The summer is over. Done, I've completed my job. But it is so much more than a job! It went so fast! This summer was such a huge blessing! I could not have done anything better with my summer. God was glorified in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I'm so honored to say I was a part of Group's summer ministry in 2011. The last few weeks were awesome! We had so much fun. We got to visit the Creation museum and I was able to visit Dan Leitha. That was so fun! We got to visit the museum, get tours of the Answers in Genesis office, and I sat in Ken Ham's desk. (and it was all legal!)
Week 6 and 7 went beautifully. Week 6 was a bit of a challenge, but it was a good challenge. It was really hard this week especially to have a lot of energy, and be excited about camp, but God gave me energy to get through. We had some really neat people there that week. Our HTMs were awesome! We had a married couple named Bob and Shelbe, and they were probably in their 70s. But they were just the sweetest people ever! They wanted us to have the least amount of work possible. It was funny cause sometimes they would even kick me or Taylor out of the kitchen, and not let us help them! Bob has a culinary arts degree, so he was super helpful in the kitchen. They would also visit sites all day and get a lot done, so I didn't have to worry about getting my pictures! They had been doing workcamps for like 15-20 years, and were just a blessing! It was just awesome getting to hear their stories and share our lives with them. They said that they had the most fun that they had ever had at a camp. So that was great. We also had a youth leader who only brought 1 kid, and they had never done a camp before. We got to talk to him a little bit, and he just had a great time. The groups really seemed to connect and they had joined in with another group for devotions. It was a good week.
Week 7 was probably my favorite week of the summer. We only had 26 campers, so Taylor and I got to know them all pretty well. We had two groups, one from northern New York, and one from Tennessee. It was awesome watching them interact and get to know each other. They all made so much fun of each other's accents. I prayed for this to be the best week, and for us to have the best God sightings, and for God to move the most in the campers than what we had seen at any other week. And oh how God answered that prayer. From the very first day, we already had some really good God sightings, and they only got better throughout the week. I would love to share all of them, because they're so great, but I will share what I thought was the best from the week. There was a group that went to do work projects at a Christian camp for the first two days, and they had a good time and everything, but for the second two days, they were assigned to go to a nursing home. They were all really nervous about going and didn't want to go, and was just really having a hard time with it. They got there, and were having a rough morning, but in the afternoon, ended up going to talk to Perry. I'm not sure if I've talked about Perry before, but he is a man in this nursing home, who is in about his 40s, and was injured trying out for the Olympics, and is confined to a wheelchair. Through it all, he ended up growing very close to God, and is now studying to be a Rabbi. The group came back from their day, and said that they talked to Perry, and that he totally changed their outlook on the whole situation. They said he told them a lot of things they just needed to hear, and came to realize how much impact they could have to these residents in this nursing home. They went back the second day, re-focused and had an amazing day. I got to visit them while they were there, and I could just see so much joy and excitement in their faces. It was amazing to see the transformation and the way that God had moved in their lives. The leader of the group, Andy, got up and shared about this, and he said, "Rachel, God was definitely moving in you when you decided to put us here." How humbling it was for me to see God use such a small thing, and me assigning the crews, looking to spread out the ages, and all the specifics on who can and can't work where, and how randomly it seemed to me, completely changed someone's life. How big our God is! And this was just a small part of how awesome everything was all summer long. God kept doing this week after week. What an impact these campers have had on Cincinnati!
Wednesday night program was probably the best week 7 that it has been all summer. God was just in that room, and speaking to many of the kids. Our Wednesday night program basically allows the campers to have an opportunity allow them to take a grape, symbolizing making Jesus real in their lives. Usually the campers, would just come up to the cross, take their grapes, and head back to their seats. This week, they came up, took their grape, and knelt at the cross. It was an amazing to watch all these young people listening to God, and trying to make things right with him. I can't even describe how awesome it was. I praise God for everything that happened that night. The youth were also just there for each other. It was awesome to watch. All this happened by no way anything Taylor or I could do on our own, but I give all the credit to God. It was sad to see this group go, especially since it was our last week. We had a blast, and I am so thankful for such a great way to end the summer.
Friday, we had the campers help clean up, and we had a lot of cleaning, packing, organizing, loading, and all sorts of stuff to do, but we were able to get out around 5. We stopped at our favorite Starbucks, one last time, and then headed out of Cincinnati. We drove all the way to Highland Illinois where we stayed at Dylan's house. Saturday, we got to visit St. Louis, and my family came down as well. Dylan took us to the arch, and the city museum, and it was a blast! It was great seeing him, and hanging out again! We stayed at his grandma's house, and she was so sweet to us! We left Sunday after lunch and drove to Selina Kansas, where we basically crashed in our sketchy hotel. The next day, we drove the rest of the way to Loveland! We didn't do a whole lot when we got there.
But we had a great time in Loveland, seeing all the staff again, sharing stories from camp, our exit interviews. Everything went well, and we had a good time. In our exit interviews, we got our evaluations, and Taylor and I both, had we had good evals, so that was great! We were super active with our time in Loveland/ Fort Collins. In one day, we went to Robin's body-pump class, then zumba, and then we went water skiing. The next day, Taylor, Jess, and I hiked up a mountain, and then down again on the other side to a reservoir where we found a place where we could go swimming. On the way down, we found this little cave-like rock thing that was covered in graffiti, it was probably one of the coolest things ever! Then we got down to the water, and found a nice little spot where we could swim, and jump off the rocks into the water. It was so much fun! Then we had to hike down the mountain, and got a little too much sun....
The next day we hung out with the staff a lot, and had a great time visiting with them, and doing whatever. Then we are to today, where I am on my flight home. We got up really early, and spent 6 hours in the airport before our flight left. Thank goodness that our flight was on time! I suppose I might end up writing more after I get off the plane, but there's not much else to say right now. I'm excited to see my family again!
I would like to greatly thank all the full time staff at Group, for putting an awesome program together, and for allowing us to have this amazing summer. There is no way any of us could do it without their help. They are an amazing group of people who's greatest passion is to see young people know Christ. I thank Mike and Tracy and the rest of Lifestream Christian Church for being so open and welcoming to allow us to stay at their church, as well as letting us stay at their house and being so hospitable. Thanks to Taylor for putting up with me all summer long, and for being amazing at what she does. Also, for being my best friend starting this summer. She loves God with her whole heart, and loves people, and helping them see Christ through her life. I am so blessed to be put with her in Cincinnati all summer. Thanks to Dave, our local coordinator, for putting our projects together, finding a place for us to stay, and really making camp in Cincinnati, possible. We could not have done it without all these people. Thanks to my family who couldn't see me all summer, but supported me along the whole way. Thanks to all the youth leaders who gave up a week of their time to pour into the lives of the participants at our camp. You all were awesome! Thanks to all of you who have been praying all summer long for this ministry, and most of all, I thank God for giving me this opportunity for a life-changing experience. Only time will tell if I work with Group next year. I would absolutely love to again, if everything works out that way. It has been one crazy ride, and such a learning and growing experience. I would never take any of it back for anything.
"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord God Almighty. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."
