Cocolalla 1999

I've been praying for the past year. And I know that God is leading me to do this. I am going to be an SMI (Summer Missionary Intern) for Cocolalla Lake Bible Camp in Cocolalla Idaho. SMI is probably the highest level up a youth worker can be.
For the past three years I have worked there. The first as work-crew. (Bathrooms, Cafeteria, Kitchen) The second as work-crew and Cabin Leader. The third as work-crew and cabin leader.

While work-crew may not sound too peachy, it is one of the best things I have done.

I started going to camp when I was seven in 1990. I remember sitting eating lunch and watching the staff filling juice pitchers and washing dishes, and thinking "I'd like to do that someday." Well I did. The first chance I got. I guess the best part of working is the thought that maybe I can make as big a difference in someone’s life as was made in me. The first year I worked I thought, "whoa, I get to be a part of a ministry where people are being saved." I have personally witnessed children coming to Christ. It is one of the greatest things I have ever seen. And they understand it in it's simplicity.

I will be working the whole month of July, and a few weeks in August, as well as Mission Trip June 20th - 25th. Please be praying for me. I will bring you weekly updates... although they may be every few weeks because I will be sleeping and doing laundry. :)

Mission Trip - June 20-25, 1999

This last week was mission trip. God taught me things about pride, judging, love, and surrender. (Explanation in 'what God is teaching me') We did a Vacation Bible School at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Silverton, Idaho. It was awesome, because not only were we reaching the children, but the elderly as well. And one woman accepted Christ in her life. And there were such special people there. These two women who know Christ... they were so happy that we came. And a few of the men too. There was this one who couldn't talk much, but he smiled... oh what a smile. And he loved to shake hands. I'll always remember that, how he smiled, and shook hands, and how tears came into his eyes when we left today... the last day of VBS. It was sad. I just pray that one day... I will see him, as well as the others in heaven.

Alright. So people may wonder what "staff training" is. In fact I have already been asked that by a number of people. Staff Training is the fourth week of June, and first week of July (varies on the year) and it is a week (well technically 4 days) of getting the staff prepared for camp. Such as meetings (almost all day long too *smile*), and practice in the areas of serving (such as bathrooms, dishes, mopping, sweeping). This was the fourth year I have been to staff training, and I believe that this was the best of them all. All the material in the "manuals" was covered, and then some. It was organized... I mean really organized. Even through the meetings we had enough free time as well. Anyway, now on to what I learned. I learned that generally when I judge people I am wrong. And boy was I wrong. Anyway... it was awesome. I am leading a Shepherd group. Now a Shepherd group is a few people (there are 4 in mine including me) who gather together in the morning to pray. It was cool to just be there with these people and pray, just pray to God, and be able to lift them up in prayer. You know... this year I feel something awesome is going to happen. Maybe I'm just more focused on WHY I am there, maybe I'm just excited about my new job, or maybe God's just been working on my heart, and I've finally found the place I belong. Not to say as in where I belong in my walk, but where I belong in my ministry. Last year I was a cabin leader for two weeks, and work crew the other two. Not to say that the dishes and bathrooms I didn't do well, and cabin leading wasn't fun, it's just I know that Nursing is my goal. I know I'm good at helping people. To me it's exciting. Because not only do I get to be a cabin leader (one week) and share Christ with those kids, I get to be the assistant nurse and prepare for what lies ahead, while being able to minister to the kids. I love analogies, and I can make an analogy out of anything. So being in the nurses station is perfect... I can still show Christ while putting a Band-Aid on a boo-boo. *smile*
Another thing. It started to rain yesterday, just as we were leaving camp. I decided we'd better leave before it got worse, so we left. Well, it did get worse. It was raining so hard I couldn't see, even with the wipers on full speed. So I pulled over at the Carreywood Post Office and called my parents and let them know we were going to wait it out. So we did - with the heaters and the radio on... and unknown to me, the lights. So when we went to start the car up, it didn't start. I started crying and praying. (did I mention we prayed when we stopped to wait out the storm?) Well along came the guy who ran the post office with his truck. He thought that my alternator wasn't working right (man did that scare me) and that I shouldn't drive it all the way home. So he jump started me, and we got going. We went to a town a few miles away and I called my dad. We then proceeded to come home, and made it all the way. *smile* Had I remembered to turn the lights off as we sat waiting. Anyway, stupid mistake, but now I know not to do it again.

Well Teen camp was the first official week of the cmap year. It was wonderful. I was the asistant nurse, and I had such a wonderful time. Nothing very eventfull happened that week. Although God did change a few lives, amazingly enough, He cracked the tough nuts. There are still a few that left without changing, but we presented Christ to them, all we can do now is pray. I went through the big event. Now the big event we do every year on the last full day, this week being the 8th. This years theme is Military. We have Army, Airforce, Marines, Navy, and Cost Guard. It's a blast. I got so soaked, and really muddy.

This week was probably less eventfull than before, although my little brother Jonathan came to camp that week and sure made it fun for me. His cabin made a "cabin flag" out of two teddy bears and called themselves the "mud-stuffins" it made for some interesting things as they went through the big event. One eventfull thing happened. Rachel (a cabin leader that week... a fellow staff member) was doing a muscle man pose, twisted her leg wrong, and popper her knee cap out of joint. It looked so gross. We had an ambulance come (because we didn't want to hurt her transporting her to the hospital, or try to put her knee in ourselves and damage nerves in her leg) and it took her to the hospital.

Nine & Ten Camp - July 18-23 This was the week of my cabin leading. I had nine wonderful little girls, and the whole camp was packed full. I had a blast. It was a wonderful experiance of patience and of learning to draw the line between "too nice" and "too mean" God taught me so much that week. It was amazing. Each of my campers were so special, and they were each so different from the other. I found myself not going along with the devotions I'd planned, and it was as if God was telling me to teach on kindness.

The last full day (July 22 - Thursday) we once again had the "Big Event" it was so fun. I got to be hiding in the woods to bomb the kids with water baloons as they ran through. I was stationed with my friend Vanessa... it was a blast. Near the end - after being serious for a while and now loosing my voice - I decided we should be goofy. She was at a point before me on the trail, so she was chasing them to where I was, I had them all stop, in a straight line... and told them that they had neared the end of their training and that now they must learn to be one with nature and to put their hands in the air and sway saying over and over "I am a tree." Then Vanessa decided to make them bark like dogs to honor the war dogs who had died, needless to say it was sooo funny. Then afterwards we came to get dinner, and the cooks had us sing, and we sang a variation of Battle Hymn of the Republic with the words "Glory, glory, Cocolalla - Glory, Glory, Cocolalla - Glory, glory, Cocolalla, the troops are marching on."(And because of the yelling in the woods.. the rest of the night I was singing bass.)