Greetings from the leader team! Today we woke up to, you guessed it, more rain. The Director of Eaglecrest, Jim, let us know that this has been a record amount of rain for Alaska in the month of July! Despite the wet and very muddy conditions, we still had a fantastic turnout for camp. Our students showed great flexibility as we adjusted our plans to be mostly indoors for the morning. We started off playing large group games in the shed and then headed to the lodge for a movie (Big Hero 6 – have to stay on theme) with popcorn, of course.

We had some delicious pizza for lunch and sang some worship songs together. Dave taught the lesson on Samson today, and about a dozen campers had a blast getting to come up front to dress up and act out the story, including a giant purple lion.

After lunch, we played “Fear Factor” led by Anaya, Alyssa, Chance, and Cooper, where teams raced to complete different challenges ranging from drinking lemon juice, to eating BeanBoozeled, to eating a can of spam or a jar of jelly as a group. It was a big hit with many of the Alaskan students!

The sun finally came out just as camp was ending, and we enjoyed a chill evening at camp before dinner and campfire (still indoors, but we’re hopeful for tomorrow!).

Our devo topic this morning was about taking initiative. As leaders, we are so proud of how all of our team members have stepped up and out of their comfort zone to take initiative and engage with campers throughout the week. Jim challenged our team earlier in the week with Philippians 2:14 – “Do everything without complaining or arguing” and we’ve seen our team rise to that challenge throughout the week of camp so far. We’ve loved seeing how God has been using each of our students to love and serve the campers and each other.

We’ve seen Amana demonstrate a servant’s heart, helping to serve and clean up after lunch without being asked. She’s also the first to hop up front to lead hand motions during the worship.

We’ve seen Alyssa step up to lead large group games and activities. She has a gift for gaining and holding the attention of the group and explaining the game or activity clearly and enthusiastically. Her kindness is inspiring and it is clear that she loves others well.

Abram’s quiet sense of humor has brought so much joy to his teammates. We’ve seen him consistently show intentionality in connecting with campers who don’t see themselves as part of the larger group. He’s gone out of his way to engage with them and make them feel seen and welcomed.

Chance (aka Pastor Morgan) is the first to introduce himself to someone new. He’s made it a point to try to know all the Alaskan students’ names. He’s also the first one from our team to jump in and pray before meals. He started to lose his voice, but that hasn’t stopped him from being a vocal part of our worship times.

Speaking of worship times, we’ve noticed Caden often leading our vocals during worship (and jam sessions in the vans). He has a great appreciation and awe for God’s creation around him and we’ve loved seeing him notice and intentionally engage with campers who are on the fringes of the group.

We’ve seen Jason be servant-hearted and always the first person to support a teammate who needs help. He made and served about 50 bowls of popcorn today during our movie! His dry sense of humor makes us all laugh.

Silas is bubbling over with enthusiasm when welcoming students to camp each day. He is curious about the campers’ lives and eager to explore God’s creation. He jumps in to help without complaining and has been a tenacious competitor on the pickleball courts.

We loved seeing Isaac thrive leading the robotics skills club on Tuesday and the way he connected with and taught the Alaskan students with passion and patience. And, of course, we’re grateful the beautiful photos he’s taken for us with his drone.

We’ve absolutely loved seeing Riley connect with a young girl who is new to camp this year. The two of them have been inseparable since Monday, and it is so sweet to see how Riley makes her feel loved and welcomed here. Riley is also our resident cheerleader and encourages our whole team.

As returning students, we’ve loved seeing Anaya & Cooper step up as student leaders in many ways.

Anaya consistently approaches and invites campers into activities. She is present and perceptive and sees things others often overlook. She also ensures we have our leader meeting every day. She says it’s the best time of the day…for reasons we have yet to discover.

Cooper has done a beautiful job of leading our team in both worship and humor. He sets an example for our team by making the Alaskan students feel welcomed and wanted at camp. He leads (normally individual) devo time this morning when the rain forced us all inside. He has also taken it upon himself to ensure the leader team is communicating with one another well 🙂

As leaders, we’ve loved getting to see this whole team grow both individually and as a team this week as they’ve chosen to step up instead of stepping back. We’re looking forward to a great last day of camp tomorrow!

Grant’s Cup of Awesomeness Counter: 30

With love and a bit less sleep than normal,
Emily, Anthony, Dave, Melissa, and Grant