Questing with the Explorer camp

Remember how exhausted I was at the end of last week, and praying for an “easy” week with Explorers? Well, God decided to grant me with another week leaving me drained but with new lessons to learn amidst the strain.

Last year, I worked over half of my time with the elementary school camps. I loved my time with the Explorer camp, and going into this week was thinking I know the drill. I wouldn't have guessed transitioning back into young kids after weeks of training high schoolers to be leaders would be so difficult. Counseling for Explorer camp used to come nearly as easily as breathing; not true anymore. I had to transition into tying tennis shoes, answering dozens of questions daily about what was next on the schedule even after I'd already told them the schedule a couple times that day, and listening to sobbing over minor injuries and homesickness. I was missing my high school campers, missing the expectations of that camp, and missing feeling confident and comfortable with my role.

Overall, the campers themselves were well-behaved and got along well. I did have a severely homesick camper, and I struggled for days to prod her into getting involved in fun activities with others. She would sit off to the side at free time and when others were socializing she remained withdrawn. I would prod her to get involved, suggesting different things she should try, but I couldn't push her much more. However, this situation provided opportunity for an exciting moment, a true God thing, towards the end of the week. After days of frustration over how to get her to involve herself, on Wednesday we went on dune rides. This girl sat by me, but when we got out to play on the dune, she ran off with another girl and simply played. When we returned, she was playing gaga ball, 4-square, and chatting with other girls at free time. That night as we spent time as a cabin, she was talking to various girls in the cabin and being a crazy 10 year-old with them. All of this occurred without me having to push her towards it. I was seriously dancing inside.

Outside of the challenge I faced with this camper, the rest of the campers provided few challenges besides the normal constant questions and not always listening to directions. Rather, what caused the biggest stress throughout my week was feeling like I lived on different planets than some of the counselors. For 2 weeks of Pathfinders, I worked with 5 people whom I knew, who I had worked with on some level, and who knew Grace as well (or better) than me because we'd all worked here previously. In Explorer, there are many new staff. That isn't to say they aren't good counselors; they are doing a marvelous job overall. And I'm not going to bring up all of what I faced, but let it suffice to say my expectations of how things were done didn't always line up with other counselors, which was causing tension for me. I had to implement a model I had taught to high schoolers for the past two weeks about feedback, and try to get on the same page as them. After those conversations, things did get better, but I still didn't always see eye-to-eye with those people. It still provided a couple valuable lessons. First, when I am working with faculty and staff in my future job as a teacher, I may be working on a team with a teacher who doesn't do anything the same way I do. I'm going to have to learn to communicate, compromise, and major on the majors rather than on the minors. Second, this challenge forced me to confront the issue, something I avoid, and be a better communicator.

There were still highlights, as usual. Kids still surprised me in one-on-ones with their answers to questions. They learned lessons I didn't even realize they were absorbing, about prayer, the Bible, God, and their relationship with Christ. And we had fun – I rode the shark multiple times, I was able to be energetic and laugh during chapel, and I got to be totally wacky and crazy during songs, skits, and sillies. I dressed up in my pj's one morning and later that night wore a sparkly dress and a tiara. I sang at the top of lungs some silly songs. Daily, I received notes from a pretty amazing man ;) When I grasped onto those things, the tension lifted and I definitely had many laughs this week.

Friday still came, as it always does. I survived, and I will only be working with people over the age of 12 for the rest of the summer, most of the time working with returning Pathfinders. I also realized why God is calling me to work with the older kids, as that is definitely more where my heart lies. I cannot wait to continue those connections I've formed with the high school students, and to see them return and step into leadership roles in a new way on the Tim Team. But God wanted me to step out and try a little of everything.

Family Camp is this week, which is one of the best weeks all summer. Families stay on campus, and staff hosts them, eating meals together, leading one daily family activity, and answering questions, but we do not stay with them. Family camp week means a) no kids staying with me 24 hours a day, b) less responsibilities for pretty much every job, c) more time with the staff due to less responsibilities, and d) I am able to practice some duties of adventure staff, like belaying, sitting on top of the zip line tower, or hanging out at the waterfront. It's a week of refreshment, which I think I definitely need at this time. I thank God for His strength, but also for this rest.

Pathfinders Week 2... God's challenge for our staff.

I sit here this Friday night, pretty worn out from this entire week but happy I'm here. This was one of the craziest, toughest, and most memorable weeks of camp I've had. 

