Lightseekers Camp

Farewell to Lightseekers Camp 2011

2011-08-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

The church buses, vans and cars have returned with their precious cargo of campers and all their luggage (hopefully it all made it home). The children have replayed the events of the week with you parents as they made their way from church to home; a week's worth of dirt on clothes and kids is being washed off. But as life returns to "normal" for the nearly 200 who spent the week at Lightseekers' Camp, there are those whose lives are very different because of their encounter with Jesus this week. Some campers trusted Him to be their Savior and have entered God's family. Others have decided to step up their commitment to Christ and shine their light to those around them. Dale Torry reminded us this morning that Satan will try to distract us from looking to Jesus; just like the wolf that licks the knife blade coated in frozen blood and left upright in the snow by the Eskimo hunter, we can be ensnared by our sinful desires. Pray for our campers that will be able to live for Jesus, serving Him and others as easily as it was when surrounded by their fellow Lightseekers. We will be back together again, God willing, in August 2012, but until then, keep looking to Jesus.

P.S. The remainder of the 1500+ photos (still about 300 to 400) will be up on Flickr over the next few days. The camp video can be seen on the Lightseekers Camp Facebook page.

Serve to Love

2011-08-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

These pictures were from our unit competition held after dinner. The campers in each unit were challenged to depict their version of The Last Supper. I'll let your campers tell you which unit won.
Tonight we heard Carol finish the story of the Marshalls and Mpese Andre, how God was able to use them to build the church community in Songo, Congo despite the dangers of civil war and poisonous black mamba snakes.

Dale told us the story of the paralytic man who was brought to Jesus by his friends; they didn't let the large crowds deter them from having their friend see Jesus, they just opened up the roof and lowered their friend right in front of Him. They loved their friend by serving him, giving him the opportunity to meet Jesus and be healed. Dale then invited the campers to make decisions for Christ -1. To begin to follow Him by trusting Him as Savior, 2. To follow Jesus more closely, especially if they hadn't been living for and serving Him, 3.To be one who helps others look to Jesus and follow Him. Many children stayed behind to speak with their counselor as had many during the morning chapel when Jim spoke.

As you read this, please pray for the children who made decisions this week; there were many more who raised their hand indicating a decision, but were either too afraid or unsure of what would happen if they stayed. Transformed children's lives are why we do this camp. I post our final words tomorrow. Check out the Flickr link -there are over 1000 pics posted and I'm sure there's at least one of your child.

Love to Serve and Serve to Love

2011-08-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

Today's word of the day was serve. Tuesday it was love and yesterday was shine. Putting them together with our camp theme -Look up to Jesus, we are to look to love (Jesus and others), look to shine (Matthew 5:16) our deeds, and look to serve. From what I've seen at this camp, the campers do love to serve. Right now, it's OTS (which stands for Opportunity to Serve)- this means they are setting the tables for dinner and will act as host/hostesses for their tables. All week the OTS kids have been offering to take my plate and bus the table with gladness. (Keep that in mind moms and dads). One of the reasons Lightseekers exists to help the children learn how to live like Jesus, in this case by serving one another. As Mary just reminded the OTS helpers, as we shine our good deeds before others, it points them to Jesus. It is our goal for them to serve others, not just at camp, but also at home, at school or in their neighborhood. Later, I will recap the evening...

Let it Shine

2011-08-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight was immensely fun - worship as always, was filled with loud voices and vigorous hand/body motions, Carol continued her missionary story (Andre escaped the rebel soldiers we heard about last night), and Dale continued to tell us about the Botfly who seeks out a host to live in. He used this gross story to talk about the blind man healed by Jesus. Jesus spat in his eye to heal him -He could have just healed the man but Jesus used this strange method instead. The point was not how he was healed, but the first face he saw when he was no longer blind was Jesus'. The man then was able to shine for Jesus once he saw Him. That's the point of the day, we too can shine for Jesus, but we have to see Him for who He is first. After chapel, we played a nighttime game in which some people were in complete darkness while others shined a flashlight. It was hilarious to see the ones who were in the dark trying to sneak past the ones with the light to get to their "goals". They've all gone off to bed now, to get a good night's sleep as we face a new day.

The Middle

2011-08-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here we are on the middle day of camp. We've seen and done so much but there's still a lot left in our week. Today's theme was "shine". Breakfast was great with waffles, eggs and sausages. Then we went off to chapel with probably the most enthusiastic worship of the week so far. We took our offering again for our Rice Bowl mission project (so far the girl's are "winning" in amount given). We heard from Mary again who told us our Bible story about Paul and how he was able to shine before men. Dale teased with tales (gross ones ) of the Bot fly. (I don't know if I want to hear more, yuck!)
For now the campers are still at free-time with the line for zipline 10 deep. They are also climbing trees and going swimming. There was a touch football game in the middle of the big grass field too.

Dinner is coming in an hour and I still have a few hundred pics to load... later

End of Day Two

2011-08-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

In chapel this evening, Carol continued her story about the missionary John Marshall, who lived in the Congo. She told us of all the dangers from animals and civil war that surrounded them. She also told us of the young stranger, Mpese Andre who came into John's life one day. This young man who had gone through many challenges to go to a Christian school 100 miles away from home and was in danger of being conscripted by the rebels as a soldier - even to the point of seeing the rebels cross the river approaching his school as the sun set. Of course, Carol left us hanging there.

Dale did finish his story about "Farmer Bill" -the name he gave the man with leprosy who is mentioned in Mark Chapter 1. This man before his encounter with Jesus, was barred from publicly entering his village or living with his family and had to warn people who might come near that he was unclean with this terrible disease. After Jesus healed him, the man proclaimed to everyone how Jesus had done this miracle. He looked to Jesus and was consequently restored to his family and friends, but he was also transformed into a witness of God's power.

We have seen God's power in many ways so far this week and will continue to Look to Jesus as He does even more wonderful things in the lives of these campers. But like the other storytellers I have described, I will leave you with a cliffhanger for want will happen next.

I Shot an Arrow in The Air

2011-08-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

Or so goes the old poem, however, today I mean that literally and not just figuratively as I just came back from archery. After shooting a few arrows myself, I was helping the campers learn how to shoot and then watching as the screamed with excitement as they hit the target for the first time. Even Pastor Jeanette took up her bow and scored a bullseye. Their were also screams of delight as students rode the zipline BACKWARDS! However camp is not about free time (although we have much fun), camp is about looking to Jesus. Mary shared with us the story of Saul on the road to Damascus, how he met Jesus there, was made blind, and was then sent to Ananais where he was healed. Saul later became Paul and went all over preaching the Gospel. Mary also shared how much she and God loves us. But as much as she loves us, she could never send one of her sons to die for anybody. God the Father did love us that much, however and she explained how we can live with Him forever if we have faith in Jesus to save us.
We also heard from our speaker Dale who started a story about Farmer Bill but stopped when it got to the exciting part -we can't wait for the rest of the story. Worship was fabulous as always with much more to come. I'll post after chapel later. There's now 500 pictures on Flickr, so check it out.

