The camp that almost wasn't...

The lead up

 In a normal year, I would be involved with training new Adult Literacy tutors in April/May, then have all of June to prepare for VBS and ISCF camp in July/August. But this year was no ordinary year. After dealing with Daddy's declining health in May and passing in June, I spent most of July preparing for and training ALTA tutors who would be teaching for the first time virtually. It was a lot of work, but it was rewarding to get comments like these at the end:

"Thanks Debbie for all your help and patience during the training. Your wonderful personality and your knowledge and expertise made the training so easy for us to understand. I now feel more confident and able to do the virtual [teaching]

Thanks for facilitating our training Debbie and especially for your patience and the professional manner in which you made me feel comfortable even when I made mistakes. I appreciated that very much because it helped me to keep calm even while coping with all the stress I was experiencing."

Other members of the Camps Committee were going through personal challenges as well, so we didn't meet for the whole month of June. A meeting was planned for July 1st but at this point, I was having doubts about whether we could pull off a camp this year. The first camp was scheduled to begin on July 28th but to date all we had completed was the camp form and flyer, and there were only 2 students registered for camp. In addition, I wasn't convinced that children would be interested in an online camp this year after having been in online school for the past academic year. I wisely kept my doubts to myself and it's a good thing I did, because on July 1st when the flyer was shared to IS/IVCF's facebook page, twenty new campers registered that same day!

 

This year's theme was "Get Ready!"

Get ready - camp is happening!

After that, things started to come into place very swiftly. Directors were sourced from Tobago and the USA (after all, since our camp was virtual, we didn't need to limit our staff to Trinidad and Tobago!) Two training sessions and one fellowship session was held with the counselors. Daily themes and devotions were developed and sent out to counselors and camp speakers. One week after the camp flyers were posted, we had 81 campers registered; one week later, the number grew to 133! It was clear that we needed to source more counselors, with only two weeks to go before the start of camp... 

We started making phone calls to persons who had served as counselors in the past, and also to persons who never counselled camp before but had been a part of IS/IVCF for many years. We even reached out to ISCCF in St. Lucia and were able to get their staffworker to join our counselling team! We had counselors living in Australia, Canada and the USA joining in as well as those in Trinidad and Tobago. In the space of two weeks, we went from having 20 to 32 counselors - glory to God! 

Of the four persons who usually help with camp administration, three were unavailable this year, and the fourth was only able to serve for one week. Thank God for my network of friends who I was able to call on at the 99th hour to assist when we realized how huge the numbers were going to be. We ended up having over 100 campers in Primary camp, and 148 in Junior/Senior camp - the biggest ever in the history of ISCF camping!

Enjoying a time of fellowship before camp began

The first day of Primary camp started with a bang, with 87 campers joining in for this year's camp, "Get Ready!" Our camp directors did an excellent job in managing the schedule, and our camp speaker was very creative and engaging as he presented the message to the campers, encouraging them to get ready to be a part of the kingdom of God. We had some technical issues as soon as it was time for the campers to go into their dorms, and the camp speaker's laptop stopped working just as it was his time to present, so we knew that we needed to get the prayer chain activated for camp. We had intercessors praying every hour for the entire duration of camp. Each day they were given updates so they knew exactly what to pray for, and what to give God thanks for. 

The kind of characters you
can encounter at an ISCF camp

At primary camp, the campers were very receptive to the messages being presented, and very open in the dorms. Some of them asked for prayer to change behaviours which they knew were not pleasing to God. They eagerly learnt their memory verses and many participated in the Memory Verse challenge where they had to do visual representations of the memory verses. For our memory verse video challenge, we received over 20 submissions from these children under the age of 10 - some as young as 4 years old! One camper told his counselor, "I want to learn plenty memory verses because if I hide it in my heart, I will not sin against God". In honor of the 65th anniversary of IS/IVCF in Trinidad and Tobago, we showed the campers videos from past counselors who shared about their camping experiences from the 1960s straight up until the 2000s - it was very enlightening for the campers so see how ISCF camping has evolved over the years.. Apart from the spiritual lessons learnt, campers also enjoyed interactive games, a quiz, painting, and a cooking session where they learnt to make pancakes.

One of our youngest chefs

On the second to last day of camp, one parent asked if there were any "classes teaching kids the word of God" after camp was finished that their children could be a part of. We were grateful to see that the parents appreciated the importance of their children learning the Word of God. By the end of camp, 6 children committed to serve Jesus with their lives for the first time! We pray that the Word which was planted in their lives this week would produce much fruit, for God's presence in the midst of those living in challenging situations, for God's help for those experiencing challenges with online school, and for parents to be encouraged to keep teaching their children the Word of God.