Similar to last week, we had very few Pathfinders. Carla and I combined to have 9 girls, and the guys had 11 teens. Also similar to last week, Kyle and I were paired up as small group leaders. But unlike last week, nearly every camper was returning to camp and some were even returning for their 2^nd year of Pathfinders. Looking at that list at the beginning of the week, it seemed that fact might make it a little easier. Well not exactly.

We quickly realized our biggest struggle for the week would be focus and respect while others talked. This went for both groups. I'll admit I fell into some certain teacher habits (“you're only wasting your own time”) when trying to gain back control. They sort of worked, but this is going to need to be an area I work on before becoming a teacher – gaining back the focus of my students. However, we had the advantage that we knew some kids had been here before and could be influencing these groups for the better if they stepped up and implemented leadership. This worked with some individuals, and that made it easier. 

We got through the first two days without too many major hitches. Then Wednesday came. The most interesting day that was so full of roller coaster moments as I hadn't personally experienced before.

As I believe I mentioned previously, part of the Pathfinders curriculum is teaching about the five major worldviews. This week, each of the counselors took one of the four worldviews (the four beside Christian theism) to teach each morning. I began this morning teaching spiritism. It went all right, and I even got kids interested in watching the 1990 movie, Ghost, because I showed a clip from it. Anyway, after lunch, during free time, one of my highlights of the day came along. Tubing was open, so Kyle and I went with a couple campers. When that ride was over, not many campers were lined up to go tubing. Kyle and I were already in the water, Carla was standing on the shore debating tubing, and Josh was just near the point. Carla jumped into our group, but we needed a fourth. Guess who we asked; Josh. The 3 people I've been working with, growing close to, and connecting with in a way different than any other staff, all participating in one of my favorite camp activities. I couldn't help but grin. Kyle and I ended up in the water while Carla and Josh both stayed dry, but that's besides the point. 

 

I couldn't have guessed then just how quickly this day would turn, and be one of the most jam-packed, longest days ever. Near the end of free time, I see coming towards me a Pathfinder camper being escorted quickly by a staff member, and something red all over his chin. Yup, that's blood. The news traveled before he even reached me that he'd bit through his lip while tubing. A counselor has to attend him to the hospital, so Kyle rushes off and my heart is racing for no other reason than we are one counselor down and a kid in our care is headed to the hospital. I'm able to settle down, but I already know that my hour off is not going to happen at the scheduled time; we'll be in small groups, and I'm the only half of my team currently on campus. Not a big deal in light of the situation. 

 

Our next activity was talking about change, which was one of the favorites of the campers last week. Josh is leading this, and is using a “mission” (activity accompanying the lesson to enhance the teaching) that we used in staff training in 2012. In this mission, the kids are asked to untie knots in a rope but while they work on this task, the rules are constantly changing and new obstacles to completing the task arise. My team is doing pretty good, going faster than expected, so we escalate to one of the harder obstacles, which is completing the task blindfolded. This is where the group stalled, and they entered a major “storming” stage, meaning there was conflict among the members that if resolved well could really bring them together. It also includes a lot of frustration in the group. “Frustrated” was a bit of an understatement at this time; there was some yelling, some absolute refusal, and a lot of complaints about the task. After the mission is complete, and we're talking through it and what could be learned, there's still a lot of tension between each other and some between some of the group and me. They sort of started to see my point by the end – change will occur, obstacles will arise, and new actions need to be taken – but the frustration didn't disappear. This makes me a little concerned knowing what's coming after dinner... the infamous geocaching hike. Maybe they'll do well on this, and not get lost?

Good news – we never left Grace property this time. Bad news – we found one item and ended up at the Ranch, about 2 miles away from where the coordinates actually were leading. This time I wasn't upset or scared, because a) the adventure core was with me (Kyle had returned, but had nearly passed out in the hospital so wasn't in any condition to hike) and b) I knew where we were, and that they weren't doing it right. So I'm covering my grin. The team, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled. Actually, they were pretty ticked off. Many of them didn't want to hike, were mad that they had walked so far, upset they didn't find the items, and overall shut down in their attitude towards me since I had led them through two “stupid” tasks in a matter of hours. Not exactly the greatest thing for me as a counselor to have my campers not willing to really listen. Thankfully, we got back and I didn't have to lead anything in the small group setting. 

