Summer has officially come HoneyRock style with the arrival of over 100 Wheaton college students! Some are here to take 2 week classes called WIN (Wheaton in the North Woods). There are 2 sessions of WIN for a total of 4 weeks. Some students are here for the SLS program (Summer Leadership School). These students will take a college class, go through staff training, and then become the Residential Camp and Advance Camp counselors. Many others are arriving to be on staff for various positions such as maintenance, kitchen, activity area staff, etc.
The transition for me is the completion of my classes and training. Now I am working with 2 others under Rob, the director, to plan and implement 3 programs: challenge course, WIN, and camp worship. Through delegating responsibilities I am primarily responsible for Adventure Challenge. Ei: scheduling and facilitating groups. However, I also help with the others. This week I have been primarily focused on connecting with the WIN students. The last several weeks I have been doing ropes course training and helping with building and maintenance. Here is a glimpse of maintenance day:
The outdoor practical training involved doing and learning to facilitate all of the high and low elements. We also enjoyed (not really) a small snow storm in the middle of the week:
I also took a graduate class in adventure challenge education. While I learned a lot about how to better facilitate and be attentive to the needs of adventure groups, the class ended up feeling more like life counseling. I was able to discover many ways I can and need to grow as a leader and how to better listen to and serve the needs of those around me. I am excited to put these things into practice with the upcoming summer of ministry.
My transition into the summer is also marked by me moving into new housing. Fortunately, I moved into my non-heated cabin a few days AFTER the snowstorm. However, I fully value lots of blankets since it is still pretty cold at night this time of year :). The rest of my cabin mates are trickling in as their summer roles require them to move up to HoneyRock. I now live right on the lake front by the canoes!
Wildlife: I've seen a family of black bear and several loons. There are actually leaves on the trees as of this week.
Prayer: Pray that the lake fills up. It is abnormally low due due to a rather large drought that we are experiencing (rumored at the worst in 37 years). It is low enough that it may effect waterfront programming. Also, pray for all of the Wheaton students and counselors that have just arrived that they would connect with God and with each other over the next month.