The End of Day One

2011-08-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

What an awesome day! As I mentioned earlier, the kids had a blast during free time on their first day. Dinner was spaghetti and green beans tonight with a yummy banana cake for dessert. The children then spent some time getting to know the others in their units (we divide the campers into three different groups called units for competition, morning rec, walk the talk, and OTS.) At chapel we had an extended period of worship through singing, we also heard about our Rice Bowl missions project, Miss Carol introduced our Missionary story about the Marshalls, and we got a preview from our speaker Dale Torry -he talked about the paralyzed man who was healed by Jesus, but when he was asked who healed him, he didn't know it was Jesus. Our theme, based on Hebrews 12:2-3, is "Look Up" -we are to look to Jesus. It is our goal this week to help students see Jesus for who He is and have a growing relationship with Him. More to come tomorrow. . .

The Kids have Arrived

2011-08-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

Every one of our campers arrived safely this morning and after doing their own exploring, grabbed some lunch before heading to free time. Free time meant jumping on skateboards at the skateboard park, zipping down the zip line, shooting bows and arrows, diving into the pool, playing chess with giant chess pieces, riding mountain bikes and playing soccer. There was also arts and crafts where students made beautiful projects, especially those who were in Mr. Joe's art class. Right now free time is winding down and soon it will be dinner followed by our first chapel. I have posted some pics on Flickr for you to enjoy. More to come later.

We Are Here (The Design Team, That Is)

2011-08-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday evening and I thought I'd give you the first update of Lightseekers Camp. It's hard to believe but it has been 54 weeks since our last Lightseekers Camp blog post. After a very long day of church this morning, packing all our vehicles and driving for a few hours, the Design Team and the Missionary Kids arrived at our new camp home, Ponderosa Pines. We then unloaded and set up the craft area as well as all the musical gear for the worship team, then finalized all those last minute preparations so that we will be ready for the campers when they start arriving 11 hours from now. Some had to explore and play in our new camp digs. There will be so much for the kids to do - archery, zip line, human foosball, bikes, hiking, swimming; it will be a blast. Most importantly, the children will learn about God and some will begin a relationship with Him. I can't wait to tell you all the wonderful things as they happen. Send your kids email at Camp@lightseekers.net. Be sure to include their name and the church they are with. You can see pictures on Flickr -look for the link on the side. Or follow us on Facebook. Go to the Lightseekers Camp page and "like" us. Time for bed, tomorrow is a big day.

Now That Lightseekers' 2010 Is Over. . .

2010-07-31T00:37:00.000-07:00

It was hard to leave Oak Glen this morning to return to the "real" world of our regular lives. We wished for one more worship song, one more encouraging word from Arol, the opportunity to be in close fellowship with other believers, hearing their testimonies and sharing our lives. This is perhaps a glimpse of what heaven will be like - praising God in the company of saints, never to leave the presence of God Himself or of one another. Our week was about being honest, honest with God, honest with ourselves and honest with other people in such a way that we are able to tell our story to those who don't know the Savior. Some people sincerely believe that being good, being religious or being part of a church will somehow make them right with God. But this is impossible, none of us are righteous enough to merit God's favor. Instead people are dead and can only be raised to new life by the Holy Spirit. It is this new life in Jesus that we and the campers proclaim. Many of them entered in to this life during the course of this week, pray for them as well as those who re-dedicated themselves to following Christ wholeheartedly. In the 359 days ahead of our next camp, there will be many challenges to living our faith, but with God's help, we "can do all things" through God who strengthens us. See you next year.

P.S. Look forward to more pictures being posted over the next several days. You can also visit some of the photo pages of our Lightseekers' Camp Facebook friends.

Wake Up! Day 4 -The Final Evening

2010-07-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight was a truly amazing and wonderful night. From the moment the doors of the chapel opened at 7pm to let the children in to watch the camp picture show, the atmosphere was electric. One of the adults later commented on Facebook,"I heard the most amazing thing tonight! A house of children's voices rang so loud that it muted all amplified musical instruments with praise to the Lord. Amazing!!!" So true, but if Lightseekers' Camp was only about having children sing loudly or seeing themselves on the projector screen, we wouldn't be doing what God has called us to do. It is all about helping these kids find Jesus and develop a life-long relationship with Him.
In tonight's message, Arol explained how Jesus endured unjustly, the pain and humiliation of the cross so that we could be restored to the good life that God intended for us, but had been lost by sin. He then invited any campers to come forward which several did. Now we have some new brothers and sisters in the family of God. If anyone wonders why so many adults volunteer a week of their time to come to camp, this is the reason why. I'll post more tomorrow...

Wake Up! Day 4

2010-07-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that we go home tomorrow; one kid said it seems like we just got here yesterday. This morning's speaker for chapel was Pastor Bob who asked the question, "Whose side are you on?" He talked about how when he was little, he was always the last one picked for the baseball team because he was so small. He told the story too of how the Israelites disobeyed God and worshiped the golden calf when Moses went to the mountain to get the Ten Commandments from God. When he came down and saw them doing this he asked them whose side they wanted to be on, were they going to follow the Lord? Pastor Bob then explained how we can be on Jesus' side by asking Him to rescue us from our sins and give us eternal life. He then becomes our Savior and Lord; we can then share the Good News of His love with others. Tonight we hear more from Miss Carol and Arol. In the meantime, the campers will try to squeeze every last moment of fun during free time.

Wake Up! Day 3 -The Talent Show

2010-07-28T23:34:00.000-07:00

After a hiatus of several years, the Lightseekers' Camp Talent Show re-emerged with some amazing acts. I never knew we had such gifted musicians, singers, dancers and artists in our midst. We cheered, laughed and applauded all those who were brave enough to share their talents with us in an evening that lasted over two hours. We heard from our "youngest" campers Bart and Guenther (AKA Jim and Dave) who regaled us with tales of their experiences at camp. All in all, a fun time was had by everyone tonight. It's good to have so much fun. Tomorrow, we get back to hearing Arol and learning how to live out our faith.