 

Some conversations that day also became heavier, and more challenging, which didn't exactly help my day. We did finish the night with healthy relationships, one of my favorite sessions, but by the time 11:00 lights out rolled around I couldn't believe it was all happening in one day. I was mentally and physically exhausted, and even still my mind wouldn't shut off very easily. After finally just unwinding a little through some reading, I fell into bed.

I'm happy to say that this day wasn't typical of the week as a whole, but definitely a defining day of the week. Thursday got better, was much more relaxing, and overall the end of the week was enjoyable. Even so, fighting for attention, fighting against some inappropriate behaviors, and handling all this week threw at me wasn't easy. But I came out of it, and I had a good Friday night, and hopefully a rejuvenating weekend.

So it's official. I made it through 2 weeks of camp. The rest of the summer is flip flopping between working with these kids again during service weeks and working with “normal” camps. I switch to Explorer Camp for this next week, 9-11 year-olds. It'll be an interesting transition, but I have done this camp before and have very fond memories of it. So what I need prayers for right now is a) a calming weekend and b) a smooth transition and a good week. I would pray that my week with the Explorers is “easy,” but that's selfish of me and sometimes seeing God work in the hardest weeks is the most impactful. We shall see what he decides to bring me for the next session.

Pathfinders Week 1, where apparently fluffy is something that projects

Just a couple things I realized about Pathfinders students this week that made me feel old:

• they were born in 1998 or later. I remember those years pretty well.
• they don't remember dial-up internet
• you mention AIM to them and you get strange looks
• trying to chase down teenagers during capture the flag – not as easy as, say, 9-year-olds. Actually, I couldn't catch them.

Well, week one of camp is over, and those Pathfinders went home Friday evening. But what a week it was.

There was a total of 17 high school students this week; that's total, both boys and girls. Pretty small camp, but that also made relationships amongst all campers closer. Carla, the other female Pathfinder counselor, and I combined our cabins into just one room, as there were only 7 girls. It was really good to be able to work alongside Carla, the only other female counselor returnee and so someone I already have a good relationship with.

Unlike other camps, though, we didn't do much of anything as a cabin group. Instead, we had 2 small groups that mixed boys and girls. My co-leader for our small group – Projecting Fluffy (name created by the kids) – was Kyle. God totally set up that pairing because we worked well together, my weaknesses made up for by his strengths and visa versa. Plus he's a really fun guy to work with and we grew close over the week.

We had some, uh, interesting stories from the week. One of those stories will live in Pathfinder legend for at least the rest of the summer, if not into next year.

Our activity for the night was a geocaching hike with our small group; the other small group would do this hike later in the week. It was the first time they were doing something like this, but the leaders thought it would be a good high schooler activity. One of the core staff hid various objects around Grace property and then recorded the coordinates for the kids to use the GPS to find. After an orientation to the GPS, we were off.

One thing to understand about this story is that I am the lone counselor on this hike for the first hour of it. We get an hour off per day as staff, and Kyle was on his hour off for the first part of the hike. So it's me, directionally challenged, and 9 high school students. Okay, resume.

We found the first two objects in a relatively quick manner – marshmallows and graham crackers. So we guessed what we were looking for next – chocolate. They read the next coordinates and we set off through the woods.

We're walking along the paths that wind through the forest of Grace property, climbing hills, trying not to trip on sticks, and me asking the students to not touch that dead baby raccoon. We pass high camp, a place I visited during staff training so I know where we are. We continue walking, and I grow less sure of if we're still on Grace property; I don't know how far our property reaches. And then we climb this hill and come out to a vast expanse of.... sand dune. Off to the side is this ramshackle silo. Well, we aren't on Grace property for sure now. The kids with the GPS find exactly where they think the coordinates lead, which is the middle of this dune. No chocolate, of course. At that moment the batteries on the GPS die. The kids look up bewildered. What do we do now? Funny for me to watch, only because I had been given extra batteries. I quickly rescue them from panic by producing new batteries.

