When I was in Costa Rica I had the opportunity to apply for a job at a
Christian Camp here in WI called Covenant Harbor as the skate park
instructor. I got back home the first week of April and sent in my
application. God hooked it up and I got the job.
So the
second week in May put in my 2 weeks at McDonald's (more like one week)
and headed to camp. I wasn't sure what to expect, but before I knew it I
had so many new friends and loving every day. The first week of campers
came in June, I saw a couple super gnarly injuries that made me
question if this job was even for me. I mean its one thing if a homie
slams, you laugh at them, ask if they're okay and they get back up, but
when its a kid there it's something different.
With Prayer God got me through it.
As
camp went on I experienced so much joy, I saw so many kids learn how to
drop in and taught so many kids tricks. There were days when all the
pads and boards were being used. Kids would run to the park to go skate.
One day a kid that had to be 7 was trying to drop in
and fell. He started crying. I ran over to see if he was okay and with
tears in his eyes asked, "how does a kickflip roll" and he got back up
and started skating again. The stories never end.
Not
only was I the skatepark instructor but I was also a cabin buddy (I
would be assigned a cabin each week and hang out with them and be a
counselor on the counselor night off). I loved meeting new kids and
hanging with them. Granted, it did get a little weird at points. I also
had the amazing privilege to be in the skit many nights over the span of
3 weeks and judge a few talent shows. I had 2 characters, Theotis
Fooberpants, (A character a bud of mine created while we were on tour
back in 2011) the second named Carl which was an indecisive me haha it
was so rad goofing off and having fun on stage, making kids laugh. It
was definitely one of my high points as well.
This
summer we had over 2,000 kids. Over 2,000 kids who heard the name of
Jesus. When I heard this it blew my mind, every kid that came to camp
heard about Jesus. How rad is that?! I saw camp as a mission field. Many
of the families of the kids were not Christians and their parents sent
their kids here. It is so rad to look back and see how God worked.
Camp
ended the middle of August and we all headed back home, to school,
work and wherever else. I left with tears in my eyes as we all said good
bye. The mission was finished and the message was shared. It might have
been some of the hardest 11 weeks of my life but it was some of the
best 11 weeks of my life.
