Camp Buc Week 2: all things go, all things go

Adventure and excitement seems to follow me!

If you happened to read my post from week 1, camp has been very hectic and busy so far! Last week I had 3 very difficult campers to deal with, keeping me occupied constantly. Coming into week 2 I was seriously hoping for a break. Well I got one...sorta...

My kids we're COMPLETE opposites from last week. I had 5 boys, once again ages 12-14, who were extremely laid-back. Day 1 went by swimmingly. There were no serious problems and everyone got along. Things actually went so well that I assumed my campers could handle "the loop," which is the seldom used extended version of our usual mountain hike to "rockface." I would soon come to realize that my campers could handle the loop fine...it would be me that would have the problems!

First off, you know how when a guy is looking for a location he is often so consumed by finding it that he tends to just shrug off all suggestions no matter how useful they may be? "Maybe you should turn here?" "Why don't we stop and ask for directions!" You get the point. Basically that was me on this trip. I was in complete control and I was completely responsible.

Up we hike to Rockface, leg 1 of the journey. Things go fine, we have lunch and then proceed on to the loop trail. After about an hour of hiking, I get to a point where I'm not exactly sure which way the trail goes. I make a guess, once again acting like I am in complete control. What starts as us making our way through a somewhat cleared area of woods soon becomes thick forest with no trail in sight. I get the idea that if we keep going straight we will eventually meet up with the trail that cuts to the left. We must have trudged through thick forest, steep hills, and thorny bushes for an hour with nothing in sight. My campers are exhausted and worried. We reach a point where climbing down would be extremely dangerous, yet its our only way forward. Instinct leads me on but my reason finally gets the better of me and finally I break. My confidence is gone and everyone realizes we are extremely lost...in comes Daniel.

Let me tell you about Daniel real quick. Daniel is a Chaplain up here at Camp Buc with us. He is 50 years old. He has lived in Ghana his entire life. He just graduated from Princeton Seminary, his only 3 years in the United States. Daniel is amazing. Ok back to the story...

At my point of breakdown Daniel says, "Mike I think I saw a trail going off to our right before we had descended down this path. Maybe we should backtrack and give it a try!" This sounds like the best idea I have ever heard, and my first instinct is of course to think "why didn't you say that EARLIER!" In comes the "guy" thing. I realized that even if he mentioned it earlier, there's a good chance I wouldn't have even listened to him. We start backtracking, and when we are almost back to where we split off I just drop down and sit. Everyone else follow suit and soon we're just sitting there in silence. I begin to realize the drop in morale of the group and ask Daniel to pray for us. He compares our journey to that of the Israelites in the wilderness and their need to trust God. Daniel's prayer is like spinach to Popeye, and we all hop up and head back to where I initially led us astray. Sure enough, the trail had taken a sharp right turn! We were back on track! Smooth sailing down the mountain right?...Maybe?...

After a little ways down the trail we stop at the Cliffs landmark - a beautiful view. About a minute after our arrival there we all witness a lightning bolt strike down in the valley followed by the shriek of all the campers. "LET'S GO!" I scream, being a little fearful of thunderstorms myself. We take off down the trail as a thunderstorm brews up right over us. Daniel, calm and composed, is leading the campers quickly down the path. I am doing my best to make sure everyone is on their way safely, all the while freaking out that we're at a high elevation, surrounded by trees, during a thunderstorm. The fact that we constantly run across trees previously split by lightning doesn't help either. At one point I look back to see that my co-counselor and her camper are nowhere in sight. Freaking out again I start running up the mountain SCREAMING their names. Finally I run across a crying camper with a hurt ankle and a counselor doing her best to help her down the mountain. I have the camper hop on my back and with all the strength left in my body, run her down the trail. This entire strategy seems to work well as we make great progress down the mountain. I finally get a chance to look around me as the thunderstorm clears up, only to see sun streaking through the trees, light rain keeping us cool, and even a rainbow at one point! Immediately all my fears, my anxiety, my worry, is gone.

My campers, my co-counselor, and Daniel, taught me so much that day. My quiet, laid-back campers had helped each other down that mountain, and wouldn't have made it without each other. Daniel had quietly taught me how a leader should act, by praying with and comforting all of my campers as soon as he noticed they were scared or exhausted. My co-counselor had quietly, humbly, and cheerfully held up the back of the line with an injured camper throughout the entire ordeal. Finally, our whole group remarked on how, despite all of this, they loved the experience of getting "lost in the wilderness."

I've got a lot to learn.

So...despite that how was the rest of the week? Oh, you know, know big deal.

1. The night of our mountain adventure our traumatized campers got caught in another huge thunderstorm while camping out
2. The next night we were hit with another huge thunderstorm during vespers and had to run to the dining hall
3. The next day our lifeguard cut her ear, needing stitches, during our hike to Trinity waterfall

Yet, my campers still had one of the greatest weeks of their lives.
amazing.

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go