Wednesday Words

Dear Day Campers,

My name is Janice and I’ve been in the Day Camp vortex since June 2008! That summer, I first started out as a volunteer for one of the early training weeks, then got called in to help out again two weeks later, then got pulled in to going to Senior Camp. The rest is history. I’ve been a team member, team leader, training team leader, drop-in team leader and of course, a committee member! In the past, my role on the committee has been mainly to enjoy Valerie’s amazing meals at our monthly meetings (a great incentive to join the team.) Joking aside, we support Valerie by being a sounding board and resource for her. We help out with everything from cutting up veggies, to writing the manual and training team members. I love being part of the team that builds towards a fantastic summer where children can meet Jesus!  I am SO thankful I still get to be part of this team, even though I’m now living and working in Toronto (though I do miss Valerie’s cooking.)

In Toronto I am working as a Campus Minister with Inter-Varsity, a Christian organization that longs to see youth transformed into fully committed followers of Jesus Christ (much like Crosstalk!) I’m working specifically with international students, who are coming from very different backgrounds and cultures. Through my own experience of being a Montrealer in Toronto, and through the experiences of my international students, I am learning that it is really hard to be a stranger in a strange land!

I think that sometimes, kids coming to Day Camps can feel like strangers in a strange land. You know when you are in a group of people who only talk about inside jokes that you don’t get? It makes you feel left out and it is difficult for you to connect, right? This is often what it’s like for international students, and it is also what happens when a bunch of Christians get together and talk to each other about church! It’s called “Christianese” – you’re speaking English, but saying weird phrases or things that people don’t understand unless they grew up in church. Here are some examples: “sin”, “gospel”, “salvation”.

Sometimes kids, especially kids who haven’t grown up with these words, get really confused when we use Christianese. Or they know random facts about the Bible but don’t really understand the meaning behind them! In Day Camps, we want everyone to feel welcomed and included in the group, while also sharing the great news about Jesus. So here’s what I am thinking about as I write the quiz chapter this year: how can we ask these questions in a way that will make our friends more curious about the stories, and not excluded? How can we help the children to remember the meaningful parts of the stories we are learning? I love that Lamb helps to explain the concepts and breaks down big, “Christianese” words. My hope is that through the quiz, we can also get to learning the heart of the story – without accidentally excluding our new friends.