Wake Up! Day 3

2010-07-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

After a good night's sleep, the campers were raring to go this morning. Your emails have been pouring in and so we passed them out after breakfast. This morning's chapel gave us a chance to "Rise and Sing" and "Get Down" as Jesus "lifts me up" as we learn to trust Him "Everyday". Later, Arol spoke on "How to train your brain" as he shared from 1 Timothy 4:6-10. You can train your brain by: 1. Reading your Bible with your imagination and a pen, 2. Listening to the world around you, but 3. Checking what you hear with the Word of God. "In a world full of confusion, the Bible trains me to see both the truth and the lies all around me." These messages may come from people at school or at home or even from other Christians. However, falsehoods fizzle when they meet the truth of God and His Word. Jim shared the Gospel after Arol was done and several campers prayed to make Jesus their Savior and Lord right then.
Thank you for your prayers; God is working even now as the students are in their Walk the Talk sessions where they learn practical applications of their faith to life.
This afternoon will be very busy with all our activities plus preparing for tonight's Talent Show; it will be interesting to see what's in store for us then. Later...

Email Us

2010-07-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

You can send email to your camper to: camp@lightseekers.net
Include their name and the church they are with so we can get it to them ASAP. If you haven't heard back, it's because they are too busy having fun to write. As for them calling home, you can read my response from last year as to why this isn't feasible.

End of Day 2

2010-07-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting out in my little Cybercafe area, just outside the leadership room/dining hall with one eye open scanning for wildlife that might want to join me as I blog -it's best to be vigilant because you never know what critter might wander by. (Dave says I ought to rename Ann's Cybercafe to Ann's Rustic Cybercafe due to the less than technologically advanced computing conditions. For one reason, besides all the bugs and animals that might happen by, the internet is constantly dropping out and it takes forever to retrieve your emails or upload photos.)
The young two-legged critters called campers are all fast asleep, worn out from the afternoon's events -hiking, swimming, games in gym, crafts and even watercolor painting. Tonight's dinner of fried chicken, rice pilaf, corn, salad and watermelon was excellent as usual (for camp food, that is). Yet as good as dinner was, chapel was even better with worship by Miss Karla that reminds us that we serve a God who "never let's go" as well as telling us that those who are last now, will be first later and that we are the light of the world like a "city on hill that can't be hidden" (like our theme from this morning.) We always have such an outstanding time singing praises to our King, Jesus; no one who attends a Lightseekers' Camp ever comes away with the impression that lifting our voices to God isn't one of the best parts of camp. Also in chapel, Miss Carol shared more on her continuing missionary story about Romania -tonight we heard about the girl with the hole in her heart who needed a miracle that God provided, but we were all left hanging as to whether she received another after God answered their prayers the first time.
Speaking of answered prayers, today the campers gave over $300 in offering towards supporting our World Vision children -praise God!
Miss Mary spoke tonight about why we need salvation in Jesus using the Gospel colors. If you don't know what the colors are and what they represent, be sure to ask your camper when they get home. I'm sure they will be "ALWAYS READY!!!!" to give you an answer.

Wake Up! Day 2

2010-07-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

And boy did we wake up early this morning! Our day began with our camp photo at 7:30am. After a wonderful breakfast, we went on to our morning chapel where Karla again led us in worshiping our great and wonderful God. Miss Janet reminded us about our World Vision children whom we support by our daily camp offering. It's touching to think we have been supporting these kids since they were the age of our Lightseekers' campers, however, now a few of them are teenagers, the ages of our CITs, grunts and missionary kids.
Arol also spoke and shared how we as followers of Jesus are the light of the world too. We are to live our good deeds before the people of the world who don't know Jesus in such a way that it points them to Him. We aren't dead, but alive in Christ.
More to come later...

Wake Up! Day 1

2010-07-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

The camp is quiet now with only the sounds of the crickets chirping and the frogs in the pond croaking. The full moon peaks through the high altitude clouds, lighting up the whole sky. Yet less than three hours ago, your children were singing at the top of their lungs in praises to the One is without comparison. How they have so much energy to run around all afternoon and then worship God with such enthusiasm is something I'll never understand. One thing that we did learn in tonight's chapel from Arol was that we need to be Jesus to those around us, to show His love and to be "ready to explain" to others the hope we have in Him.
Our theme verse for this week, 1 Peter 3:15 expresses that exactly. Our goal this week is to explain that hope to the campers who do not yet know it and to equip those that already do, the means to share it with those around them.
Keep praying for us -tomorrow is a very long day that begins with our camp picture before breakfast. I'll post more tomorrow.

Up and Running in Ann's Cybercafe

2010-07-26T08:58:00.000-07:00

For you who are new to the Lightseekers' blog, Ann's Cybercafe is what we affectionately have named the internet spot/porch just outside the Lightseekers' leadership room. Many of our previous readers know that I like to blog when the Design Team and Missionary Kids arrive to set up at Oak Glen the night before your campers come. To my dismay however, the camp's internet was down last night which meant no blogging or downloading camper email. The fact that I'm now posting means that all is well and I have received those early bird emails which will soon be printed out for your child to read. Soon I will be able to post some pics of the kids arriving in the buses, vans and cars. Although they aren't yet here, there is a flurry of activity going on as I listen to the worship band rehearse off in the distance and the rest of the Design Team are getting things like the craft room prepared. Of course, the most important preparation, that of preparing the campers' hearts to hear God's Word have been bathed in prayer and the Lord Jesus Himself, by His Holy Spirit is doing that work.
Please keep us in prayer though, God is going to do some amazing things this week.
Drop a comment here, send us an email or visit our Lightseekers Camp Facebook page.

Sooooo Excited!!!!!!

2010-07-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

For you early birds who read this blog in anticipation of our wonderful camp, it begins in only six days. However, it's not too late parents to send your child to this year's Lightseekers - contact your Lightseekers participating church leader and let them know (or visit our website) , we have plenty of room at the facility for one more. We want every child to have the opportunity to hear Arol share how we can "Wake Up" in our Christian faith.

Parents and friends of this ministry, please pray that the campers' hearts would be prepared for hearing the Word and applying it to their lives. Much preparation and prayer has already taken place, however "unless the Lord builds the house . . ."
We know that nothing happens apart from God's Spirit working in and through us; we are excited at the possibilities of what will happen during this brief time. Next time I post, you'll be hearing from me AT CAMP!!!!

Lightseekers 2009 Epilogue

2009-08-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

Now that we are all home, the suitcases unpacked, the dirt and grime washed off, and the bug bites attended to with calamine lotion, I would like to wrap up this years camp with some final words. Our guest blogger, Kristen may have expressed the overall camp experience much better than I could, but I would like to leave with what Arol shared in our last time together Friday morning.

He explained that when God first created the man, He breathed His Spirit (Ruach in Hebrew)into Adam and faith worked. Sin entered when Adam and Eve ate the fruit and man faith and work were separated - man tried to reach God, not by faith, but by doing good works to try to make God (or gods) happy. That didn't work and Jesus had to come and die on the cross. After Jesus rose from the dead, He sent His Spirit (Nooma -Greek for Spirit or breath) to live inside His followers. Faith now can work again in our lives, but some believers are tempted to again separate faith and its working. They think that once they are a new creation in Christ Jesus, they can abandon the works that God is calling them to do -they don't cooperate in becoming God's Art Project (His Workmanship)

Arol told the campers that the way to make your faith work for those who have trusted in Jesus is to:
1. Read your Bible
2. Meet your team (of Christian friends) at church
3. Share God's love with everyone starting with your family

He left them with these words of wisdom from Proverbs 3:5-6 (New International Version)

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Until next year, follow what we learned this week and WISE UP!

