adam D. Parker <>< "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." -Jim Elliot