Well,
it’s been a whirlwind the past two weeks! We spent the first part of our stay
doing grungy work around the campgrounds to get the cabins and the huts in Chi
Rho ready for campers. Chi Rho is a rustic camping experience for 6th-8th
graders with rudimentary huts and no electricity, where the campers cook all
their food over an open fire and really get a chance to connect with the forest
around them. As a lodge intern I don’t really get a chance to connect as deeply
with the grounds down there throughout the summer, but chasing 8 mice out of
huts and removing mice bathrooms (bunches of rat poop), kitchens (all of their
nut shavings), and bedrooms (cute little mice nests), made my Chi Rho
experience as an intern an adventure already.
The
first day with campers made me feel like I’d been hit by a bus. But a bus that
brings energy, fulfillment, and joy. One pretty rare combination! A typical day
for my junior camp (3-5 graders) this week:
8-8:30= breakfast
8:30-9:15=clean dishes
9:15-10= lead camp-wide
games while counselors have their meeting
10-12= restock toilet
paper/paper towels in the cabins, fix some cabin issues (lots of them, they’re
really old), gather materials the directors need for the rest of the day, sort
camper mail
12-12:30= eat lunch
12:30-1:30= lunch dishes
1:30-2= mini-break (if
I’m lucky)
2-3= team-building low
ropes course activities
3-4:30= get soaked
playing water games with the kids (no pool this summer… darn!)
4:30-6= attempt
Operation Dry, gather more things for campfire/snacks/activities etc.
6-6:30= dinner
6:30-7:30= dinner
dishes
7:30-8= mini-break (if
I’m lucky!)
8-8:30= light a
campfire and hope it stays lit for campfire until 9
9-whenever: clean up
materials/spaces/hang out with the other interns/get myself ready for the next
day.
It’s always nice to end
the day with a campfire, it’s the most powerful part of the day and you learn
so much from the people who share parts of their faith journeys. It is pretty
much a 12-hour day, but they go by fast!
Each
week is different because there are new campers, new counselors, and new
directors that like to tailor their schedules to create a unique experience for
each camp. The week of CYF (Christian Youth Fellowship, 9-12 graders) that I attended
from 2008-2011 is coming up next week. I’ll be serving the same counselors and
director that I spent time with as a camper. Those 4 weeks of life were the
most transformative for me, and it will be a little weird being an outsider
looking it at all that aMAZing-ness. But I'm excited I get to help out!
I’ve
gotten to know the 3 girls and 1 guy I’ll be staying with for the whole summer,
and we’ve already shared quite a few laughs, movie nights (or afternoons… or
days…), and spills on the slippery bridges between cabins. Sometimes I just
look around and feel like the luckiest girl in the world because I get to spend
an entire summer in the place that established many of my strengths and beliefs.
I just feel in awe of this place and so blessed that this Holy Ground exists. Many
of the youngest campers here say they feel so safe and loved by everyone; it’s like
a Utopia (I guess it is called “Holy Ground” for a reason). A group of complete
strangers can come together for 6 days and create something beautiful and
endearing: fellowship and friendship that literally lasts throughout the years.
This may sound cheesy and whatnot, but this place truly changes lives. I feel
so honored that I get to be a part of it.