The Last Night

2009-07-31T02:02:00.000-07:00

I truly wish that you parents could've been at tonight's chapel to hear Arol speak and see the awesome impact his words had on the campers. As Arol so magnificently illustrated with spray paint and paper, he explained how God created this beautiful planet and all the wonderful things on it. He shared how the sin of Adam brought death and destruction to our world and created inside us all a God-shaped hole that people try to fill with things that only disappoint us. He shared how Jesus entered into his creation by becoming a human being. Through faith in Jesus and His work on the cross, we can fill that hole and receive eternal life.

Seeing the numbers of children responding to that simple message reminds me (and the other leaders) of why we give up a week of our time - setting aside work, school and family responsibilities in order to spend time impacting these precious souls for Christ. Ask your kids about any decisions that were made at camp this week.
I'm really tired so you will hear more later.

Why I'm Super Duper Sad Tonight.

2009-07-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

warning. this post may cause you to get up from your spot at the computer and immediately hug your children.

(Thursday night, 9:34pm...)
I have to say that I am sitting in what we like to call "Ann's Cybercafe" which is basically the porch by the dining area that seems to get a bit of internet access, and I am just sad...because it's our last night of camp!!! This is my third year of Lightseekers and although I've missed the past few years, the memories all came flooding back when I stepped out of my car this last Sunday afternoon. I have had the awesome privilege of being on the Lightseekers worship team for the third time and there is just NOTHING LIKE IT!!!!!

(Attempting to finish the blog post...Friday night 8pm!)
I don't even know where to begin. There is just something so special about seeing the light go on in a child's eyes for the first time when they realize that singing is more than just a sound, that the worship time at camp is not about sitting still and being quiet or blindly following the lead of those around you, when they realize that they are singing to THE ONE TRUE GOD and that their voices are actually being heard by the Creator of the Universe. All of a sudden, shy kids are singing as loud as they can. The child that came in burdened with trouble at home and at school is jumping up and down singing of God's faithfulness. And yes, the resident "class clown" is actually NOT making a joke, but singing with a seriousness that was not there before. This is what brings me to tears up there on stage...and yet of course I would look silly crying while the kids are singing and jumping up and down so I squelch it, and I have to try and finish singing all the songs with a huge lump in my throat!

These are your kids. Your kids who are at times disrespectful, irresponsible, or dishonest. But they are learning, learning to be helpful, and kind, and forgiving, and bold, and to make the right choices in a sea of temptation and in a world where they are sometimes written off as being "just a kid". And you know what? I'm 32, definitely not a kid anymore. I've been married for 4 years, and we have a 2 1/2 year old son, but sometimes I too am disrespectful, irresponsible, or dishonest, just like them, just like all of us.

That is what I feel that I take away from my experience at Lightseekers every year. I may be able to drive a car or apply for a loan, but I am just a CHILD OF GOD, just like each camper here. We all fall down, and Jesus helps us back up again. Some of us just have few more years of experience with the falling down part :)

I'll end with saying once again...YOUR KIDS ARE AWESOME!!! I mean why else would I pay for 2 plane tickets from Hawaii and brave 2 weeks alone on the road with my rambunctious toddler than to hang out and worship the Lord with almost 200 kids who love the Lord? And you might ask, what about the Lightseekers staff? Oh, don't even get me started on how awesome they all are. There is not a better group of "grownup kids" to love and teach your campers, teaching them the truth of Scripture but always in a loving way. Just all around fantastic human beings! I struggle to walk past most of them without hugging them every single time...except for Mary who I actually do hug everytime :)

What a great God we serve!

Reflections from Miss Karla

2009-07-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Wow...God is good! You know this is the highlight of my summer....leading your children in singing praises and thanks to our God. Of course enjoing the company of children and bringing my own little one really made me focus on what it is that I wanted the children to experience through song and scripture. I looked for songs that connected scripture to music so that when children are face with difficult choices God's word (which they can remember through song) can help them make a decision that pleases Him. We've sung songs that talk about putting on the armor of God to be ready to deflect the devil's weapons, John 3:16 reminds us of God's love, Tossed To and Fro tells us that we're no longer babies tossed to and fro by lies of the world, and "Whatever" (Col. 3:17) reminds us that whatever we do, do it in the name of the Lord. It's such a blessing to hear children singing scripture as they are walking to the pool, dinner hall or even the bathroom!!! God is good and we will continue to sing about it!!!

A Note to Parents

2009-07-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

From the emails we've seen, a lot of you parents have been wondering why your child hasn't called you from camp. Let me explain. The camp we are at is a very wonderful facility, but cell phone reception is nearly non-existant in the main camp area (I had to hike up to an area where the staff live to get 2 bars at most). Second, the pay phones are very expensive and are often out of order. There have been times before we discouraged payphone use that when campers have had unsupervised phone access, prank calls to 911 have followed. Third, we have learned that frequent phone calls home often increase feelings of homesickness and separation anxiety; while your children may not be homesick themselves, a line forming in front of the pay phone can induce the ones that are to call and ask to go home. We know that you are missing your child too and sometimes they can hear that in your voice. All these reasons are why we encourage email back and forth. So if you want to hear back from your child, send them an email and request that they write you an email. More later from guest bloggers.

Day 3 Wise Up! The Hard Choices Finish The Art Project

2009-07-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

The hard choices do what? Well, this was a phrase that Arol taught the children tonight in chapel and I must confess that I didn't quite understand what this had to do with Proverbs since I missed the first part of his message due to the fact I had gone to another part of the camp to find cell service in order to catch my Managerial Accounting class lecture. As he later explained though, God wants us to make the right choices as we follow Jesus, the Way, Truth and Life and yet things get in the way that keep us from doing that. The bad choices can cause us to struggle with what the world and Satan try to label us like you're a liar, you're a thief, you're mean, etc. The truth is that when we are saved by Jesus we are no longer these things, but God's very own child -the child that He is shaping into His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) or "Art Project" through leading as they make the difficult choices to obey their parents, to be truthful, to be kind, to follow Him no matter how inconvenient
More tomorrow

Day 3 - Wise Up!

