Our Toxic Camp
What I'm about to blog cannot possibly describe to you what i'm about to say. It won't encapture the way i feel or what's even going through my head but i'll give it my best shot!
Yesterday, Tuesday, our second week of camp got cancelled. When Major Colleen Riley spoke to us about this, I broke into tears.
Last week was such a bad week for me. It was stressful and hard and very draining. This week has been the complete opposite. Amy and i had the best girls we could've asked for. They were a blessing from God and i guess when you pray about things God answers you and this week was an answer to prayer for me at least anyway!
We had 4 beautiful girls to look after. Their looks were beautiful but what stood out to me was their hearts and their personalities. They made me laugh and brought back joy into my week that had disappeared last week.
I broke into tears yesterday because not only did they have to sacrifice being at teen camp and sleeping out there, not only did they have to sacrifice going on the yuba hike (which i'll admit is a rewarding challenge for them!) but they now also had to sacrifice the whole of camp. Something which they all had been looking forward to for so long!
And also, i was sad to see them go for my own selfish reasons that they made me laugh, they taught me how to dance, their passsion for God inspired me and i just felt robbed it being cut so short.
But the reason camp was cancelled this week is because of forest fires that have been happening around this area. The quality of air is so bad that it has been declared unsafe for people to be breathing. In fact, it was first declared as being hazardous but now has been declared toxic. Hence everyone having to leave. I understand the safety issues but just as i was beginning to enjoy myself, the smoke ruins everything.
I'm sure God has his hand upon this situation and i know for a fact that he is in control but i couldn't help feeling sad to see everyone's vacation time cut short. I guess i just leave it in his hands and pray that he will use the time we spent with everyone to impact those kids lives.
We're praying that the same kids will come back next but as it stands, camp is full up and so they'll only be able to come back if there's an opening for them. Please pray that this happens!
So now for us staff, what do we do? Well we now have a 4 day break before we start our 3rd week of camp on Monday. So for everyone who lives close by, it's great, they can go home but for us internationals, we're kinda stuck here.
There were lots of different options we could've taken ie. hostelling it in Sacramento or going to Blake's house who also lives in Sacramento or then we got offered to go ona a trip to San Francisco but we've all just decided to stay in the old Nurses cabin here at camp - which means we're kinda house-bound coz we can't be outside. It's not a bad thing though coz the nurses cabin is like a real house, carpet, made up beds, shower, laundry, TEEVEE, kitchen, coffee table etc. But i'm sure we'll be able to go into town at some point and they're trying to set up the projector so we can watch movies and we've also got the internet so i might be on here quite a bit this week!
Thanks for your prayers, I'm still missing you all but the longer i stay the closer i become with people - it's amazing!
Alisha xoxo
Yesterday, Tuesday, our second week of camp got cancelled. When Major Colleen Riley spoke to us about this, I broke into tears.
Last week was such a bad week for me. It was stressful and hard and very draining. This week has been the complete opposite. Amy and i had the best girls we could've asked for. They were a blessing from God and i guess when you pray about things God answers you and this week was an answer to prayer for me at least anyway!
We had 4 beautiful girls to look after. Their looks were beautiful but what stood out to me was their hearts and their personalities. They made me laugh and brought back joy into my week that had disappeared last week.
I broke into tears yesterday because not only did they have to sacrifice being at teen camp and sleeping out there, not only did they have to sacrifice going on the yuba hike (which i'll admit is a rewarding challenge for them!) but they now also had to sacrifice the whole of camp. Something which they all had been looking forward to for so long!
And also, i was sad to see them go for my own selfish reasons that they made me laugh, they taught me how to dance, their passsion for God inspired me and i just felt robbed it being cut so short.
But the reason camp was cancelled this week is because of forest fires that have been happening around this area. The quality of air is so bad that it has been declared unsafe for people to be breathing. In fact, it was first declared as being hazardous but now has been declared toxic. Hence everyone having to leave. I understand the safety issues but just as i was beginning to enjoy myself, the smoke ruins everything.
I'm sure God has his hand upon this situation and i know for a fact that he is in control but i couldn't help feeling sad to see everyone's vacation time cut short. I guess i just leave it in his hands and pray that he will use the time we spent with everyone to impact those kids lives.
We're praying that the same kids will come back next but as it stands, camp is full up and so they'll only be able to come back if there's an opening for them. Please pray that this happens!
So now for us staff, what do we do? Well we now have a 4 day break before we start our 3rd week of camp on Monday. So for everyone who lives close by, it's great, they can go home but for us internationals, we're kinda stuck here.
There were lots of different options we could've taken ie. hostelling it in Sacramento or going to Blake's house who also lives in Sacramento or then we got offered to go ona a trip to San Francisco but we've all just decided to stay in the old Nurses cabin here at camp - which means we're kinda house-bound coz we can't be outside. It's not a bad thing though coz the nurses cabin is like a real house, carpet, made up beds, shower, laundry, TEEVEE, kitchen, coffee table etc. But i'm sure we'll be able to go into town at some point and they're trying to set up the projector so we can watch movies and we've also got the internet so i might be on here quite a bit this week!
Thanks for your prayers, I'm still missing you all but the longer i stay the closer i become with people - it's amazing!
Alisha xoxo
posted by Unknown at
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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