Small but Mighty

Last week was our first senior teen camp with the 15-17 year-olds and we had one of the smallest number of campers we have ever had. Seven. Yes I said seven. We filled one room with six girls and one boys room. At first the staff was very hesitant about this week and how everything would work, there had even been brief discussion about the possibility of there being no week 3. However, we realized that a small week had the potential to be awesome... and it was! It was a week filled with closeness and LOTS of laughter. Our senior counsellor, Amos, will tell you about the week and all the great things we did and how much fun we had with these guys.

Last Week's Post by Amos:

As the campers arrived on Sunday we quickly ditched the idea of  name games and ice breakers and headed for the beach. It was a beautiful afternoon for the beach and we were all greeted with a majestic sailboat sailing out past Canoe Cove. I could tell just at the start that this camp would be one simple and restful week.

Boy was I wrong.

Monday rolled around like any other camp but when we were all called to the chapel later that day and told that we were all competing in the Big Brother competition all sense of rest went out the window. Since the counsellor's pretty much matched the campers, the teams were made with one counsellor and one camper, leaving one team with an extra camper; we all headed to our first challenge. The challenge consisted of running/walking and average of 6 km in total to collect little strips of cloth and water. When we had enough water and cloth to fill and lift our bucket over a wall you would be safe from the night's elimination. Also right after we had a strength test where the counsellors would crouch on a board and they had to have the tip of their finger touching a pylon, while campers showered them with water. The winner of this challenge won a veto power where they could either save themselves or another team from elimination. This went on all week. The competition rose, it was up for anyone, all we knew for certain was one team would stand above the rest holding the Camp Keir Cup.

The final Challenge came around with two big teams left standing, with a giant obstacle course and the finish line in sight, the teams lined up. We had thought about canceling  the event due to the rain, but this wasn't girl guide camp. This was Camp Keir!

But that wasn't everything that happened at Camp that week. Chapels were more like a bible study, where Andrew would have a topic and then we would all discus it. He kept a theme throughout the whole week based on relationships with Christ and with the people around us.

Tuesday we also took them on a Canoe trip and we couldn't have had a better day for it. With such a small group we did the route and set up the tents in record time. We were even faster than Andrew in the car bringing our bags over. The rest of the day consisted of rest and just bonding as friends. Later after supper God gave us a little show of his awesome power with a very short thunderstorm. We all got wet but nobody minded because of what came next.

A Rainbow!

God had been showing us his power all week after that with a couple more thunder storms. After our final crazy-intense Big Brother challenge on Thursday night we went down to the beach for a swim with the waves, rain and wind. It was surprisingly warm. Later that night we just had finished up our devotion for that night and the power went out on us. But we made the best of it! The girls held their final Bedrock together curled up with candles in the chapel while the boys hung out in the staff hallway with our only boy.. he was very privileged that night.

Overall it was such an amazing week! Keep praying for us and checking out the blog and our facebook page where you can see more pictures from the weeks!

Wanted: Shiny Stuff at Camp Keir

Camp Keir was invaded this week by a pack of Snorglies after all the silverware. It has been a difficult week for campers and counsellors alike as we go through challenges to try and get the forks and spoons back.

Okay, I should probably explain what this is all about first before I go any further. This week we have the 6-8 year old campers and our theme is "Supercampers". This age group loves to play pretend and so we are having lots of fun with them as we protect the camp from the Snorglies who are thumbless creatures (aka: counsellors) trying to get the silverware for themselves because they like shiny stuff. The campers are getting so into it -  one girl even wrote a letter to the Snorglies.

When we got this letter, we thought it was so adorable and she continues to say the cutest things:

Angela (during evening chapel): Who knows what God made on the 7th day?
Camper: Love!
Angela: ... Close..

Here is the letter she wrote to the Snorglies:

"Snorglies, could you please stop trying to steal our silverware? I know you like it, but we can't eat without it. Also, why do you like shiny stuff so much? P.S. Please don't take my two shiny silver teeth and my shiny diamond sandels!


I forgot how much these campers can get to our hearts too. One counsellor was talking about it last night as she came into staff meeting. She said that as she went into one of the rooms to tuck one girl in, she couldn't help but re-tuck all of them in. We love these campers. We love getting to be silly and acting even more like kids than we already are.

