Rain

Today it rains.

And for those of you who have ever camped in the rain, you know exactly what I mean. If there’s one teeny tiny hole in the tent, you’re doomed. Water collects inside, pools in all your clothes and books, soaks you as you unknowingly slumber in your sleeping bag and then never dries. Everything just gets wetter and wetter. I don’t think I’ll have to shower today. We girls are thinking about sleeping in the van tonight. That should be fun.

Yesterday. We picked up cans and cleaned the campground as the sleepy campers drug themselves out of tents and began their days. It absolutely amazes me how these guys can just bounce back – a mere few hours before they had been completely wasted and then they just get up the next morning and start it all again. What?? It’s like they don’t even get hangovers! Or they drink their way through it. I’m impressed.

We spent the afternoon resting and hanging out. I skyped my family! First, I got to talk to my Dad for the first time in over a month, and my Mom of course. And then I got to see my awesome big sis Jessica for the first time since I left nearly 5 months ago. And then some lovely friends – my sister Beks, Kari, Levi, Fart, and Kanaan. My day was definitely brightened by the wonderful people back home. Thank you guys for being so lovely.

And then, nighttime rolled in. and karaoke happened. It was so funny. And Ken was constantly turning down the mics because kids kept screaming curse words in them. And after karaoke, the DJ that the camp hired came and the party really started. I was on prayer from 9-10 and then after, I went to talk to the kids getting sausages. The first kid Steph and I met was a boy named Ollie. He was so funny. A total atheist through and through, he couldn’t believe that we were nice to him despite the fact he said to our faces so many times that he hated Christians and they are all f*****g stupid. He couldn’t believe we kept talking to him after he told us he didn’t believe in God or Satan. He’s been kicked out of churches and Christians have given him a terrible representation of Jesus, condemning him and ignoring him instead of loving him like Jesus told us to! Steph and I prayed he would remember us and come back. Then I met a girl named Lydia while she was talking to Maureen (the OJ leader) and it was awesome. She was so hungry to know, she asked so many questions and some really hard ones too. It’s really hard to tell someone that you believe if they decide not to accept Christ that they will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s hard to say “Yes, if your Nana didn’t accept Christ’s sacrifice before she died, then she isn’t there.” How do you say that? Do people get a second chance on Judgment Day? Or once you’re dead, are you a lost cause? Lydia was awesome; she was a breath of fresh air and man, so eager to know if God was real. She kept asking “How will I know? How will He tell me He’s real?” I had to explain that I couldn’t tell her God would do the same thing for each of us – He encounters us in our own unique ways because we are all different and He knows us inside and out since He created us – Psalm 139 – and when you know, you know. I told her to ask God for an encounter, to reveal Himself to her in an awesome and unforgettable, unexplainable way. And I’m not gonna lie, it’s hard having faith that God will do that. But I’m choosing to have faith and believe He’s gonna show up and she will experience Him in a way that will answer her questions and give her understanding. She let me pray for her, let Maureen give her a Bible and I gave her a C.S. Lewis book title (and incredible Christian apologist – if you’ve never read anything from Him, you totally should, he explains Christianity and faith in such simple and logical ways) and at 1:30 a.m. we finally went to bed.

Steph and I couldn’t go to sleep, we were still carrying burdens for the kids we talked to, so we held hands and prayed for them and gave the burden back to God and fell asleep holding hands. I’d say it was a beautiful end to a wonderful day.

Peace out Girl Scout