Get ready for CAMP RE:VISION 2008!
August 17 - 23 at Lake Owego CampCamp RE:VISION is a week of fun, friendship and faith enrichment for students entering grades 6-12. Participants are engaged through small group discussions, thought-provoking theme presentations, art & woodshop projects, team building games, free time and more! Camp Re-vision is Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church’s largest youth program of the year with enrollment well over one hundred students. Participants are grouped into cabins and small groups by age and are led by a significant group of adult volunteers and staff. You won’t want to miss this incredible opportunity to nuture lasting friendships & make memories that will last a lifetime!
Reflections on Camp RE:VISION
Picture
this-109 kids singing together in a dark room. In the
corner is a band playing a quiet, slow song, and at the
front is a table with the bread and Grape Nehi of
communion. And as Matthew reads a few verses, first one
person, then another, starts to cry. Surrounded and
supported by loving friends, one by one each person in the
room slowly succumbs and cries. Overcome by the
overwhelming faith that the Friday Night Communion
inspires, it’s hard not to. Picture that, a room full
of people who have nothing in them but the
Camp is tired mornings, waking up to the shower lines and cabin banter that you expect, followed by breakfast and some singing. Camp is Small Group, where you can empty the contents of your heart and have no fear of the consequences; camp is the best friends you’ll ever know and the best times you’ve ever had. Camp is the Musical Hug, when the counselors walk by your cabin and sing you a song at night. Camp is laughing so hard that your face and stomach hurts, and camp is worship. Camp is the last night, where each person in your small group gets affirmed, or complimented, by everyone else… Camp is a life changing experience- you grow and become a better person in less than a week of fellowship and fun. I encourage each and every youth at this church to come to camp, to try it at least once- I guarrantee that you’ll love it.
by: Tim Lengel
More Reflections
I slowly step on the bus, nervous for my first time at camp. Everyone looks the happiest I’ve ever seen all of them, there has to be something special about the constant talk of camp. I manage a smile, my excitement moving up a level. I don’t realize the journey of faith and friendship I am about to experience. After the first day, I realize how special this place is. Everyone is so happy. It’s like everyone is a spider and I’ve just been caught in their web. I feel that the bubble that is always around me has popped and I’m breathing for the first time.
We wake up in the morning to a horn and rush to the showers to climb in first. Then we put on pajama bottoms and slippers and run through the creaky cabin door for breakfast, our wet hair almost freezing in the bitter morning cold. At breakfast, we look around, trying to get the plate with the biggest pancakes. I close my eyes, smiling and smell the warm, fresh pancakes.
Following breakfast is morning service. We gather in a huddled group, waiting for the first adult to speak. We listen attentively, waiting for the fun activity that was planned. After the activity, we sing our own special camp songs. As we exit, we head in different direction for small group. I smile at the thought because small group is so wonderful. We have our own special spots; we talk about ideas for camp and our own personal feelings. Small group is a time to let your thoughts and reflections spill out of your mouth without being afraid that what you say is going to be laughed at or told that it is wrong. Thinking about all the things I’ve done wrong, I feel a pang in my stomach, like I’ve just been shot. I just want to be perfect, but I can’t The tears that poured out of my eyes were like an endless tide, a waterfall that’s never ending.
Now we have free time where we can do anything we like: swimming, talking, canoeing, visiting senior high cabins…and my personal favorite, sleeping! Now it is time for lunch. Lunch is just as good as breakfast. After that is game time; water balloon fights, water fights, and the annual sponge wars! Following games is night service. It’s normally about 9:00 at night so most of our bodies are shutting down. It’s dark outside and extremely quiet except for the faint chirp of crickets. You can’t see anything except for the candles going down the room creating a pathway. The lighting is exquisite. We bow our heads and reach over and grab the hands next to us, as extremely soft music turns on. As a speaker that we can’t see begins a prayer, I close my eyes. I love the noise of the voice of the person talking, mixed with the soft music, and the candles. It’s almost like the world is pausing. All I hear now is the voice of the person talking, the sound of the music and I feel the warmth of my friends’ hands. I never want to open my eyes or leave this spot…ever.
By: Olivia Hoden