2009-07-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

We have reached the halfway point of camp and other than a few tired bodies, no one's the worse for wear. Right now I'm watching a bunch of kids spinning round and round on the camp playground while others are taking turns going down the slide. To my right, a group of campers is trying their hand at watercolor painting - what a bunch of artists!
Pastor Bob was our morning chapel speaker and he told us how Jesus can be our Life Saver if we allow Him to be. Miss Janet also told us about our three remaining World Vision kids -one from Indonesia, one from Rwanda and one from the Philippines. We also announced that we had collected over $400 in our mission offering for them. Praise God!
Tonight with Arol speaking, Carol continuing her missionary story about John Paton and Karla leading worship we will have even more fun.

Day 2 -Wise Up! Part 2

2009-07-28T23:20:00.000-07:00

The campers have drifted off to sleep by now and Oak Glen Christian Conference Center is quiet except for the sound of crickets and our teenage "grunts" (they are our workers who help around camp as needed) playing board games in the Design Team headquarters. Soon I will go up to bed too, exhausted from a very full day but not before uploading pics and blogging. It was an extremely fun day, but also one in which Christ was proclaimed and lives were changed - two campers shared earlier this evening how they had asked Jesus to be their Savior this very day. We had another evening with Arol speaking from Proverbs about making wise choices, particularly in whom we choose as friends. Without going into all the fingers of his hand illustration, Arol challenged the campers to choose as our closests friends, those are fellow followers of Christ -friends who can pray for you and help you grow as a Christian. It's not that we should avoid people who don't follow Jesus -He hung out with people that others called "bad", but we need to not listen to those who would encourage us to make foolish choices that would lead us away from God.
Now I must choose to go to bed, it's late and tomorrow is another busy day. More then.

Day 2 -Wise Up!

2009-07-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

We began anew bright and early this morning with the camp picture at 7:30 am, followed by an excellent breakfast of scrambled eggs, French toast with strawberries and whipped cream. Right after, we headed over to chapel where Miss Karla taught us some new praise songs. Afterwards Miss Janet introduced our first two World Vision kids we support including our new child, Dmitri from Romania. Then Miss Mary told us how we can be part of God's forever family when make the wise choice to ask Jesus to be our Savior. Later in our Walk The Talk times, the biblical concept of making wise choices in our lives (Proverbs 1:5) was re-enforced with practical teaching examples.
Right now, I'm listening to the happy shouts of children splashing in the pool. "Look at me, watch me," they shout to their leaders as they cannonball off the diving board under the ever-watchful eyes of the lifeguards.
Tonight we'll hear more from King Solomon's wisdom found in the book of Proverbs as Arol teaches us. He really wants them to "wise up" and has them bring their Bible, notebook and pen so they can remember these important words of life.

More later tonight. Check out the pics on the Flickr badge below.

They're Here!

2009-07-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, they are. All the campers arrived safe and sound. They've had a chance to explore the camp, eat corn dogs for lunch and experience our first chapel. Chapel was an awesome time getting acquainted with one another and learning the camp rules. For all our first timers at Lightseekers, they had the opportunity to be led in worship by Miss Karla and her band. There were new songs to learn as well as old favorites for the Lightseeker veterans. They also met our speaker Arol. This week is going to be great. Right now the kids are vacating the pool as dinner starts in a half hour. I'll post more later. Some pics are up on the Flickr for you to check out.

Camp Day Zero

2009-07-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning Lightseekers Camp for 2009 begins for approximately 200 campers and leaders. Some of us are already here at Oak Glen, preparing for an exciting week of adventure and spiritual challenge. When the campers arrive, they will only see some of the work that has gone in these past 11 months to put this camp together -the spiritual preparation though goes largely unseen. As Nancy our camp dean mentioned at dinner tonight, this camp has been bathed in prayer for weeks. God is going to do a work in the lives of these children, so join us in praying for them to listen attentitively as He speaks to them. More postings tomorrow.

8 Days Until Camp

2009-07-18T11:13:00.001-07:00

Hey Lightseekers! Well I'm sitting here in Covina at Christ First Baptist with the Design Team and counselors as we prepare for this year's camp. I am soooooo excited and can't wait to see you all. Our theme this year is Wise Up! (Proverbs 1:5) and our speaker is Arol McFadden. Arol and his family will fly in from the Midwest specially to be with us for the week.I have known Arol for over 22 years (since he was Lightseeker age) and he is a tremendous speaker -our campers are in for a real treat!

In addition to great speaking, we will also have outstanding worship led by Karla. Karla and her band will have a extra special guest musician who is coming here all the way from Hawaii to help. I'll tell you more about her later.

As always, we will play great games and have the most excellent fun during rec time.

Sooo, if you haven't yet signed up for this years camp, let your church leader know.

See you in 8 days.

Suit Up Epilogue

2008-08-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

It's now twelve hours since we closed our last chapel. Karla led our last worship session with all our favorite songs of the week. We raised oner $1300 for our 5 World Vision children. Carol closed out her cliffhanger missionary story and told us how God was able to provide for her friends' needs with mangos. (ask your kids about that one.) We also heard from our speaker Chris for the final word. All week long he has been speaking on the armor of God in

Ephesians 6:10-18
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."(New International Version) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

The campers have been challenged to put on the armor and to stand firm when facing our enemy, Satan. When we rely on God and His power, we can do amazing things as Chris was able to testify about.

We want this week's camp experience to be more than just a temporary "camp high" but hopefully we have equipped each camper to be effective spiritual warriors who are able to impact their neighborhood, their family and their schoolyard -ultimately even reaching out to the world. Otherwise, we just sang some great songs and had a lot of fun. This is why Lightseekers has existed for these 24 years. Considering that many of our younger leaders were once Lightseekers campers themselves, some of our campers do seem to "get it".

Until next year,bye for now. Be sure to check in for more pics added and info on next year's camp.

The Last Night

2008-07-31T21:29:00.001-07:00

"If we could harness their energy, we could power a city...", so said one of the design team members in reference to the children's worship tonight. I don't know when I have seen such enthusiasm for praising God as was demonstrated tonight. No one wanted it to stop. The campers sat just minutes earlier listening to Chris talk about the Sword of the Spirit, the only piece of the armor used for offensive purposes against our enemy Satan. He then topped off his talk by reminding us that we are to pray always -our vital link to the Holy Spirit's power and especially to pray for others.

Now many of the leaders have started to pack away the remains of the week. We still have morning chapel to go, but we can honestly say that we have seen the presence of the Lord in this place this week, particularly tonight. I will blog at least one more time to wrap up our week of Suit Up.

Suit Up -Day Four

2008-07-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

This morning we were reminded of why we do Lightseekers Camp. Thursday is traditionally the day that we provide the children with an opportunity to receive Christ as their Savior. Following worship songs, offering and the missionary story, Jim explained that Jesus came to rescue us and to give us the gift of eternal life. He told them that the gift is completely free but it does not become a gift until a person receives it for themself. At the end, he asked the campers to raise their hand if they wanted to receive that gift of eternal life and many of them raised their hands to indicate, yes. Then there were others that indicated that they wanted to rededicate their lives to Christ. Those who made decisions stayed to talk with their counselors afterward.