The kids are sitting around the sand dune, saying how we're probably going to die out here and contemplating how deep to dig their own graves. Oh over-dramatic high school students. We are not going to die, I tell them, and try to think logically. I try to listen for cars to find a road which we can follow back. Nothing. Crap. Then I remember the other objects were found in a familiar place, so can lead us back to camp if we just find those coordinates again. I'm in big-time driver mode (meaning I take charge and just want to get things done) and so I tell the kids the plan is to forget the chocolate and go back to the coordinates for the graham crackers. No one objects. I tell them the coordinates and some of the students say that to get there we have to walk further across the dune. Heck no, I'm not doing that. I want to go back to the woods, where at least part of the time I was sure of where we were. I get a couple protests, but my teacher voice of firmness comes out and they all slink back to the woods. One of the students figures out the GPS allows us to retrace our steps, so we begin to do that. By this time, I know people know we're lost because Kyle's hour off ended half an hour ago, so he'll be wondering where we are, and we were supposed to be moving onto our next activity soon. We start retracing our steps and then I hear voices. “Pathfinders! Becca! Hello!” I shush everyone and yell “Hello?!” Then up over the next hill comes Kyle racing towards us with Silas, the adventure core staff and designer of the hike, directly behind him. We're found.

Apparently there were a total of 5 or 6 people searching the woods for us. Good thing we went back there, huh? What happened was the students were correct on the first and third coordinate of the north directions, but failed to take into account the middle coordinate, and so we were one degree off. According to Silas, that was about 1.5 miles further than where we were supposed to be and we walked a total of 3 miles that night. As I begin to process, the fear that was pushed aside on the dune takes over. But I'm given my full hour off, and by the time I rejoin the group I am able to laugh about it. Even writing this post I'm laughing about it.

Good things came out of this adventure. First, the students kept more positive attitudes towards one another than most students would in the situation. Sure, they were saying they were going to die, but they were also laughing and joking about what was happening. Second, it built the team. Getting lost in a sand dune tends to bring people closer as they laugh over the shared experience. Third, it allowed them to learn from their failure. Later, as I talked to my core staff, she apologized for causing me panic because I didn't know what was going on, but also said she wouldn't have wanted me to do anything differently if I had known. It was their failure to have and learn from. They learned to pay attention to all details for sure.

Besides these daring adventures, a lot more happened during Pathfinders week 1. We worked through the Journey curriculum, we discussed the 5 major worldviews, we talked about who God is, why the Bible is reliable, if and why Christ rose, and healthy relationships. I'll be honest, I wasn't always 100% sure what the kids were soaking in or what went in one ear and out another. But during one-on-ones and the final campfire I saw that I was wrong, and that I should've trusted that the Holy Spirit was working even when I didn't see it. Some of my girls told me their favorite part of the week was those lessons in the evening or the worldview discussions. At the campfire, students who had been acting difficult all week shared valuable lessons they had learned. Our God is amazing and works in wonderful ways.

So here we go, into week 2. The schedule may be similar, but the week is going to be totally different; new kids, new memories, new lessons learned. I'm looking forward to seeing more reapings of the seeds we plant.

The Start of the Impact

It's back to always smelling like either a campfire, the lake, bug spray, or sun-bathed skin – or a combination of any of those things. It's back to constantly carrying a backpack, setting aside my phone, using a watch, and getting bad tan lines. It's back to 24/7 community. It's back to challenging students to go further than they think they can and seeing the results, having the students open my eyes and challenge me to grow in my faith, and acting like a total nut because it's acceptable. It's back to Grace Adventures. Yay camp!

This is my second year working on the summer staff, which I think for my naturally more introverted is beneficial. I can remember last year during the 2 weeks of staff training I was feeling okay, but not totally at home or like I was acting like myself. By the end of summer, that had changed as I grew in relationships with people and in knowledge of myself. I loved this place and hence I came back. Returning this year, I found myself automatically more comfortable and able to be myself more naturally. I knew people from summer 2012, and found myself connecting first with them. As the week has progressed, I've found myself getting closer to them than I was last summer, which is exciting for me.

Though I already have people I know from the previous summer, I've been trying hard to not be that return staffer who only clumps with other return staffers or who talks about last summer to the point that people get annoyed with me. I think I've been doing a pretty good job branching out to include the new staff, or staff I don't know. The second half is more of a struggle just because last summer is the basis for my knowledge, and a time where I really grew which contributes to this summer. To some extent, I need to talk about last summer – to help new staff members, to share personal stories in order to connect with others or give a context for what we might be discussing. I hope I haven't gotten to the point where I'm annoying anyone, but I continue to try to check myself every day when I start bringing up last summer. Because this is a new summer, not summer 2012.

