Sermon

How Camp Changed Our Lives | Trinity Talks Podcast

Trinity Streetsville

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode

  2. of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla and I am joined

  3. here by two of our Camp Trinity staff. Camp Trinity

  4. is a day camp that runs here at Trinity for six

  5. weeks this summer and it's starting up tomorrow,

  6. so super duper soon. So yeah, excited to chat

  7. with you guys about what the summer is going

  8. to look like. Um, yeah, so maybe get just started.

  9. You can just introduce yourself, uh, say, you

  10. know, how long you've been working at camp and

  11. what your role is this year. So maybe we'll start

  12. over here. All right. Well, I'm Rylan. Um, and

  13. I am one of the assistant directors. I'm the

  14. assistant director for youth. Okay. And I have

  15. been technically a part of Camp Trinity for three

  16. weeks. Um, just brand new. I haven't done a day

  17. of actual camp yet. Um, cause it's my first year.

  18. So we've just had three weeks of, of preparation

  19. so far. Sure. That's where I'm at so far. I have

  20. a veteran over here. My name is Emma. I'm the

  21. supervisor of Big Kids this year, and I've been

  22. working at Camp Trinity for five summers now.

  23. Okay. Yeah. Very cool. And you said you were

  24. a camper before that, right? Yes, I was a camper

  25. before that. So this is like maybe like 10 years

  26. of camp for you? Oh, yeah, for sure. It's been

  27. 10 years at Camp Trinity. Okay, that's awesome.

  28. So to clarify, you are the supervisor for Bigs.

  29. Yes. So like what is that age group? The Bigs

  30. age group are ages 8 to 10, so like grades 3

  31. to 5. Okay, and you're a supervisor for you.

  32. Yes. So what age group is that? Yeah. Youth will

  33. just go from grades six to eight. And then after

  34. that, once they've graduated grade eight, they

  35. have the opportunity to go on to being an LIT

  36. or just leave. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just go about

  37. their lives. Yeah, exactly. But a lot of them

  38. do end up being LITs. That's awesome. Just the

  39. junior youth age. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Camp Trinity

  40. starts at four? Four years old. Okay. So like

  41. we have some preschoolers who are coming up all

  42. the way to like grade eight. Yeah, exactly. So

  43. this is like a huge. age. group of people. Yeah.

  44. Okay. And I think you told me there's like 140

  45. some kids who are going to show up here tomorrow.

  46. The last I saw was 147 registrations as of Friday.

  47. Okay. There's definitely more, at least one or

  48. two, but probably like 10 or 20. Sure. Yeah.

  49. Okay. Very cool. Yeah. So they're all going to

  50. show up tomorrow morning. What does a typical

  51. day at Camp Trinity look like? So especially

  52. on a Monday, everyone comes in, kind of finds

  53. their age group, gets to know their counselor.

  54. We play some icebreaker games. And then my favorite

  55. part of the day, we go in for worship. And that's

  56. kind of when the whole camp, ages 4 to 12, we

  57. can all just come together and worship and sing

  58. our favorite songs and learn new dance moves.

  59. And then we come back for a lesson of the day,

  60. which the assistant directors and supervisors

  61. have worked super hard to kind of make them super

  62. fun and engaging and also knowledgeable. And

  63. then you kind of get to... play some like choose

  64. your own activity kind of we have soccer um like

  65. arts and crafts just dance you just get to play

  66. around with the counselors and then we kind of

  67. break for lunch and then at the end of the day

  68. or like in the afternoon we have like a fun trip

  69. so like the pool the inflatable water park um

  70. for the younger kids it's we're going to the

  71. farm so it's just a fun activity to kind of close

  72. off and end off the day and then It's home time.

  73. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like a pretty good

  74. structures. You all come together to get to do

  75. all these games, your Bible lesson kids. Yeah.

