Well to sum up Week 4 Cycle 5 would take a lot of tears, smiles, and phone calls. To start off I knew that these kids were going to be special seeing as it was my last week in Florida and I really really wanted to end on a good note. The kids arrived on Monday and we got them settled in like usual and then I met my bible study... Those kids had so much energy that it was just amazing to see what all they were willing to do just to chant "RIPTIDES" or "MEAN GREEN".
After the first day, Tuesday started out pretty normally with recreation then bible study. However, after bible study my day definitely took a huge turn. I learned that one of the campers mother had passed away from brain cancer and that the camper wasn't going to be told until the dad made up his mind on the arrangements. Although little Bridgette wasn't allowed to know they still wanted me to talk to her and basically do "what if" counseling with her. She had even prayed that morning that she wouldn't have to go home early. It was so hard talking to her and knowing in the back of my mind that her mom was gone. Bridgette talked about her mom in present tense and that really broke me. After talking with her I had to just make it through the day like nothing was wrong and I was only able to do that simply by the grace of God.
Wednesday went like any other day and I found out that Bridgette was going to be leaving the next day to go home with her dad. I made a special point to spend time with her and just love on her for that day and see how she was enjoying camp.
Thursday was the culmination of all things emotionally, physically, and spiritually testing. Bridgette's group leader called me and said that she was going to get her from bible study and that she wanted me to be there (which was fine) so I went on over and met up with Mrs. Robin before we went and got her and said that they were just going to tell her that she was going home unless she asked why she was leaving, they weren't going to tell her that her mom had passed. Well sure as the sky was blue, Bridgette asked why she had to go home and when Mrs. Robin looked at me with a look of sheer panic in her eyes I knew that she couldn't tell Bridgette that her mom had died, and that I had to deliver the bad news. I told Bridgette and then she just kind of looked into the distance and shut down. I think it was the shock of the news that made her do that. Whenever we asked her if she wanted to go or stay, she said that she wanted to stay to play OMC and the head home. I thought for sure that my role in her life was over and that she was going to go home and not have to hear from me again... in that area I was completely wrong.
Green team did the cheer and played their heart out at OMC that day. We were rewarded with The Captains Oar and placed fourth in the game part of OMC so it was overall a good day. After that I went on PM cooler duty with my crew and knew that I had a lot of track time setup to complete... whenever I got a call from Mrs. Robin. It turned out that Bridgette wanted to speak with me one last time before she left camp. Well I rushed over there and met her and I could tell that she had been crying pretty hard. We talked about her mom passing and how God had a plan for this and that maybe one day she would be able to comfort a person who was going through the death of a parent just like I was able to comfort her when it hit me. God knew that I needed to be on this specific team this summer just for this. No one else here had gone through that and could relate to her like I could. I started crying not from sadness but from joy that the purpose of my pain and sorrow was starting to be revealed to me in a way that I couldn't ever imagine. After my talk little Bridgette went home. I called Lindsey after that and it was a comfort to be reaffirmed that I was placed there for maybe just that specific reason.
Later that day was the variety show and it went amazingly well! All the kids performing did a spectacular job! Plus we found out that night which color came in first place and won bragging rights over that entire week of camp. Which team came out on top? Well the GREEN TEAM DID OF COURSE!! I was SO excited that the Green Team came out with a win! That night after the variety show we got prepared for worship, and what an amazing service it was. So many kids responded to God and how he was moving in their lives it just made me so happy that the kids were getting it.
We packed up and moved on Friday to our current location of Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. We're doing a combo camp with Fuge this week so our schedule will be a little off but it's all good because I just get to meet more people and more kids! Please be praying that the team can adjust to the schedule without any trouble and that we'll be able to minister not only to the CentriKid campers but to Fuge campers as well. Also pray for health on the team, another climate change simply means another easy way for us to get sick.
Peace, Love, and CK.
-Taylor
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