Earlier this month, Sarah, Bethany, & I went to GEMS Camp. Since I’m the AC for the area (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada) I was heavily involved in planning this camp. It was such a wonderful blessing to be able to do that and to see how God worked in the lives of the girls at camp.
We had 123 women and girls at camp this year and that was the first blessing! We had been getting worried because registrations weren’t coming in, but of course that was needless worrying. We worried about the weather, but it was beautiful and warm. We worried about many things, but God provided through it all!
Camp began on Friday night, but Sarah, Bethany, & I left early in the day to see if we could get my camera fixed and we did! Hooray! I am so excited to have a properly focusing camera again. We had lunch and did a little shopping together. It was fun. We headed to camp and the girls helped us put signs on cabins and all that kind of stuff. Friday evening consisted of registration, mixer games, chapel, snacks, and cabin devotions. Everyone arrived safely, and camp was off to a good start!
Saturday morning we heard girls squealing very early. Like before 6:00 a.m. early. The night before I had promised a surprise for the cabin who was in line for breakfast first. Breakfast was at 8:00. The first cabin got in line at 6:55. I soooooo did not see that coming! I saw them around 7:45, gave them their pack of Smarties and said, “Go play!” I will never make that promise again.
During the night Friday night a girl in my daughter’s cabin got sick. She threw up inside the cabin, all over the floor. The counselor called me at 3:00 a.m. – they had no paper towels. So, Tami & I trudged up there with some paper towels. I’m guessing the girl didn’t dare get up and run to the bathroom because I had made such a big deal out of “Don’t go to the bathroom alone, even in the middle of the night. You have to take someone with you.” Ugh. Live & learn. The girl seemed OK and stayed through the rest of camp.
Saturday was filled with fun and games, as well as two sessions with our awesome speakers, Miss Ruth & Miss Krissy. Our prayer and goal for camp this year was that the girls meet Jesus. Miss Ruth & Miss Krissy made sure of that. Our new theme for GEMS is going to be “Feed the Fire”, with a special emphasis on
P – Pray constantly
A – And
S – Study God’s Word
S – Serve Others
I – Interact with God’s people
O – Open Up and talk about God
N – Notice God in the ordinary
Miss Ruth & Miss Krissy told stories of 3 women in the Bible who were passionate about Jesus: Esther, Mary of Magdala, and the Shunnamite Woman (yeah, I didn’t know that one either). It was phenomenal. They are the best story tellers and kept the girls (& the counselors) on the edge of their seats. They had activities intermixed and it was awesome.
On Saturday, we also went swimming, had a craft, ate, and had a campfire with singing and s’mores, of course!
Saturday night I told the girls there would be a surprise for those who slept the longest. Some came to breakfast on Sunday in their pj’s! Good job! They got to eat first. We had chapel again on Sunday, during which Miss Ruth led the girls in a prayer of commitment or recommitment to Jesus. MANY girls prayed this prayer with her and we were so blessed to witness that.
Unfortunately, two other girls got sick at camp on Saturday night and had to go home. We felt fortunate that no more got sick, considering the way germs can spread in situations like that! They all recovered quickly, for which we are also thankful!
Just a few pics…I was pretty busy and didn’t have time for too many pictures.
(I have more pictures of Bethany because when we separated between older girls and younger girls, I had the younger girls.)
Camp was lots of work, but tons of fun, and totally blessed by God.
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