  76. I have the opportunity to like get to try lots

  77. of different things. Yes. Yeah. And then I think

  78. the day trips are probably the highlight. Oh,

  79. for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Is there like a particular

  80. day trip that like. you like is like your favorite

  81. they're like this is the coolest place to go

  82. i really think that the inflatable water park

  83. is the coolest place to go because you just see

  84. the creativity in all the kids i mean you get

  85. this big bounce structure in the middle of a

  86. lake and then you just get to see how much fun

  87. they have and like the new friends that they

  88. make oh my gosh you're close to me on this play

  89. structure come and play with me over here and

  90. you just get to see the whole group kind of come

  91. together and you see how much they love their

  92. counselors too because they're like oh my gosh

  93. please come play with me over here or you get

  94. to jump off into the lake and yeah it's just

  95. it's a fun time okay sure okay yeah and i know

  96. rylan you this is your first year at camp is

  97. there a certain trip or thing that you've heard

  98. about that you're like most excited for Honestly,

  99. I didn't know that the inflatable water park

  100. was on a lake actually until 10 seconds ago.

  101. So I think probably that, that sounds pretty

  102. awesome. Um, yeah, I have been told that the,

  103. cause yeah, the, the trips vary a bit based on

  104. age range. I've been told that the youth get

  105. to do some pretty cool stuff. So, um, yeah, that's

  106. a big one I'm looking forward to, I think is

  107. like the heavy inflatable water park. And, um,

  108. and then you're like tree top trekking and glow

  109. in the dark mini pot. Yeah. Yeah. Tree top trekking

  110. is another one. If I get to, I don't know if

  111. I get to actually do it, but just to see them

  112. having fun, cheer them on, challenge them. It's

  113. fun. Yeah. It's going to be, it's going to be

  114. fun. I can't actually say I haven't been there.

  115. It will be. Yeah. So, um, is there anything that's

  116. like new or like different about camp this year

  117. compared to like past years? Um, I think a big

  118. difference, especially for the bigs is that we've

  119. separated them into bigs one. Oh, sorry. And

  120. bigs two. Okay. So we kind of did this because

  121. the, there's a lot of kids from ages eight to

  122. 10. Sure. And we just kind of split them up so

  123. that they can kind of have, I don't know, more

  124. specialized like treatment and stuff and kind

  125. of all not be together, but you have. kind of

  126. only 35 kids, which is what all the other age

  127. groups are. And it was just with 70 kids just

  128. trying to move everywhere. I feel like the transition

  129. times just took so long. And so I think now we

  130. can just kind of get ready for our trip and then

  131. go instead of just waiting around for everyone.

  132. Cause I mean, with 75 kids all the time, you

  133. don't, you can't always know what they're going

  134. to do. Like five kids might want to go to the

  135. bathroom while the other 70 have to wait. But

  136. then with just like the 35 to 40 kids, you can

  137. kind of manage that a bit better. So yeah. everyone

  138. has a smoother summer camp experience. That sounds

  139. great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think like building

  140. on that, like learning over the years to be able

  141. to be like, okay, this is how we manage 150 kids

  142. who all show up at the same time. Yeah. Yeah.

  143. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Um, so why do you think

  144. that it's important for churches like Trinity

  145. to have a summer camp for kids? That's a good

  146. question. Yeah. This is the first time I think

  147. I've seen a have a camp this big, invest this

  148. much in a camp. I just think it's huge. I think

  149. it creates, it's a big outreach opportunity.

  150. You're way more likely to come to, as a kid,

  151. to come to a camp run by a church than maybe

  152. just a regular Sunday. Sure. And as a parent,

  153. I think you're still more likely, if you're unfamiliar

  154. with the faith or with faith in general, to...

  155. to be on board with something like this. Um,

  156. so I think there's that accessibility part of

  157. it, um, where it really brings kids into the

  158. life of the church a little bit. Um, there's

  159. also the continuity for, uh, for, for kids, for

  160. youth that are in programs throughout the year.