I asked one of the counselors what she thought of having the opportunity to help lead children to Christ. She was definitely touched by it and even more amazed that although she should be physically exhausted from the activity and lack of sleep, she had supernatural endurance from the Holy Spirit to be able to minister all day long. She knew that the prayers of her friends and family back home were effective this way. I reminded her of God's promise in Isaiah 40:31. This, my dear blog readers, is why the adults give of their time and energy, sometimes months ahead of camp to touch the lives of these children. It's all worth it!

But there is still more to come...

Day Three Redux

2008-07-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

I started our last post talking about people going on a hike for free time. What I didn't tell you then was that a bunch of campers had gone off to do paint ball and were using the counselors (in protective gear and more than 30 feet away, mind you) as moving targets. Another group had fun with shaving cream near the pool. You have to see the photos once they are posted. Fortunately, all these activities were remedied by quick trips to the shower.

Our evening chapel was definitely the best so far. Our speaker, Chris, talked about the next two pieces of God's armor -the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith. He shared that faith means trust in God and told us how he and his wife had to trust God when faced with bad news from the doctor -they thought Jenn had cancer. In trusting God to take care of her, they were able to see God's healing power (there was no cancer found when the doctors operated). He talked about how God provided salvation for us by sending Jesus to die on the cross for us. Chris also gave us an example of a father's love by showing a video of Team Hoyt (Google them to see the Youtube story). This a man who competes in Triathalons while pushing his son with Cerebal Palsy along too. Very Inspirational!

Ooh, I gotta go to a leadership meeting, I'll blog more tomorrow.

Day Three of Suit Up!

2008-07-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

"We're leaving to go on our hike," the voice on the other end of the walkie-talkie just said. And so begins another afternoon of freetime here at camp. It's my chance to to blog and catch you parents up on the day's events. After sleeping soundly last night, we were awakened to go to counselor meeting then breakfast. This morning's chapel followed shortly thereafter.

Once our musical worship was over and the offering taken, Miss Janet shared the morning message. She talked about how God never lets go of us even in the most difficult times of our lives (and believe me, she really has experienced some tough days.)She shared with us about how she found and met Jesus; she also shared about what He gave her once she put her trust in Him. One of the verses she shared was:

"The Lord loves us very much. So we haven’t been completely destroyed. His loving concern never fails. His great love is new every morning. Lord, how faithful you are! I say to myself, The Lord is everything I will ever need. So I will put my hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-23

After that Miss Carol, began our cliffhanger missionary story which will continue tomorrow.

End Of Day Two (Part 2)

2008-07-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a rock climbing pic in the earlier post but blogspot wasn't cooperating.

End Of Day Two -Suit Up

2008-07-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

It's very quiet right now -the only sound is the sound of crickets and the frogs in the nearby pond. All the campers (except for a few of the leaders and missionary students) are safe and sound in their cabins. It was a wonderful day in which God did many amazing things. The kids of course, had a blast rock climbing in addition to all the other activities mentioned previously. Tomorrow, some will try paint ball.
After free time, they cleaned up for dinner and went on to chapel at 7.

Tonight was the best night for worship so far (hopefully I can get Karla to blog and give your her impressions too). She introduced a song -Take A Stand that we have deemed our camp theme song and is based on Ephesians 6:10-11. Although how we got this song isn't nearly as fantastic as last year's theme song story, it is still an example of God working in unexpected ways.

Prior to camp, Karla had not found a song she liked for a theme song and instead planned some other new songs that she thought the kids would like. Karla had asked me to throw in a children's worship CD to play before chapel started. Since I don't have children of my own and don't work in children's ministry regularly -I volunteer in High School ministry, I just grabbed the only two children's sampler CDs I receive as part of my subscription to SongDiscovery. (Note: they send out ONLY 1 Children's sampler per year). The CDs were still in their wrapper when I got to camp because I hadn't time or desire to listen beforehand. I popped one in the player just before the first chapel but I really didn't care for the style of music -not upbeat enough for our high energy opening chapel. The second one started out better but I didn't pay attention to the lyrics last night because I was busy with last minute tech issues. As it was, I only played the first few tunes before the worship band started. This morning however, I got to the fifth song and recognized they were singing the words to our Bible passage for the week. I grabbed Karla and replayed the song for her. She said that all we needed was the music for the band to play. Well, the sampler contains the chord, leadsheets (with all the music on them) and the words. I had the computer, the printer to make the charts and she taught the band, so tonight we sang "Take A Stand".

Oh, I must not forget our speaker Chris (That's him with his wife Jenn). Tonight he spoke on putting on the armor and described three of the pieces -the belt of truth (which holds all the armor together and is used to counteract Satan's lies), the breastplate of righteousness (which guards our most vital parts and comes from being in right relationship with Christ) and the shoes of preparation in sharing the good news of peace. All of these , plus the ones we will learn about tomorrow night, enable us to stand against the the evil schemes of the Devil and his demons.

I'll continue to keep you posted on what we are learning. Right now I'm going to bed.

Put It On! (God's Armor)

2008-07-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

It's Day 2 on our Lightseekers Camp Adventure. If you've following along via the blog and the flickr pics on the lower left, you know the kids are having a great time. This morning's chapel started out with worship led by Karla & Co.(they sang one of their favorites, The Fruit Song in addition to many others) and featured a talk by Mary who reminded us that our enemy is Satan. She also told the children that everyone must not only acknowledge that we are sinners and in need of a Savior, but we must receive Him into our lives. Miss Janet also shared about our remaining World Vision children and then we collected our offering for them.

After chapel, the kids had recreation time which is broken into 3 groups (we call them Units). One group played games in center camp, another did a special craft and the last group was at the pool. Tomorrow they rotate to a different activity so that each camper does all three recs by week's end.

After lunch (BBQ Chicken), we had our Walk The Talk teaching times which are also divided by Units. Today we talked about hiding God's Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11 & 105). The best part is that each child received a brand new Bible of their own (which is why they were told NOT to bring Bibles to camp, BTW). Each Bible had been highlighted with the favorite verses of the Design Team. The students were then able to highlight their own fave verse inside as well.

Now everyone is off to free time. I will post more tonight after chapel, God and internet willing.

Our First Day

2008-07-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Lightseekers Camp. We just finished our first day of camp and all the campers are off to bed. Definitely, today has been a very tiring day beginning with the bus rides here. We then had a very full afternoon swimming, playing minature golf, playing in the gym and doing crafts. Of course, we also were treated to a wonderful lunch and dinner by the Oak Glen staff (wet burritos for lunch, ham and great mac n' cheese for dinner).

