The kids are coming tomorrow. I am SO nervous. My 17 days of intense training is over...and it WAS intensive. Almost every day I woke at 7:00 and go to bed at 11:30 or midnights. Sometimes I had to awake at 6:00. Every day was filled with training on how to properly tie ropes, understanding the gospel, safely.
This week alone I had to pass five tests and they were HARD. But I was grateful for them. The first was CPR and First aid. So I am a certified to give anyone first aid here at this breathtaking camp. I mean they went all out in training us. Fake blood 'n everything thing. I felt like a little nurse. lol. The second was the swimming test. Now, picture this wee blonde lass who can't hear squat without her aids acing her swimming test and astonishing her testers. Thanks mom for insistencing I learn to swim at an early age. The third test I had to pass tying knots correctly. Then the rest was doing taking the S.W.A.T test and the general test.
One thing that they were insistent about was understanding and telling the gospel correctly. We spent four hard core crucial days training on understanding the gospel. It was great. There was heavy discussion, people quoting scriptures and then would get quoted back. They back it up with background references. I have never ever been in a friendly scripture debate, where the instructor encourage discussion even if we disagreed with him. I was one of them (cough). To be honest I did wrestle with some of the things that was said, but my eyes were opened to things that I had been taught that were wrong. I carefully prayed and ex aimed the scriptures for myself of what was said. Someone in the group said they loved my questions and tiny little arguments. Because I wasn't disrespectful at all, and I was trying to understand, but I wasn't going to just accepted it either without scripture backing it up. I was on the instructor side, but I couldn't understand for a while what he was getting at. Then it became clear. Here's what they believe:
The only way you can get to heaven in the BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died and rose again so that you may have eternal life.
Grace is heavily and I do mean heavily taught here. I feel like I am back where my Pastor had been teaching for the past two years on this subject. It is so amazing! The focus or the theme this summer? Magnify. Worship essentially.
Other than telling the Gospel correctly, their second goal is to make sure everyone is as safe as possible. In fact my understanding was if I had not passed the test, I would have been sent home if I didn't pass it the second time. I could have been wrong on that though. They want to make sure their staff and the kids are safe. Which would explain why they are crazy about us drinking water and staying rested as much as possible.
There is so much more to tell. In fact I have two or three sermons up my sleeves just of everything I had learned with my own personal relationship with God. My poor family will most likely get a "preaching". Lol. They'll love the stories....well most of them.
By the way...for the very first week I'm going to be a S.W.A.T which is where I tied the ropes, prepare all the activities for my group, and care for the general safely. After that they're working hard to get me back on the Photography route since that is what they "hired" me to do. I'm excited.
I don't mind filling in other roles for a short time. After all am I not on a mission field? I went to be a photography missionary and I am one. But if there are holes to be filled, sometimes I must step in when I can.
Here's a scripture that has kept me going even before I left to come here. Joshua 1:9. Ironically, it is the same scripture that my dearest sister wrote on my good-bye note.