  161. And then, um, in the summer when like, you know,

  162. they, they might want to do camps, they might

  163. want to do, um, Some are things, right? But they

  164. get to stay connected with the church, with the

  165. people, the adults who've been pouring into them

  166. all year long. So I think with generally just

  167. continuing to be learning about the things of

  168. God, but also having fun, and especially I think

  169. a really big one is, again, just the relationships

  170. that are built with adults who are maybe either

  171. volunteering or staff that are just pouring into

  172. them. Yeah, that they get to be a part of their

  173. summer because summer is when many of our best

  174. memories are made. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But

  175. no, no, I think that's true that it yeah, it

  176. gives it's an outreach opportunity. But then

  177. it also is that continuity for the kids. Yeah.

  178. Who, you know, they need things to do in the

  179. summer and churches can provide that really meaningful

  180. space for them. Yeah. And I just want to say,

  181. too, that a lot of a lot of time that becomes

  182. like a kind of cycle like. like almost like a

  183. revolving door, like a kid might come to camp

  184. and then get involved and then even end up working

  185. here, but then we'll come to our youth group

  186. or we'll come, you know, so, um, that's cool.

  187. Like, you know, that's, that's awesome. That's

  188. the goal, right? Is like, um, introduce them

  189. to the faith. And if they're already at a church,

  190. that's awesome. Um, but a lot of the times these

  191. kids are coming from no real faith background

  192. at all. So it's like, it is a golden opportunity.

  193. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure. Yeah. What would

  194. you sort of add to that? I would say like adding

  195. onto that, that it just built such a community.

  196. I mean, even coming from, I don't like Trinity

  197. is not my main church, but I just connect so

  198. many amazing memories here. And I just feel like.

  199. Even when I was a camper, I just felt all the

  200. love from everyone that did work here. And then

  201. I kind of got to grow up with that same community.

  202. And I think that having a camp within the church

  203. can kind of also guarantee that there's a lot

  204. more familiar faces for these children. If you

  205. come in, you kind of have a little bit of nerves

  206. on the first day. You can see someone that you

  207. see every Sunday at service. And I think that

  208. really builds more confidence in people. And

  209. I think that's what makes this camp so much fun

  210. because everyone just loves each other, is guiding

  211. with love. it's just here to have fun and you

  212. can kind of branch it both. Like you can come

  213. here during the year and then you can look forward

  214. to what this church will put on for you during

  215. the summer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And like,

  216. when you think about your own sort of journey,

  217. you know, go from being a camper to LIT to the

  218. like staff, like, like how, how have you seen

  219. that like impact your life and your like relationships

  220. and faith? I think that I've grown a lot of confidence.

  221. I think Trinity was a very welcoming community

  222. to me and I kind of got to grow. as a camper,

  223. just enjoying all my experiences. And then I

  224. got that little bit of responsibility and then

  225. I got more responsibility. And then I had a full

  226. sense of responsibility here. And I think that

  227. that kind of allowed me to kind of see what abilities

  228. I had, my leadership skills, the confidence I

  229. had. I mean, I remember having no confidence

  230. as a little LIT, thinking that I wasn't useful.

  231. And then growing into a counselor being like,

  232. wait. lits are useful and then being a council

  233. a supervisor and then saying wow my counselors

  234. my lits are what makes this a community makes

  235. this a team and i think being a team is good

  236. but being a community makes the team stronger

  237. sure yeah yeah trinity's like really made a community

  238. of counselors not a team of counselors yeah yeah

  239. so not people who just like work together but

  240. people who actually care about each other and

  241. like have fun together and yeah yeah that's awesome

  242. yeah um rylan do you have a part of camp that

  243. you are like most looking forward to yeah i i

  244. one of them is is i'll just go off of what you

  245. just said emma like The community of leaders

  246. and just seeing how that impacts the kids. Part

  247. of the discipleship year program that I just

  248. finished, we were learning a bit about witness

  249. and how like in the early church witness and

  250. like even in the Christian writings, like in

  251. the New Testament, it was almost always. viewed

  252. as something that you do communally, right? It

  253. wasn't so much individuals going out and evangelizing.

  254. It was like that the goal is the church would

  255. just live a certain way and that in the community

  256. and that people would see that and be like, there's

  257. something different about these people. Right.

