Training, Continued

The second week of staff training--the week I'm in the middle of now--has been all about learning. We've heard seminars on behavioural challenges, worked in sessions for developing Bible studies, fought water fights...practical stuff. It's the workshops that we're taking about Bible study development and story-telling effects that really have me excited. Not only do we get to build our own cabin studies about a particular Bible story (this year from the biblical book of Joshua), but we can sign up for the opportunity to give messages in chapel illustrated with (guess what!) animal balloons and magic tricks! Some of the illusions I'll be learning are ones at which I used to marvel as a youngster myself, on the receiving end of kids' ministry. Between those and the chance to expand my balloon skills, I'm pretty "pumped."

In other news, getting into the routine of camp life has meant becoming integrated to a culture all of its own. For one thing, as a new staff member you must mandatorily be given a "camp name." Mine, after one or two attempts, finally stuck with "Tangent." Sounds adventuresome enough...

For another thing, you begin to realize that, as a group of camp staff, you have together become a distinct and noble tribe. By the smell of bug spray perpetually clinging to your population, the varying degrees of sunburn on every face, and the essence of campfire smoke on everyone's clothes, you can readily identify one another as members of the clan. You realize that in only a few days this staff, united in Spirit and sunburn, will be opening bug-spray perfumed arms to welcome busloads of excited campers. Here goes something...