The way Grace's staff training works (well, the first part of it, because if you ask a staff member they'll tell you that staff training is all summer long) is the first week is solely focused on the staff as a person and as a community. Little mention is made of how we will perform our jobs, what skills we need to know, or what the curriculum looks like. We go through the curriculum we send our leadership camps through, learning about how to be Godly leaders and exploring who we are as individuals. We talk about behavioral styles according the DISC model (I'm an S, with some I tendencies, and a button that can put me into D mode), the 5 love languages (my primary is physical touch, which is the language I primarily like to receive, but I more naturally lean toward gift giving as the language I give to others), and explore leadership, feedback, conflict, and change through the Journey curriculum. Furthermore, we explore our God-given purpose by working through a book GA created called Pieces to a Purpose. Being a return staff member, I worked through the “digging deeper” Pieces. Last year while working through part 1 I came to recognize just how incredibly passionate I was about education; this past year has re-emphasized this. So my purpose statement wasn't a whole lot different than last year, yet it did get fleshed out more and I better understand what kind of goals I wanted to set for myself due to my experiences this past year. This method of focusing on the self and community rather than the job is not what other camps do, but I really like it, because it allows us to better minister to others when we understand our own walk with Christ.

Outside of the leadership activities, we also participated in activities that taught us more about the camp or gave us a challenge. For the past 2 weeks, we have heard from people from the various areas around camp that are part of the ministry – the marketing team, the maintenance crew (which included many of the staff's favorite session – plunging 101), the health officer – and we've all taken turns working in the kitchen. We also spent a couple days at Paradise Ranch, one of Grace's other campuses. We also got to participate in a high adventure experience. Now, had you told me as a little 6^th grader who sat shaking with fear at the top of the zip line tower that I would be actually looking forward to this experience all week I would've called you nuts. But with exposure that fear has subsided in the past couple of years, and I actually was pumped to either climb around in the ropes course or climbing tower. I was hoping to do the outdoor ropes course for the first time, but alas many wanted to do that activity. So I switched to the rock tower, and having powered through actual rock climbing in Kenya, I challenged myself to the medium level of difficulty wall. It took a lot of effort, and a lot of creativity, but I did make it to the top. Furthermore, through experience we have here at Grace we aim to have the participants learn something, and I did learn something that I can apply this summer. Looking at things from different perspectives, trying something new when the first attempts don't work, is going to be beneficial to my work as a counselor. When I am doing activities or Bible studies with my campers, and the method I am using isn't working, I can try to do it some other way, look at it from different perspectives.

This second week has included the information, instruction, and skills we need to perform our jobs; we don't stop with the leadership activities. Learning about the policies and procedures of the camp, behavior management, the curriculum, and details about being a camp counselor were all taught this week. In my ministry team, we also talked about our specific assignments for the summer. See, I'm part of the team that is going to be the high school leaders. This doesn't mean I'm never going to work with elementary or middle school (I do hope to get a couple weeks with other camps) but my primary role, and my role for this next week, is working with high schoolers.

Our high school camps are different than any other camps we do at Grace Adventures. Pathfinder and Quest, the 2 high school camps, are called “leadership treks” because the focus is on becoming Godly leaders. Pathfinder, the camp for which I will be a counselor for the next 2 weeks, goes through the Journey curriculum that we just went through and also discusses the 5 major worldviews. They also learn about serving others as once they finish Pathfinder they return later in the summer to be part of the Tim Team mission work team, which helps out behind the scenes around camp. Quest is the next step, where the students review the worldviews and also take responsibility for their camp experience, planning the schedule for their day on their own. They later return to either be counselors-in-training or work on the Tim Team.

Being a counselor for high school, a camp I have no experience with, is a little intimidating. It's Saturday and I still feel unprepared for this next week; the campers come tomorrow. I'm leaning on God hard for this one because what I do know is that God will give me the strength, the knowledge, and the words to plant seeds in these kids hearts. And with the nature of this camp, He can and will do incredible things. I can't wait to watch.

So, here we are, ready to kick off the camp season. Leadership treks begin Sunday, Discovery camp (youngest kids) begins Tuesday. Pray for all of the staff – counselors, Adventure, band, and full-time – as we plant seeds in these kids hearts this week and for many weeks to come. Pray that we successfully fulfill our mission – impacting people with Jesus Christ.