Summer has started here at Camp Barakel. We haven't seen any campers, but the two weeks of training are important for our summer staff. During this time they accomplish a lot of different things. New people are getting used to camp, and learning about the daily schedule. Otherwise there are several roles, and each one has a slightly unique workshop experience.
Counselors- prepare for their tribe talks. These are short little Sunday school type segments of the day early in the morning, and right before bed. Campers usually focus on memorizing our summer verses (Romans 12:9-12) in the morning, then they have a review of the evening chapel service at night. Each counselor has the latitude to change some aspects of their tribe talks, but they follow that general framework. Counselors also have a lot of training in how to deal with campers. Each camper has a different experience and we try to get our counselors ready to deal with any situation they might run into.
YAPS (Young Adult Program Staff)- Many of these folks are fresh out of high school. They have a wide variety of tasks we ask them to do, flexibility being key. YAPS can be lifeguards, piano players, archery/riflery instructors, cook assistants, laundry workers, handcraft guides, and trading post workers. Throughout all of those tasks they help us run the ambush games and pretty much any other program activity at camp sees a YAP cleaning it, preparing it, or running it. On top of all that they are often asked to counsel for a week when we have full camps.
Programers- This is me this year. We have an interesting job. We need to develop relationships with all the summer staff because we depend on all of them to make our program work. At the same time we have a mountain of preparation. Programers spend a lot of time planning ambushes and getting the supplies ready. While doing that, we have a surprising amount of paperwork to attend to. Every week we have to print out counselor schedules, game schedules, detail sheets (that help counselors remember the daily details), and announcements among other tasks. This week we also have to design and print out a lot of one time papers like the bulletin board paperwork and rules sheets.
Programing has been a tough balance for me, but I'm enjoying the fast pace so far. It's also hard because it doesn't feels like our work adds up to much yet. Others are powering through training sessions while we disappear, but it's all important work for running camp. I think it's one of those things that I'll feel a monkey on my back until we get through a full week, then I'll feel more confident in our work. For now we just have to keep our nose to the grindstone and work. It really is to the glory of God.
STEP Counselors- The Summer Tech and Engineer Program counselor have their work cut out for them. They'll be working with high schoolers that come to work on dishes and other hard work around camp. They're job ends up covering all the other jobs in different ways, and more. So this week they have been learning how to run the dish room, preparing their own program activities, and getting used to a different schedule. It's really a wide variety, yet the focus has to remain on the one on one relationships they make with their engineers/techs.
So that's the main four. There are some other summer leaders that are vital to how camp runs, but they have a much different schedule and I honestly don't know the details. It's hard work all around, but they do make us get our sleep in for now. I have a feeling they're pulling the plug on that as the summer goes on and our schedule gets crunched. Pray for us! We're thinking about campers and God. Trying to put the two together.
Here are a couple pictures from family night at the Ford's! Don't know if the video will work.
Thanks for following my erratic schedule!