  258. And that's exactly what happened. That's how

  259. they grew. And I just think that's, there's something

  260. about. camp that I've experienced at another

  261. camp that I've worked at and, and just like seeing,

  262. um, yeah, how a team can become such a strong

  263. community and how, um, that just shines so much

  264. light on kids and truly does and helps them to

  265. feel secure, um, in the team that they're entrusted

  266. or that are entrusted with them. Uh, so I think,

  267. yeah, just, just getting to see, um, A team.

  268. God do really cool things through the team. And

  269. then, of course, like just seeing how that shapes

  270. the whole camp experience for the kids, because

  271. it always does. Yeah. Right. For better or for

  272. worse, whatever the team is, the community or

  273. lack thereof will will just bleed right into

  274. the camp experience for the kids. Yeah. Yeah.

  275. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. And what about you? Do

  276. you have like a favorite part of camp? I think

  277. my favorite part of camp is worship. I mean,

  278. I get to just you get to kind of bounce around

  279. and hang out with all the campers. But I also

  280. really like choose your own activity because

  281. that's kind of a time where the kids get to kind

  282. of explore the church, see what the counselors

  283. have worked to put on for them. And then the

  284. counselors also get to play and have fun with

  285. their campers as well, because I think that's

  286. a really important part. It's one thing to just

  287. be there to supervise, but it's another thing

  288. to. welcome all the campers that come in and

  289. say i want to have fun with you i want to play

  290. soccer with you i want to help you build a bracelet

  291. or fly paper airplane i think that that's what

  292. differentiates someone's someone having fun or

  293. someone just attending a camp sure yeah yeah

  294. that the leaders aren't just there to be like

  295. here are the rules stay safe do these things

  296. now but they're like no let's like play let's

  297. like yes make sure that we're all having a good

  298. time together yeah and i think with um especially

  299. in the bigs age sometimes you just need to be

  300. that leader that would start to throw the paper

  301. airplane first and they'll be like, wait, that

  302. actually looks so fun. I'm going to do that as

  303. well. Right. That game was so fun. I think that

  304. someone just needs to take that initiative to

  305. say, this is super fun. We should all try it.

  306. Right. I think that's what makes being a counselor

  307. or supervisor so much fun. You just need to enlight

  308. fun, like lighten fun in everyone. Yeah. It's

  309. like fun is like. you know, top point on your

  310. job description. It's like, keep kids safe, have

  311. fun. These are the rules. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

  312. Okay, so obviously camp is a lot of fun. There's

  313. lots of really cool things happening. I'm sure

  314. that as staff, it's not always super fun, right?

  315. There are challenging moments as well. So maybe

  316. what are some of the challenges that you face

  317. or that you anticipate facing as camp staff?

