Week 7 Terwiliger

This was a camp I went to last summer and I was pretty excited to be heading back. I missed volunteer orientation because of a wedding, so I didn't get to see who was volunteering until that morning. I knew that it was still the same pastor from last summer who was organizing it though, so I knew that the camp was going to be well setup and organized. On the first day of camp I recognized a few volunteers from last year, and even new volunteers who were campers last year, so that was really cool. Although the camp was slightly smaller this year compared to last year, lots of the same kids from last year came back. I was pleasantly surprised to have so many campers from last summer come up to me and say hi. One little boy told me all summer he was hoping more than anything that I would be at this camp!

The week ran really really well, the church had an amazing setup with tents, snacks, bathrooms, and even in getting volunteers. We also had a volunteer who had helped out for the past 4 soccer camps in terwiliger and told me that he wanted to be a coach next year. So my team and I had a lot of fun "training" him which involves making him doing everything. Just kidding not really haha. I think there were a lot of times when he felt uncomfortable doing something and he asked "really? I have to do this?" But in the end he would do it, and I think he learned a lot and got some good experience out of it. I think that if you ever want to be better at anything, and that includes being a better servant for God, you need to be challenged. I think back to my volunteering experiences at my own church and how I was challenged. If I was never challenged by the coaches to lead a devotion, to run a station, to lead a small group, I never would have had those opportunities to grow. During those times I was asked to do those things, I definitely felt nervous and uncomfortable. But if I was never challenged as a volunteer, I don't think I would be working with AIA right now.

It was an interesting week in regards to where we went after camp ended. The pastor had arranged for us to have supper at different people's houses every night. We would go to some of the camper's houses, some of the volunteers or people from the church. It was really cool to have supper in some of the homes that God was working in through the soccer camp.

It was a pretty emotional end of the week after camp ended. It was Kim's last week of camp with us, she had to go to school early to get settled in. Our whole team was very grateful for what she had brought to the team and we would definitely miss her for the last week of camp! Also saying goodbye to the kids was pretty sad, I connected really well with almost all the kids at camp that week. I dont remember being that close with the kids last summer at this camp! But I definitely will miss them.