Going to Camp (When You're Not a Teenager Anymore)

This past week, we took a 5-day break from internet access as we traveled to Negeri Sembilan to attend TeenStreet, a camp which is, unsurprisingly, intended for teenagers. The entire theme of the camp was based around the idea that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (The "Fruit of the Spirit" for those of you who know Galations 5) should be fundamental aspects of our individual identities.

Note, I am no longer a teenager, and, in spite of appearances, neither is Angel, so we were attending the camp as coaches/small group leaders/chaperones instead of as participants. How did I ever end up old enough to chaperone at camp?

What I've learned this week is that camp is a totally different experience when you are a teenager versus when you're no longer a teenager and now have real-world responsibilities and have to make sure that everyone comes out the other side of camp safe and in one piece and having received the most from the experience.

 Auditoriums with aircon are really, really cold.

Rebekah was awesome at human bowling.

Some things are the same, though. Homeschooled me found the strict rules and timed schedule of camp a bit chafing when I was a teen, and I feel pretty much the same now about having to both follow and help enforce the guidelines...although perhaps as an adult I have at least some appreciation for why all the rules exist. Since we were all sleeping in girls' and guys' dorms, I missed my usual sleeping buddy. There were several times throughout the week, during the tougher moments of my time as a coach, when the responsibility of being a leader for these teens felt especially heavy on my shoulders, but it was a good "growing" experience, and a worthwhile one. I got to see teens I've known since they were barely more than toddlers get to experience something totally outside their comfort zone and thrive in that experience...and that made the whole week worthwhile.

The main speakers at the camp were "Duzie" Potter, and I thought they did an excellent job of challenging the teens in their faith and engaging them. The camp ended up raising about 35,000 RM to donate to aid efforts for Syrian refugees.

 Samuel was 'volunteered' to be part of a soft-boiled egg eating competition...and won it. Fastest soft-boiled egg eater in the whole camp!

 MaryGrace really enjoyed art class.

My tiny masterpiece.

This camp involved a lot of "firsts" for us and experiences that aren't a part of our normal everyday life. Angel had his first experience driving through Kuala Lumpur, and said that the traffic compared unfavorably with LA, Chicago, and Dallas, the three big cities that he previously thought were difficult to drive around in. He also managed to spy the famous Petronas Towers (his first time) from a distance, though we didn't stop to see them (remember the traffic?). There were a total of 350 people at the camp, and we were able to meet both teens and adults from all over Malaysia, which was especially fun, because, living on an island, we sometimes feel a little cut off from the rest of the country. I enjoyed the fact that, in the midst of the busy camp schedule, there were fun creative sessions planned. I mean, when else in adult life do you get a chance to sit down and paint for an hour without thinking that there's other, more useful, things you really ought to be doing?

This was the longest drive we've taken in our little car, and I must admit it felt especially 'compact' as we traveled hours with 5 adult-sized individuals in the car. In spite of (or is it because of?) the cramped quarters, we ended up filming a Youtube video all about our road trip hijinks. Enjoy, and enjoy the views of the Malaysian countryside along the way!


p.s. One more big difference: When I attended camp as a teenager, I didn't appreciate the "Lights Out" time. On this occasion...I thought that "Lights Out" at 11:30 was excessively late and was usually fast asleep well before the girls in my group.

Did you ever go to camp when you were growing up? Have you ever gone back to volunteer as an adult? What was your experience like?

Also, what do you do to keep road trips from getting too tedious?