  318. Yeah, I think it probably the biggest thing for

  319. me that I've faced working at camp is just the

  320. reality that life keeps going. Sure. We all have

  321. personal lives and stuff happens. Like I think

  322. as much as we have this idea of summer just being

  323. the time of just, you know, freedom and relaxation,

  324. like some really tough things can happen. And

  325. so just being able to like really regulate yourself

  326. and. Yeah. Just, just kind of take care of yourself

  327. holistically in the midst of the craziness of

  328. camp. Like an example, it's, it could be so easy

  329. when you're, you're done a day of camp, you come

  330. home and then you're just exhausted. Like you

  331. got nothing left in you and just kind of lie

  332. on the couch and then you have something to eat

  333. and then you just go to sleep and you wake up

  334. and it's time again. Like it can, you can fall

  335. into these bad cycles that make it hard for you

  336. to be. your best self for the kids right and

  337. then on top of that again life life keeps going

  338. so when you have other things you're struggling

  339. with um i think that can that can make camp really

  340. tough sure um but on the flip side i think just

  341. like having people um especially other people

  342. other coaches and other people in the same role

  343. having people to to be accountable with just

  344. to make sure that you're you're taking care of

  345. yourself you're checking and you're processing

  346. yeah the other stuff that you need to deal with

  347. so that you can be your best self sure bring

  348. everything to the table for camp is is everything

  349. but yeah i i've personally i've i've struggled

  350. with that a bit before and like the diet can

  351. can crash a little bit based on sure we're running

  352. around so much so yeah i think yeah it's it's

  353. exhausting right it's a lot of work that you

  354. put into like a lot of hours of the day but then

  355. yeah to also find that space where you can take

  356. care of yourself and make sure that you can show

  357. up really well the next day yeah exactly exactly

  358. it takes a lot of work to find that balance yes

  359. for sure so yeah what would you say about like

  360. what are some of the challenging bits of camp

  361. I would say that a main one is even though we

  362. can prep as much as we can, schedule everything,

  363. have a plan for everything, obviously not everything's

  364. going to go to plan. Like the weather might be

  365. too hot or might be raining or a bus might come

  366. super late or might leave super late so we're

  367. coming back to the church late. I think that

  368. the hardest part about that is just being able

  369. to communicate everything to the counselors for

  370. sure because you might be thinking it, like me

  371. as a supervisor, I might be thinking in my mind,

  372. I'm thinking to myself, okay, this is what we're

  373. going to do. But then it doesn't actually work

  374. out because I didn't tell anyone or I didn't

  375. feel like I had time to tell anyone. So I feel

  376. like the biggest part of that is just learning

  377. how to go with the flow a bit in actual camp

  378. and just learning to communicate, okay, we're

  379. not doing this anymore. We're going to leave

  380. 30 minutes later. add this activity on. So I

  381. think just a big part is just learning how to

  382. communicate the new changes, not just the actual

  383. schedule, just the new changes as well. Sure.

  384. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Always being on top of things.

  385. Yeah. Yeah. Like there's a lot of kids to manage,

  386. but then therefore there's also a lot of staff

  387. to like communicate with and make sure we're

  388. all on the same page. And yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's

  389. a lot to handle. Yeah, I've seen not being on

  390. the same page and how just small mistakes would

  391. happen. Obviously, no one means to because you

  392. don't know the changes, but just be like, okay,

  393. instead of this taking two minutes to complete,

  394. it's going to take us seven because we all went

  395. the wrong way. Let's turn around. So I think

  396. that that's just the hardest part, just making

  397. the transition times a bit smoother, even when

  398. things don't totally go as planned. Sure. Yeah.

  399. Yeah. No, that makes a lot of sense. Okay, so

  400. given all of these challenges, all of these things

  401. that you're sort of looking forward to, what

  402. are some ways that folks at Trinity can be supporting

  403. camp and praying for you as leaders this summer?

  404. Yeah, I would say for energy. To go off of what

  405. I found most difficult and just God's grace,

  406. honestly, and God's grace and strength and wisdom

  407. to be able to pivot. And yeah, just to go in

  408. with the, I would ask for prayer that we can

  409. go in with just the right mindset to just not

  410. make it about ourselves, not make it about just

  411. making money or getting hours for the summer,

  412. but really about these kids and about showing

  413. them God's love, telling them the truth of Scripture

  414. and what an amazing story we can be caught up

  415. into. Sure. Yeah, I think, yeah, we ultimately,

  416. we've talked about a lot of the things that can

  417. be the difference between this just being another

  418. camp or a life changing experience. But I think

  419. ultimately it's the spirit of God. Just if God's

  420. presence is there, if it's orchestrated by his

  421. hand, it will be amazing. You know, and then

  422. so for us to just keep that in mind, you know,

  423. it's easy to forget what it's all about when

  424. stuff's going. not according to plan and when

  425. you're tired. Um, but yeah, just to continually

  426. remember and remember that God's strength is,

  427. has made perfect in our weakness. Right. Right.

  428. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No lessons to like

  429. keep in mind for yourself and like be encouraged,

  430. but yeah. Then also to invite folks to be praying

  431. for you and to be offering encouragement when

  432. you, we see you on, on Sunday or, or whenever.

  433. Right. Yeah. Big time. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Encourage

  434. in terms of a practical thing, encourage, uh,

  435. encourage staff when you see them and yeah and

  436. also yeah spread the word too about um to kids

  437. and parents um about this camp because like ultimately

  438. however difficult it is it's a joy and it's a

  439. it's a blessing that we get to be a part of when

  440. we we want as many kids as possible sure um Yeah.