So what else have we been up to this week? Today was a beautiful day and so we went to the beach with the campers after lunch. It was a perfect beach day. The water was warm and was coming up knee deep around the raft; naturally, the campers loved climbing up onto the raft to rock it back and forth. They jumped in and out of the water repeatedly, splashing the counsellors and each other. While these campers were out in the water, the others were up closer to the beach finding hermit crabs and building gigantic sandcastles for the hermit crabs to live in. Somehow some were also able to construct a hot tub with sand walls - that is how warm the water was.

Because it is superhero week, the Bible study is revolving around depending on God for strength just like many of the Bible's heroes did. This morning our heroine, SuperDarcy, challenged Goliath out in the backyard to a fight. With all of the power she could muster up in her 5 foot 1 self, she tried to defeat him on her own. She was very unsuccessful. However, David depended on God for strength and took Goliath down with one pebble. The campers loved this as they got into the entire Bible study skit outside. Who knows what will happen tomorrow with Darcy? Hopefully she will clue in that God can be strong for her.

What else is coming up this week? This is our mini week so we only have one full day left, but we plan on doing lots with them tomorrow: Spaghetti dinner, talent show, movie night, and hopefully defeating the Snorglies. I know that the campers desperately want to keep the utensils for the camp.

Keep praying for us! Keep reading and sharing the blog. Hopefully tomorrow we will have some pictures and videos for you to enjoy. It makes us smile to see that people are interested in what is going on at Camp Keir. We love this camp and ask that you continue to pray for us.

(I know that there hasn't been a post on the end of last week yet with the 15-17 year-olds but it is coming. There were a lot of pictures to sift through!)

Who doesn't love Thursdays at Keir?

Thursdays at Keir are great. Really, they are. One of the greatest things about them is that everyone loves them, not just campers! The counsellors love them too and last Thursday was no exception.

The day started off cold. I've been working at camp for 6 years and I don't remember a week where I've worn socks and jeans as much as I did last week. It's the middle of July - you should never want to wrap yourself in a blanket before stepping outside. But we made the best of it as we prepared for the traditional Thursday night activities: Fancy Dinner, the Talent Show, and Movie Night.

Here are some more lovely pictures from the end of last week. Everything went great on Thursday night! It was filled with a LOT of laughter and silliness at the talent show and the Fancy Dinner was delicious once again. The girls loved getting all dressed up in their favourite dress or in one of the counsellor's dresses while the boys pulled on their cleanest/nicest shirt and came up to ask: "Is this good enough?". All of them always look great. This was our first year that we had split our 13-16 camp into two camps of  jr. teens (12-14) and sr. teens (15-17), so now we get four fancy dinners instead of two.

We had a great week with the 12-14 year olds! Keep following for the next post!

What is camp without a prank or two?

First before I begin this post, I must apologize for the semi-lateness of this post but it's been because we are having so much fun with these campers and it's hard to find the time to update the blog.

Today is Thursday so in order to give a sufficient update, we need to go back to the first few days of the week. The theme of this week is Keir: An Epic; every day there is a big game that is adventure-themed such as Army, Circus, and Water adventure days. On Monday we played Commander and then for the night game, the power went out and we sent the campers running around the camp trying to find a light source for the camp. We are quickly discovering how competitive these campers are and they come into each game with high energy and lots of intensity. Junior teens love to win!

Something else that we love to do with the junior teens is to just hang out with them and they love to talk with us believe it or not. Some of my best conversations with campers in this age group have happened outside of Bedrocks, bible study, and chapel - it has been when we are just chilling after a meal or hanging out at tuck time.

Now you need an update on the adventurous day that we had yesterday here at Camp Keir and I do believe that at some point there will be a video upload of yesterday's events. The day started off innocent and fun, it really did. The campers were skimboarding and playing water games despite the cloudy skies, counsellors were doing various tasks such as playing with the campers or preparing the afternoon game, and Lindsay was hard at work making grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. A lovely typical day until a decision was made. Candace and Katie decided our weekly girl/guy night would work well for that night and so the plans began. The girls decided upon a Bake-a-Thon and then a girls' devotion and worship time. Nice, innocent, and fun.

The boys on the other hand, had much different plans in mind. Half way through the baking process of the tea biscuits that our ladies had made, the power went out. When the power went out, that is when everything unfolded. Watch and see. Be patient - the end is worth waiting for.

:) Oh the joys of pranking.

Keep praying for us! Be praying for patience and energy for the counsellors. Be praying for the campers to have fun and to keep learning about God.

Joyful Craziness

The first week of camp has come and gone. Campers left on Sunday with smiles on their faces, gooey crafts in hand, and lots of great memories. Here are some of the week highlights.