Creative entry for our Masquerade Challenge

When asked what they learnt from ISCF camp, this is what some of them had to say:

* Obey God's Word and make God first

* Do the right thing and also tell all my friends about Jesus

* Jesus is coming soon so we have to get ready 

* How I can talk to God when ever I want

* I learnt that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life

* The change I will make in my life after camp is to change my bad habits like having to much screen time

* I will try harder not to sin

* I want to change the fact that I do not always ready the bible often

Entry to our Memory Verse Challenge

For the first time in I-have-no-clue-how-many years, we were actually able to have 2 (and in some cases 3!) male counselors in a dorm at a Junior/Senior camp. This in itself was a miracle, especially since the majority of them responded to the call at the 99th hour. This year's camp speaker was powerful and direct with his messages, challenging campers to get ready for the realities of life and inevitable death, provoking them to godly living in the midst of life's addictions and temptations, and encouraging them to be ready to represent Christ to others in their lifestyle and conversations. 

At the beginning of camp, many of the campers were very reserved in the breakout rooms but by the end of the week, they started opening up about the challenges they were facing and the issues they were struggling with. At least four campers surrendered their lives to Christ for the first time, and many others renewed their commitment to live for Him. Many campers demonstrated a desire to apply the principles they learnt in camp that week to their daily lives, so we trust that the Holy Spirit would direct and guide as they commit to walk in obedience.

Digital submission for Memory Verse Challenge

For me one of the highlights of Junior/Senior camp was the impromptu testimony session that we had on the last day of camp. It was not a part of the program, but in the post mortem after the second to last day of camp, one of the male counselors was sharing about an issue that a camper in his dorm was facing. One of the female counselors then shared that one of her campers had spoken about facing that same issue, and testified about how she overcame it. Right then, we suggested having a time where campers could share their testimonies on the last day, and encourage one another. Our minds were blown and our hearts were encouraged by what the campers shared. Some spoke about how they applied principles which were shared with them at camp and how they were amazed when it worked. Others shared about challenging situations they faced, and how they were able to overcome. We will definitely be including this segment in future camps!

Senior camper giving her testimony

When we asked what they learnt on camp this week, this is what some of what was shared:

* I learned that I should spread the Word of The Lord in all that I say and do

* That the reality of life will hit me sooner than I think

* Learned that you have to be ready when God comes and it will have problems [along] the way you have to get through

* God is our father, friend and everything. As ambassadors for Him we need to go all out and [not] be held back by fear

* I learnt that I need to try harder to represent God

* I learned that another way to share God's word is to have people ask questions other than telling them

* That even when you feel like God wont forgive give you for something that you feel so badly about he will always forgive

* Don't study what people think about you when you tell them about God. Just plant the seed and if the choose not to listen, that's them, they can't say someone didn't warn them. Or someone may come in the future and water the seed.

* That God creates a way of escape in any situation that we need to overcome

* I learned that tomorrow isn't promised therefore I need to be prepared

One of the more elaborate designs
for the Masquerade challenge

The campers also shared changes that they purposed to make after camp:

* I will change my ways so that whatever I do, it will show the godliness in my life

* My attitude on how I approach things

* I'll try sharing the word of God more with people rather than keeping it to myself

* Better decisions and the application of God into everyday activities

* To be closer to God, pray more and read my bible

* I will try to see myself the way God sees me and never underestimate myself and the potential he has blessed me with

* I will try to not be tempted by the things I enjoyed doing before that I now know are wrong and displeasing to God

* Stop stressing about a lot of unnecessary stuff and turn my worries to God so I can let go of them and be more free

* I will try harder to fight my battles, knowing that they are other people going through the same as I am

Every year these campers blow our minds with 
their creative designs

We give God all the glory for bringing together all the resources needed to execute another successful online camp. From those who conducted the training sessions for the counselors, to those who were on board from the beginning to those who just messaged to find out how I was going and by the end of the conversation found themselves committing to counsel at camp. Thanks to those who came up with the concept for camp, planned the devotions, developed the flyers and logos, served on the Admin team, counselling team, judging team or served as camp speakers. Thanks to those who prayed. Above all else, thanks to God who used the speakers and counselors to minister truth to these campers, and who made the camp that almost wasn't the grand success that it was!