Our chapel began with the ever fabulous worship music led by Miss Karla and the band. Karla usually chooses songs that are based on Scripture. This year she's introduced a new song based on Colossians 3:17 (ask your kids about the whatever song when they get home.)
Jim then had the kids play some crazy games (with food-ewwww!)followed by our missions spotlight on our World Vision children. We closed our evening with our speaker, Chris Charon who introduced our theme of the week, Suit Up, The Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). As the week progresses, I will post more on what we are learning.

We're Here (At Least the Design Team)

2008-07-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

A new week of Lightseekers Camp is ready to begin. The Design Team, grunts and the student missionary helpers all arrived last night. After an early dinner at the local coffee shop, we set up the chapel for worship and the leadership "headquarters". Right now, we are about to meet for prayer before the children arrive. You can be praying for all the children too. Of course the leadership team would appreciate your prayers as well.

To see what God is doing, check into this blog later today - I typically give updates twice a day and I will be posting the first pictures later today.

Lightseekers Camp 2008 Is Coming!

2008-06-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hey kids! As you may or may not know, Lightseekers Camp is only a little over a month away (July 28th -August 1). We are going back to Oak Glen Christian Conference Center, where we went last year.
This year our speaker is Chris Charon and our theme is "Suit Up!" (Armor of God).

Be sure to sign up as soon as possible. If you would like more info, visit our Lightseekers' website.

See ya there!

Lightseekers Camp Epilogue

2007-08-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

So now we have left Oak Glen and returned to our respective homes. Hopefully, our young campers have had a chance to wash off the dirt collected during the week by now (sorry parents a lot of them didn't want to bathe very much, the "cleaner" ones were the ones who visited the pool daily. One parent told me that kids are somewhat like cats -they are afraid of bath/shower water). More important than becoming clean on the outside, we pray that this week has refreshed and cleansed the souls of all our campers.

In our final time together, Karla closed our worship by leading us all in the songs that the kids loved to sing the most. We collected our final mission offering and collected over $2700 this week, more than enough to support all 5 of our World Vision children for an entire year, plus provide special gifts to them. Finally, Jeff gave us as a send off Paul's benediction from Ephesians 3

"When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright ©1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

It is the goal of our Lightseekers Camp to have each camper know "how wide, how long, how high and how deep" God's love is, not just the week we have them, but for the other 51 weeks and beyond. We live in different cities -Torrance, Bakersfield, Alhambra, Covina, West Covina, Montclair, Pasadena, Corona, and Gardena so may not see one another for a while. Until we meet for camp again, "let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith " as our camp theme verse, Hebrews 12:2 reminds us.

P.S. Keep checking for additional uploads of photos (there were about 2000 taken) and for occasional updates as we prepare for next year. A DVD with the photos will be mailed to each of the churches once I finish burning the discs.

God is Awesome

2007-08-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

I titled this post "God is Awesome" because, as usual, He does many wonderful things on our last night of camp. We thank Him for:
1. No one was injured or became really sick this week beyond the usual scrapes and bruises or minor upset stomachs.
2. Carol was able to finish the missionary story about Von Riddle by reading from this dear lady's own words about what a privilege it was to share God's love with the Congolese people. She and some of our campers modeled clothes that had been obtained when some of them visited the Congo recently on a mission trip. Also modeling was Von's granddaughter and great granddaughter.
3. Our camp dean, Jim Condon, shared with campers about Jesus being the bridge to heaven and invited campers to give their lives to Christ for the first time or to rededicate their lives to Him if they felt they were not following Him the way they should. One of our Counselors-In-Training had already shared earlier in the evening that he had felt convicted by the previous night's message. He confessed to us that he did not feel his walk with God was right and so had decided to give Jesus control of his life anew. Jim says many campers raised their hands to indicate a decision and about 35 stayed behind to talk with a counselor.

As the students left quietly for their evening snack, I am reminded that we still have one more time in chapel -one more time for God to speak to them in the camp environment. Even as they go home tomorrow, Satan will try to discourage these campers from staying true to Christ. We need to remind our children that Jesus Our Hero can help them in their Christian journey.

Stay tuned for more posting tomorrow when I get back to fast DSL and am able to upload more pics for you...

Day Four -Heading Into The Home Stretch

2007-08-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

As we awakened this morning, we realized that today is our last full day of camp. As I sit here blogging, I hear the sounds of children laughing and squealing in delight as they play during rec time. Chapel finished about an hour ago -it began with the most active worship set yet (where do they get so much wiggle and energy?) But then they sat in rapt attention as Miss Janet shared about our World Vision Children -today was Enkelada from Albania and Emmanuel from Rwanda (our other children are Sneh from the Phillipines, Luis Antonio from Mexico, Nowinda from Indonesia). Our children have been so generous in their mission offerings, that so far, we have raised enough to provide a whole year's support for 4 of the 5 children (we still have at least one more offering to take).

Our speaker, Jeff spoke on how we are tempted to be self-focused, just as Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness with an offer to let Jesus rule the world if He would worship him. Instead, Jesus knew His mission was to die on the cross so that we can know God and make Him known to the world. God gives us the superpower to have a God-focused vision that helps us overcome our desire to be me-focused. Jeff left the campers with the question: who is the leader of your life, Jesus or self/Satan? Satan of course, wants us to focus on ourselves because it turns our eyes off God.

More later....

I have posted more pics on flickr.... also please pray for chapel tonight, we will be inviting children to make decisions for Christ. Some of these will be for salvation, but some will be rededicating their lives or stepping up to live for Jesus in a deeper way.

End of Day Three

2007-08-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

We have used a lot of energy getting to this point in the week. I know the kids seem like they have unlimited supply in reserve, but the older crowd is having to rely on God's supernatural endurance. From wall climbing to dodge ball in the gym, spending the afternoon in the pool to keeping up with children bouncing from place to place, it's then that we need God's strength the most. We gained some energy through dinner, pineapple ham, mac and cheese, and of course...a quality salad bar, and don't forget the brownie!!
From dinner we moved into the chapel. There we started off with our camp theme song as we start every chapel, then into our lively worship songs (songs that require our bodies to MOVE) Then we learned of our missions offering totals so far....over $1600 collected over VBS and Camp to support our 5 World Vision children in places all over the world. Carol continued her mission story of the life of Von Riddle, "Mama Riddle", missionary to the Congo. Tonight she told us how her daughter fell in the river and had to be rescued by Mama from the poisionous snakes and crocodiles. It was God who gave her the strength to lift her daughter out of the river unharmed. We'll find out more tomorrow. Boy, she really leaves us hanging.

Our chapel speaker, Brian Wang, shared about his hero, his dad. Unfortunately, even thought he was a very good hero, failed him at times. Brian also shared what it was like loosing his hero to cancer when he was 13. He also talked about why Jesus is worthy to be our hero today, because: 1.He rescued us 2.He showed us the way 3.He is with us. Lastly, we ended our time in chapel with reflective worship songs.