We love campfires at camp and they are always filled with laughter, warmth, and a cloud of bug spray over the campers. Some of the campers' favourites include Wig-A-Low, the Banana Song, and the Boogie Woogie Washer Woman. You never know what kind of dance moves you'll see at a Keir fire. One of my personal favourites was when one of the camper's dance moves was rolling around in the grass. It was priceless. Gone are the days of the easy campfire dance moves of "the John Travolta" or "the Egyptian Princess"; now we have moves such as "the log roll", "the worm", and "the crazy bear". Campfire is never boring and never without a good laugh.

Some highlights of the week also came out of the spontaneity of the staff. Some of these kinds of activities go the best among the campers because they aren't expecting it especially when we have campers who have been coming to camp for several years. I know that when I was a camper, I loved it when we did games that were new and unexpected. At one point this week, a tug of war rope appeared out of nowhere and a big tug of war ensued. It seemed to mostly be our director (Andrew) and one of our seniors (David) against the campers - and, of course, the campers won. There is clearly strength in numbers.

Every camp has a few different traditions whether it has to do with a "Yellow Cup", an "Arrowhead", or our "Thursday Movie Night". But I think that almost every camp has the necessary Spaghetti night where the campers pull a kitchen utensil out of a shopping bag. They may get a whisk or a measuring cup and have to eat their whole meal with the utensil. One lucky person gets the sought after fork and for one meal they are the most civilized person in the dining hall but as for everyone else, all North American manners are thrown out the window and faces get covered in spaghetti sauce. Where can a kid eat a plate of spaghetti with their faces and have noodles in their hair? Camp Keir!

Oh! And it was the birthday of one of our senior girls: Katie! Happy 19th Birthday Katie!

Here are some shots from the final themed meal at camp. It was a luau in the dining hall, complete with a limbo, a surfboard making competition, and hula dancing. 

It was an amazing week at camp in so many ways but a few of the most exciting things were seeing campers come to Christ on the last night of camp. There were happy tears and hugs for the campers who had made this huge commitment and we ask that you would pray for the campers who are making these decisions or still on their way to this decision. The last night of camp is always a fun one at Camp Keir. We put on the weekly talent show in the chapel and the audience is amazed as they watch the special array of acts. This week one of the most unique acts was a robot dancing act by a group of boys. Some of the other acts included a beautiful song by one of the girls, a magic trick, a wonderful comedy act, some great jokes, and a live makeover. To finish off the talent show Angela (senior girl) was prompted to perform Sanctuary for the camp. However, without any warning, the entire camp jumped from their seats and laid on the floor around her to see her play the song.

Thursday movie night came and went and before anyone knew it, the last day of camp arrived. It was such a great week of camp filled with excitement and awesome memories. Enjoy these last few pictures of Week 1: 9-11 year-olds.

Keep praying!

I know this croc may not make sense to you. But certain staff members really wanted to see him on the blog. So Andrew and Corbin, here he is. (they also threatened me with glue).

Let the Games Begin

Camp has officially begun! How do I know? The sound of kids singing loudly in chapel and shaking the floors as they jump with joy for the Lord! It is such an amazing thing to see group of thirty boys and girls praising God together. Last night the 9-11 year-olds finished their first full day at camp with a rocking chapel session! The familiar Keir classics came out once again - Mercy is Falling, Milk, and Pharaoh.

Some campers arrived on Sunday afternoon with hesitation about camp. They seemed a little quiet and not sure what they would think of camp. As the evening went on, they opened up to camp. As they did their passport pictures for our Around the World theme and as we ran around the backyard playing games, the hesitation slowly disappeared and they were all full of smiles.

Yesterday was a day full of fun themed games. The staff always enjoy this, we get to play make believe! How often does a 22 year-old get to dress up in a pink dress and pretend to be a Chinese queen? The day was spent in China and we did "Sumo Wrestling" with the kids and helped Mrs. Chang get back her family's heirloom teacup from the evil Mr. Zing. The kids really got into it and you could see that they were loving it. We finished off the day with a Chinese supper in the dining hall. As always, the chicken balls and egg rolls were a big hit. What child doesn't like chicken balls?

Camp is such a joyful place. It is so exciting to have counsellors coming back from Bedrocks beaming because their campers are asking how to become Christians! What a joyful and amazing job we have here at camp. Please be praying for our campers who are considering making a commitment. Also, that we would continue to have fun with the Around the World theme, and that the staff would continue relying on God for strength, patience, and energy!

Love and prayers from Camp Keir!!