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Zenith: Tuesday…SCRUB
By Jason | June 24, 2009
Tuesday was another great day! Days are usually good at Zenith. It’s really late so I am not going to spend much time writing at 2:45AM. I didn’t get a chance today to bl0g…sorry….I was out an about hanging out with, and counseling with, some of our teens. I think that takes priority. Anyways, back to the late night thing….Each night some of the staff gets together after the campers are safe in their dorm rooms and in bed, and enjoy some laughter and food together at the IHOP down the road. Now don’t worry, all counselors remain on campus, as well as a large majority of the staff, including all the nurses, dorm directors, etc., and we are just a couple minutes down the road. Its just a time for some of the ministers to get together process the day, support one another, and relax. We got off to a late start tonight because there was a funny (not really) little mishap. One of the counselors thought it would be hilarious if he threw a little confetti (shreaded paper he found in a trash bag on campus) out during the Summer Singers concert. Well, turned out a little confetti went a long ways! There was paper all over the auditorium, so in an effort to spare the janitorial staff their jobs and their sanity, the ministry staff, the prankster counselor, and a few of the campers, spent an hour or so vacuuming and sweeping between all the movie theatre style seats. It was ridiculous!
Back to the important things…the day….great day of classes, worship, and learning. We spent the day focusing on the srubbing and cleansing that takes place to get rid of the stains of our sins. This scrubbing takes place of course by the blood of Jesus. It was powerful. Tonight we also had youth group time. I love the time we have with our youth group. Everyone checked in and all seem to be doing really good. Everyone is smiling. I think most, if not all, are really happy with their camp groups, rooms, and experience. We spent our time in Youth Group time tonight sharing responses to the day and praying for one another. It is so awesome to witness our teens praying for one another, supporting one another, and encouraging one another. It’s exactly what I think of when I think of “church”. I have seen Jesus working in and through many of our teens. I have seen a senior girl counseling a younger girl, and praying together, crying together, and offering advice through experiences she had in her life. I saw others enouraging each other through some difficult emotional moments. I saw our young men step up in group time and lead some singing for us. I saw our Seniors and graduated Seniors step up and lead some response groups. I saw a few of our younger campers help us clean up in the auditorium instead of hanging out in their dorms with friends so that we could clean up the confetti mess more quickly. And I had some great conversations today during free time with a few of our teens. One who will most likely take on Christ in baptism on Wednesday! Praise God!
That’s it for tonight….Oh, one last thing….If you haven’t heard from your teen lately, it’s likely their cell phone has been taken up. Even with our no cell phone/eletronic device contract being signed by all the student and parents, the camp staff and/or I have taken up 10 cell phones and 3 iPods from Legacy teens; thats slightly over 1/4 of our students from Legacy attending camp. Do the math on that: 13 x $25 = $325. Thats more money towards youth missions than we raised with the Eat at Joe’s Pasta fundraiser! I guess there is one positive in people breaking the camp rules!
Here’s the even more crazy thing I was talking to one of our teens about cell phones during camp….and another young lady from Legacy walked up told me tonight that her mom made her give her cell phone up before we left on Sunday (Of which I was aware…kudos mom!). She said at that time she was really mad. But she said tonight, “don’t tell my mom this, but I am actually enjoying not getting all the text and phone calls. It’s kind of relaxing and enjoyable, definately less stressful”. I think she is on to something!
Peace…
Topics: Ministry, Parenting, Teens |
June 24th, 2009 at 9:10 am
thanks for the updates Jason! take your vitamins–you still have more summer and late nights ahead of you!