As I’ve mentioned several times before, the 6 Weeks of Day Camps sure do whiz by!
Here we are at the end of Week 3 with just one more week of Day Camps 2012 to go. Lots of things have happened this week both here at the Office/House and “out in the fields” but I will let each Team’s story speak about the “fields” part….
Team 1– Sophie, Stacy and Dilon, arrived back at the house last evening after a great week in Brossard. 21 children attended the Camp and there was a nice balance of ages with some in each of the 4 Groupings:-Scramblers, Climbers, Explorers & Pathfinders. They had a Friday evening Closing so Pastor Chris (and his 5 year old son Jaden) brought the Team back to “base”. Sophie’s dad came and picked her up after a glass of lemon infusion and a cookie, and Stacy and Dilon were part of the gang who stayed overnight.
Team 2- Elizabeth and Benjamin spent the week in Prescott Ontario with approx. 25 Campers. It was our second Camp there, with Pastors David and Tracey Smith, although the Smiths also hosted our Teams when they were Pastoring in Saskatchewan. Pastor David drove them back and both he and Benjamin also stayed the night, so we had quite a full house! Pastor David reported that it had been a “happy and easy” Camp with lots of great local helpers (possibly even a recruit for the 2013 Travelling Teams!!), great weather, and a super Closing Service at which the Liturgical Dance had proven to be particularly moving.
Team 3-Jillian, Amudha and William, have just completed their only “urban” Day Camp of the summer at Lakeview United Church in Regina. This Camp was a joint effort with St. Luke’s Anglican where we had held a Camp for the first time in 2011. Jillian reported that the Team even got to use our new PowerPoint technology, which worked out really well. Over 20 children took part and the Team had a wonderful billet who was especially kind and helpful in providing herbal remedies to combat Jillian’s nasty sore throat! As I write, Team 3 should have arrived in Prince Albert after an 8 hour bus journey and will be driving on, this evening, with Team 4 to La Ronge First Nation.
Team 4– David, Michael and Desirae, have completed their week at Cumberland House Reserve. David reported throughout the week, calling in on their short lunch break as the only phone line they could access was at the Church(Thus winning the Golden Chicken Award for several days running, much to the chagrin of Janice who has been holding the title for the first 2 Weeks!!)
Working with a First Nation group often means that children do not register in the morning and stay until 3pm but tend to arrive and depart throughout the day so the number of children who participated was almost impossible to calculate. The Team did a great job, using the important “C” of Creativity, in planning the different parts of each day. The Campers really enjoyed all the Crafts and the Liturgical Dance.
Today, Team 4 had the amazing opportunity of witnessing the election of an Indigenous Bishop and ,along with Team 3 they are probably, right at this moment, enjoying the Feast that was scheduled to end off the day’s Celebrations!
Team 5-Andrew and Angela were back into Day Camp mode this week as they led a Camp at Holy Trinity Riverbend. It was wonderful that this church was able to open its doors to the children at such short notice. Andrew felt that the week went very smoothly. Once again, for the 3rd week, both Team members were generously billeted by families from St. Paul’s, for which we are all so thankful…
Midweek addition -This is an extract from an email sent to me by Nancy Craig, it is really worth adding to the Holy Trinity Riverbend report! Thanks, Nancy.
“I think Andrew and Angela had a good week at Holy Trinity. Of the dozen campers, only two were from the church, and some had never heard ANYTHING about Jesus before. Angela was telling me about one little boy in particular who would say things like, “You only have one God? Cool!” And later – “He died and came back to life? WOW!” She really appreciated seeing the freshness of someone hearing the story for the first time, and seeing how amazing it was through his eyes. Well, it IS amazing, but we get kind of used to it and don’t appreciate how exciting it is…”
Team 6-
Janice and Josiah spent this week at St. Andrew’s Moncton. I think this might have been their smallest Camp in terms of children but they had an excellent time building a Parish Team and bringing the Program to the wider Church Community, a number of whom dropped in during the week
some even returning to attend the Closing Worship.
As I have mentioned before, it seems that the Lord has given Team 6 a very special Mission this year in bringing the Program both to the Campers AND to so many local helpers of all ages; empowering them to take on different roles in leadership and to get really involved.The Team was deeply touched to each receive a handmade Prayer Shawl as a parting gift from the people of St .Andrew’s.
And here at Home Base? Well all sorts has been going on. Preparations are well underway for our Prayer and Praise Service, which will be taking place on THURSDAY, AUGUST 9th @ the Isaiah 40 Foundation. It starts at 7pm and EVERYONE is welcome. We will be praising God for all that has happened in Day Camps 2012 and praying for the Ministry of our 3 upcoming Residential Camps.
I have done the cooking for the Senior Youth Camp Pre-Camp Staff Retreat for a number of years so I need to squeeze in time to begin baking and amassing food for 25 hungry Staff Members.
This week I have been writing out vast Grocery Lists and today, along with the deflating of air mattresses and laundering of sheets, I have been Baking and Baking and Baking!
Somehow the Lord has also provided me with enough hours in which to accomplish many of the extra tasks at hand, as well as holding me within the framework of my days , which has long included the praticise of following the Divine Hours.
I have just completed the sewing of 4 hats which will be Birthday gifts for a very dear friend and her 3 children who arrive from the UK next weekend to visit family here and whom I am all of a twizzle to see!
The garden is looking green again after we have had a few more reasonable downpours ( yay!) I enjoy the scent of phlox drifting in the windows to mingle with the aroma of the scones and cupcakes as they sit on their cooling racks.
Sunday Evening…….
No other Team pictures have arrived yet but I shall be inserting them in this post as they filter in. So keep checking for updates in the next few days.
Just one more addition as a result of the Service at Church today. We sang, “Blessed be Your Name” and Blair, who was leading Worship, mentioned how he had chosen it as a result of some particular events happening in his own life at present but how it was a song that could speak to each of us about the circumstances of our daily lives. It REALLY touched me so here it is.
Last week I mentioned that I had been baking a flourless Almond Cake as a Birthday request for my Pastor’s wife. Several people have asked for the recipe. I made another one today as it is going to feature as the dessert at the first Pre-Camp meal, which I prepare for the “pre-pre-Camp” crew!!!
So here it is…..
Flourless Almond Cake
- 1 lb. ground almonds
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 eggs. separated
- 1 tsp ground cardamon
- 1tsp liquid honey
Place egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and stir together. Add almonds, cardamon and honey. Mix well.
Beat egg whites until stiff, fold into yolk mixture. Pour batter into a well greased 12 inch springform pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes in a 325F. oven. Test with a thin skewer to make sure cake is baked in the center. Remove to a rack and cool in the pan.Turn out and dust with icing sugar before serving.
Serves 10-12
