Salkehatchie 2009, Saturday
Today I arrived at the Huntersville, NC Camp of the Salkehatchie Summer Service program. I have attended this youth mission, sponsored by the South Carolina United Methodist Church, for 5 years. This year marks a new experience for me, though, as I am now classified as an adult, meaning I have a new set of privileges and responsibilities.
Today, we arrived at Huntersville UMC, our home for the week. This year, the adult men are housed in the Youth Lounge, meaning that we have huge amounts of free space. Seriously, we could have a dance party in here without moving any of the beds. It's great, unless we have any snorers in the camp. Pray for quietness.
Tour of Homes
As one of the adults, my home assignment was made for me (It's ironic that as you get older you have less freedoms in this regard.) On the camp tour of homes I was introduced to Ms. Black, the homeowner we will be serving this week. She is a wonderful lady, and her family seems very close and loving.
Looking around, we saw many areas that need a lot of work. The hallway's floor bounces by a few inches with every step taken. The bathroom essentially needs to be stripped bare and replaced. The steps out of the side door are rather rickety, and the lone hand rail is on the wrong side, completely blocked by the opened door. In all, it looks like our group will have our work cut out for us.
Evening Program
At the evening program, we were relocated to the Fellowship hall, for the youth lounge was already in use as mentioned above. We watched the closing slideshow from last year's camp, wherein I noticed that 1) I need to stand closer to the camera and 2) I need to look happier in pictures. I'll do my best on both accords.
After a period of worship songs, HUMC's pastor, Billy Rintz, led the group in a series of team building games. In these activities, the camp was divided into six groups and made to compete in a faux-olympic competition. The games, ranging from balloon races to toothpick "javelin" throws, were great fun. By some stroke of luck still beyond my understanding, my team reigned victorious. Even better, no campers suffered run burns and pew scrapes like a few years ago.
Adult Meeting
Finally, I had to attend the Adult Meeting at the end of the night. This was a new experience for me, and it helped to give me a new insight into the way the camp is run. Using the youth's preference forms, we decided on what campers will be in our group (not that we can divulge this secretive information tonight.) We have a good team lined up, and our site leader, "Rob Dob," has a solid plan to take up through the week.
Contact Me
Feel free to send me messages at camp using the online form. Most days I will get these messages more regularly than any form of online communication.
In addition, you can follow the camp progress and view photos of yours truly at SalkehatchieNC.org.
Comments
Mom wrote:
On an unrelated note, in the photo of the team congratulating each other on an apparent victory, who are you "high-fiving"? Casper?