What an amazing day....we will fill you in on tomorrow's adventures...

Camp Day Three

2007-08-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

So here we are again at freetime blogging on our morning events. God has been so good to us this week here at Oak Glen; I know He is changing the lives of children this week. Be sure to ask your kids when they get back about what they learned or what decision they made this week. At first they may only talk about the fun activities but with the insight you can glean from these postings, you may be able to ask them how Jesus is their hero.

Today's theme was Jesus Calms Our Fears and Gives Us Courage; the theme verse was Mark 6:50b. Jeff talked about how we are faced with the following temptation: Not trusting that God and His plan are good. God gives us the superpower of Trusting in God (“God-sense”).

We also took our camp picture this morning which you can see posted here. I would post more pictures on flickr but our internet connect is really slow and flaky. If I can get some good uploading time, you'll see more....

A note from Karla....

2007-08-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I've been given the great privilege to lead your children in worship. We have learned that worship is saying "thank you" to God for His goodness. We have sung songs that remind us He is faithful, strong, our best friend, so good to us....and of course, Our Superhero!!! We have also learned to memorize scripture through songs....Ephesians 4:14-15, John 3:16, Matthew 19:30, and Psalms 106:1. I catch the kids humming and singing these songs throughout the day. It's amazing!

I have a story to share about how I found our camp song, "Superhero." (Which goes with our theme this year, Jesus My Hero) When I was in India this summer on a short term mission trip, I was teaching at a school that hosted an orphanage. When we had free time, I would teach the girls a couple songs that I knew. Well, when it was their turn to teach me a song, the 17 girls from the orphanage started to sing this song. The words of the song were...."Jesus, you're my Superhero, you're my star my best friend!" I said WOW! I'm headed to camp in a few weeks without a camp song! I knew that must have been from God. So...when I got home a few weeks later I typed the lyrics I could remember in a search engine and found the CD with the song!!! Little did I know that it would be a hit! I shared this story with the camp and they were amazed that God was thinking about them in India! I get goosebumps thinking about how God works! Well...be encouraged that God had plans for your children way before they got here!!!

I look forward to worshiping and saying "thank you" to God with your children the rest of the week!

End Of Day Two

2007-07-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today's Theme was "Jesus Gave His Life to Free Me" and our memory verse was Romans 5:8.

The leaders in the Walk The Talks shared how Jesus paid the debt of our sins in full, a debt we could never pay, no matter how much money we had. The teachers illustrated this by listing a bunch of sins and allowing the campers to "assess" what they thought the value of those sins was. When all the sins were added up, it show a debt valued in millions. The teachers showed a check signed by Jesus, paying it in full.

Freetime was filled with numerous activities -crafts, swimming, wall climbing, basketball, dodgeball, ping pong, minature golf, and of course, squirt guns. One child remarked that the day went by so fast because there was so much to do.

In chapel tonight, the campers enthusiastically raised their voices in worship led by Karla. The icebreaker game was a scanvenger hunt by church, each group had to produce a list of items in their possession - a picture of mom (how many of you moms actually sent that photo with your camper?), chapstick, 57 cents, a superball for examples. I thought it was funny when the students came by the sound equipment table asking for a paperclip (alas, I had none). Carol Wilcox began her exciting missionary story about the life of Von Riddle, ABC missionary for 40 years in the Congo. She had to travel by boat to get there eventhough she was very afraid of boat travel. Yet, every time she felt afraid, she prayed. We will hear more of that tomorrow night.

Mary Winchell was our speaker tonight and she talked about her childhood hero, Mary Poppins. She told us that she wanted fly like Mary Poppins, but her only attempt at flying with an umbrella was unsuccessful (read: disaster). Later, as a young adult she discovered her real hero, Jesus because He is actually perfect in every way, not just "practically perfect" like Mary Poppins.

After chapel, the campers received their camp t-shirts and were sent to their cabins for devotions and "sleep".

Camp Day Two

2007-07-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here's what has been happening today:
After a night of restful sleep, we were awakened just in time to get ready for breakfast (pancakes AND French toast with strawberries). Once we had finished, we went over to chapel to sing songs about God, and to listen to our speaker teach on Matthew 4:3,4. We learned that Jesus was able to resist Satan's temptations by using God's Word and that he has left us with the superpower of God's Word so that we can live by it too. He encouraged us to get a Bible that was easy to understand and read, to read it and to memorize verses.
When chapel was over we broke into our unit groups and each unit went off for a fun activity; one group went to the pool, another to crafts and a third played outdoor games (ask your kids about the pipeworks game as well as the Alka Seltzer game).
We had burritos for lunch and then went to "walk the talk", our time when we get a practical application to go with our lesson. Right now, the kids are taking a nap in "cabin kickback" before they get into their adventure groups for free time. I'll post tonight with more....

P.S. If you click on flickr, you can even make picture comments (nice ones please!)

Lightseekers Camp Day One Continued

2007-07-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

Well, all the children arrived here safe and sound -the earliest arrived at 9:30 am while the last group rolled in around 11am. The campers were then sent on a "treasure hunt" to find some Biblical heroes and become acquainted with the facility. The final destination was the dining hall, just in time for lunch. Lunch was individual mini-pizzas and salad bar with cookie for dessert. After lunch, we had our first chapel. Karla led us in worship songs and Jeff Jamba, our speaker, introduced us to our theme for the week -Jesus, My Hero. We also played some games to get to know each other. Later that afternoon, Pastor Bob Neill led the campers in our Hero Challenge games in the gym (you can see some of the pics from that and the day's events in the flickr badge on the left).
For dinner, we had wonderful roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed vegetables, salad, and a chocolate eclair. (in case you haven't guessed it, this place has really good camp food).
Immediately after dinner, we headed back to chapel for more worship and finally our camp movie night. I'm typing this while they are watching the movie Happy Feet. When this is over, they will head off for cabin devotions and bed.

All in all, a fun filled and adventure packed day.

Camp Day One

2007-07-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

The Design Team and our Youth Helpers arrived at Oak Glen last night to begin preparing for our campers. After a lovely dinner at Law's Coffee Shop in town, we began setting up for chapel while a group went to the store to get some special supplies. Right now our helpers are setting up signs that direct the campers to locations throughout the facility. We expect the first busload of them within the next two hours.

I will blog more when they get here.
Please spread the word about this site to other parents.

Lightseekers Camp

2007-07-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

This blog was created because our regular website -Lightseekers.net is broken.
I will try to blog daily so that parents will be able to see what their kids are doing throughout the week. Hopefully,we will be able to link to some pictures using flickr.

If you'd like to send us an email, try camp@lightseekers.net