Bible Camp. Part One

This past long weekend (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), my younger brother and I went to a Bible Camp. It was really great, we had a very good time with much loved friends we hadn’t seen for some time. My brother quickly went with his two friends (everyone called them the “Three Muskateers”) and I went with mine.
The place where the camp was held was really very nice. In fact, it was a stone windmill. I can tell you, it was very cold there, and humid. The girls’ bedroom was inside, on the second floor, where it was cold even there, and under us was the living-room, with its huge fireplace, and the kitchen. But if you asked any of the boys, they can tell that indeed it was very cold, because they slept outside in a tent! They would also say that the first night was especially cold, because, instead of putting to warm air the electric stove, they turned accidentally to cold air! Good job thy had all the quilts and things, or they would have frozen to death, poor things! (How we laughed when on of them, while waiting for breakfast sitting and chatting on front of the fireplace, told us about it!)
Now I will tell you about the schedule we had. At eight o’clock a.m. we woke up, and dressed, combed hairs, helped with breakfast, etc. (we could not shower because there wasn’t hot water, and as the cold water came from outside, it was very cold!!). At nine o’clock a.m. we had our breakfast. It was fun to see all the sleepy but yet cheerful faces of everyone! Then we had a small devotion, and at ten it was time for the “Clean Up”, where the bedrooms, tent, dining-room and kitchen were put to order. At eleven we would have, depending on the day, an outing to this place, or that one. We would come back just in time for lunch at two o’clock p.m. (I tell you, the food there was just delicious!!!). After lunch, four of us teens would stay to help with the dishes, and during that period everyone had free time. After lunch and dishes we would have outdoor games or indoor crafts, and free time till the snak. At five o’clock we would have the said snack, and at fifteen past we would have a very blessed Bible study that would last until supper at eight o’clock. Again four teens would stay to clean up the dishes afterwards, and the rest had free time. People would walk in the dark (for it was dark already at five p.m.), and talk, oe sit and watch the stars. Then at nince we would watch a movie and then talk about it afterwards. Then came when we said goodnight to each other and go to bed. But, talking and chatting after the lights were off was the best, so it was quite late when we went to bed… (ahem!)
That was about what we did during those days, but now I’ll tell you about it with more details.
So let’s go back to the first day, Friday… the first thing I saw when we arrived there was a small river, and the ground covered with wet leaves. I could see also the sun peeping behind the mountains, feel the fresh air, and hear the crunchy leaves when we crossed the wood bridge to the windmill. Here we saw the first people in arriving there, and how cheerfully and happily they greeted us! I just love my friends so much. I quickly went upstairs to the bedroom, dumped my things on a bed and fished my camera out of my bag. Then I started to take photos of the boys putting up the tent. It was fun! Everybody helped there, also in bringing in firewood. Around the place you could always hear cheerful laughter and talking, and when you went in you could hear more cheerfulness coming from the kitchen, or from the benches by the fireplaces.
Before lunch I remember how two of my dearest friends and I would sit on a huge wall and talk. This wall was really tall, like four metres tall, that’s about thirteen feet tall. We could clim it because nehind it was like a path that went up to the back of the house, which was higher placed than the wall. So we went up the path and so we could climb the wall, and sit and talk, also watching two of the boys playing with a rugby ball.
Then we had lunch. And after that we went out to play the games. That day we had to learn how to survive in conditions not used to. But first we had to do some exercises to warm up, so the Main Leader and his son showed us how to do them, and we did them. It was funny because you could see the people making efforts to do them. The laughter we had! Then, the Main Leader (the ML, shall we call him?), began to make up a story. “So,” he started, “just imagine you’re in a plane,” and he did this sound like we’re flying. “And suddenly, something happens to the motor of it” and you heard him brrrrrrrrrring at us. “The pilot has to make an emergency landing!” and he wheeeeeezes us. Everyone was laughing. “There, we’re all safe!”, and he counted us. But then we had to learn how to know where we were, and by the sun we could tell that. Then it happened that somebody had something broken and we had to bandage him. We had to carry him wherever we went, we had to find food and water, and other such things. It was fun! (You can eat acorns, but only if you’re really, really hungry, because they are disgusting!)
Then we went inside and had our afternoon snack, with biscuits, mandarins, milk… and then we had the Bible study. It was really interesting. First we sang with two guitars, played by one of the leaders and ML’s son. It was beautiful! Then we started the study. We read Leviticus 23:33-43, and then ML spoke about the feast it talked about, how the Lord provided the children of Israel with food and water during forty years and how this feast was done so “that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out if the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God! (verse 43).
Right after that supper was announced, but the table had to be laid, so some girls (I between them) offered, and we got the table ready (after that, I can tell you, I got such a pain in my arm!). And so we had supper. What was most funny was with dessert, and it was because we had this huge box full of mandarins, and the mandarins had stickers on them, and some people got these stickers and stuck them on their faces. I have a very funny photo of my friend Cris in the dark with the lantern under her chin, and her face full of stickers. And se looked so spooky!
After supper and dishes, and while wandering out in the dark before the film, I saw a commet! It was very strange, at this time of the year, but I saw it all the same. I was very happy!
And then we watched the film, “Pamela’s Prayer”, the true story of Pamela Bucklin and her special marriage. We talked about it, commented on the film, and meanwhile we enjoyed a drink of milk and chocolate. It was a very interesting film, and a good lesson! Of course, after that, being half past eleven p.m., we went directly to bed, but while changing to our pj’s, we froze! But after that we brought up the girls’ electric heater, and placed it on our bunk beds. The bunk beds were really great, because it actually was one huge, long bunkbed were there was room for all of us girls. And we slept… zzzZZzzzZZzz…

End of the first day and part of the story…