Summer Time Part 2: Camp

August 14, 2014

The day after VBS ended, Alan and I flew to Rome, took a bus from there to Ascoli, and met Titus and Joele who gave us an hour ride from the town up into the mountains of Meschia for camp. We actually arrived a day after camp had started, but better late than never, right?

This was our second Italian camp experience. There are many similarities and many differences between camp here in Italy and camp in America. Probably, the main difference is that they rent a structure that has several dorm-type rooms. So the kids all sleep inside the main building instead of out in cabins like many camps in America. The structure of the day is fairly similar, though maybe a bit more relaxed here. Here is a typical schedule to give you an idea:

Morning Devo

8am: breakfast
9am: morning devotional all together
10am: 1 hr Bible classes divided by age groups
11-12:45: organized activity time (arts & crafts, chorus practice, and theater)
1pm: lunch
2pm: 1 hr "rest" time in rooms
3-5pm: sports activities (volleyball, handball, soccer, and basketball)
5pm: snack time
5:30 -7pm: sports activities with the counselors or another type of outdoor activity (treasure hunt, etc)
7pm: dinner

Too precious for words

8pm: evening devotional all together
9:00pm: evening activity (talent show, karaoke, hike, Bible quiz, etc)

What's camp without pranks?

The camp here lasts a week, and this is the only week of summer camp for the Italian youth ages 7-17. For some of them who come from small congregations with very few youth, this week is one of the few times during the year that they get to be around other people their age who are Christians. It's easy to see the deep friendships that these youth have with each other, and it's easy to tell that they truly value any time they get to have together.

Making friends

Volleyball with some of the counselors

This picture just makes me laugh for some reason.

Looking up answers for the Bible Quiz

The theme this year was, "Add a seat to the table." Each day they focused on a different topic. We had devotionals in the morning, classes in the morning, and then a final devotional in the evening to wrap everything together. There was a different subject focused on each day. They discussed life priorities, forgiveness, not letting distractions get in the way of worshiping and learning about Jesus (as was illustrated by the story of Mary and Martha), and not letting external or internal obstacles get in the way of our following and worshiping Jesus (as was illustrated by the story of Zaccheus). The two classes that Alan and I sat in on were pretty interactive most days, and they had some good discussions.

Alan and I also enjoyed our time at camp this year and all the time we got to spend with the youth that we've met at different convegnos and events throughout the year. Alan helped out with the sports activities, and I helped Julie with arts & crafts. We both were assigned Bible classes to sit in on and "help" contribute to if we thought of something to help illustrate the lesson. Neither one of us were counselors this time like we were in Catania, but Alan got put into the room with the youngest boys and I was with the younger girls. So we got to get to know a whole new group of young (7-10 year olds) Italian kids, and that was fun (and funny at times).

They're not all work and no play. :)

If I remember correctly, there were around 50 campers this year. We were blessed in that there were no serious injuries at camp, which always seems to happen at camps. We had really nice, cool weather when we were there too, which this 7 month pregnant girl was extremely grateful for.

Alan took photos as usual, and I'm adding a link to a video that he made here: Camp at Meschia 2014