Getting to Know You

26 July 2011 - Tuesday at Camp Bala

We got off the bus at Colleg Y Bala which is a tiny college turned into a full-time camp for Christian youths. It is situated in the valley on the edge of a small, picturesque town which itself borders a silver lake surrounded by green highland hills. We piled our mountain of luggage along the narrow entryway and went immediately into a chapel where Jennifer, Hannah, and Stormie had all the adults and children play three "Getting to Know You" games: 1) Ninja War (don't ask!) 2) Knot (a standing "Twister" type team-building activity) and best of all, 3) The Name Game, where everyone learned each other's names.

We stowed our luggage in the dorm-like rooms of a gray stone building that looked like a 60's television version of Bruce Wayne's manor, then we had free time and ate dinner. The children gave Laura their money and she issued to them the camp currency of "Balas" (each Bala being equivalent to a British penny) so the students could buy snacks and supplies. After dinner (pizza and french fries, really?), we went down a steep hill to a grass soccer field and had a free-for-all water balloon slug fest. Americans' note to self: bring fast-drying clothes next time. During the battle, Sophie, a sweet teenage Welsh leader, asked Luke (a bright-spirited, witty young Welsh leader) to put her necklace in his pocket. He did so, but didn't know he had a hole in said pocket. After the water balloon madness had passed, a group of about eight people began scouring every square inch of the now turf-torn fields for the missing jewelry. After awhile, we remembered to pray. Then, in the fading light, just as we were about to give up, Luke prayed in silent desperation for God to direct his eyes to the spot of ground that held the missing jewel. On a section of ground that the rest of us must have passed over a dozen times, he saw it. Luke was so relieved and Sophie was so filled with thankfulness to God. We all agreed finding the diamond needle in a hundred yards of proverbial haystack was indeed a miracle.

Matthew and Allen had stayed up until 1:30 pm the previous night preparing quiz questions for a team trivia game (and of course, talking about politics, like they do), so everyone went to the worship area to give it a go. Derek comically emceed the trivia competition which featured both Welsh and American trivia. Of the five teams, the big winner was the one captained by Jennifer Nath.

At about 11:15 p.m. Allen led a brief devotional which emphasized that Salvation is about 1)Believing in Jesus as Savior and 2) Repenting toward Jesus as Lord of our lives (and not relying on Good Works to save us). The children went off to their bedrooms while Matthew and Allen led a brief time where the leaders could decompress, process, debrief, and pray together. Most people got to sleep at 1:00 a.m. or later and we knew that our Leader's Devotional Session was going to begin at 7:00 a.m. sharp. We were going to need God to intervene to infuse us with lots of supernatural energy. And we were going to need lots of hot tea!