  441. Yeah. I don't know if I'll say that in week three

  442. when, you know, I got like a million on my hands,

  443. but I'll say it before. Yes. We want them all.

  444. We want them all. Yeah, exactly. Okay. Yeah.

  445. Yeah. What would you sort of add to that? How

  446. can folks be praying for, encouraging, supporting

  447. you? Well, I for sure, I want to bounce off what

  448. Rylan was saying, just kind of praying for the

  449. energy of the counselors, because I think that

  450. counselors showing up to. provide a service to

  451. provide fun for all the kids kind of really does

  452. make their summer. And I mean, even coming from

  453. my experience, I grew up with camp counselors

  454. who genuinely loved being there. And I think

  455. that's why I genuinely loved being at camp too.

  456. I mean, I waited all year for summer to come.

  457. Sure. And every year I was not disappointed as

  458. a camper, as an LIT, as a counselor. So I just

  459. think that the energy and the excitement from

  460. the counselors is really what can make a summer

  461. amazing for all these kids and all the kids that

  462. come to camp do deserve an amazing summer yeah

  463. so i do pray for or i hope that the church community

  464. can pray for like that health, well -being and

  465. energy of the counselors, because I think that

  466. they're the foundation of what makes this camp

  467. run so smoothly and why all the kids just love

  468. coming back. Yeah. Yeah. So we've talked a lot

  469. about like, you know, the fun bits of camp, the

  470. like really exciting and different things. But

  471. you also mentioned, you know, like worship is

  472. kind of your favorite part. And like, you know,

  473. you do these like Bible lessons every day. So

  474. like. How do you see the connections between

  475. like all of this like fun, crazy stuff that happens

  476. at camp and the like faith piece? Like how do

  477. they come together? What do you see is sort of

  478. valuable in that? I think that our lessons during

  479. the day, we also like to kind of talk about God's

  480. love and his how selfless he is. And I think

  481. that kind of comes back into. I find myself using

  482. the lessons from the day in behavior with kids.

  483. Sure. So when someone's doing something nice,

  484. I'll say, you know what, that was really nice.

  485. Or I like to kind of like bring positive to the

  486. things that I like to see. And then the things

  487. that I don't like to see, I like to touch back

  488. on the lessons as well. Sure. So I feel like

  489. camp isn't always just this go, go, go, like

  490. always doing activities. I think there's also

  491. time for reflection with the kids and also with

  492. our small groups that we do in our lesson times.

  493. We kind of like to let the counselors give the

  494. kids the floor. even the eight -year -olds, the

  495. nine -year -olds, you'd be surprised. They like

  496. to talk about what they're feeling inside. We

  497. kind of like to give them open -ended questions.

  498. And honestly, like when I first was doing a small

  499. group, I was like, they're nine years old. They're

  500. not going to want to participate, but they actually

  501. do. And if you show that you're going to listen

  502. to them, they're going to want to tell you how

  503. they feel about Jesus and how they feel Jesus's

  504. love and how they want to show up to camp. And

  505. I kind of like to put that into arts and crafts

  506. as well. So even just in the first week, I'll

  507. say it right now, but we're doing like a kindness

  508. heart. So we're going to make a heart and say

  509. how you want to show Jesus' love in your life

  510. or at camp. And then we're going to put it on

  511. the wall where you can eat lunch and see it.

  512. So I think that even though we're doing fun activities

  513. and we're moving around, there's always a reminder.

  514. Sure. Even me, myself, or the counselors like

  515. to kind of... put into the kids. Yeah. That,

  516. that like the values of your faith, the values

  517. of God and love and kindness, like are the things

  518. that drive you, right. Even in the really crazy

  519. moments, but then also in the quieter moments.

  520. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anything you would want to

  521. add to that? It's good. Yeah. Um, I think it

  522. just, they go hand in hand. Um, and God is a

  523. God of fun, a God of excitement and joy. Like

  524. really. And, and, um, yeah, I, I, Man, I don't

  525. know. There's so much. Your answer is really

  526. good. And I would maybe I would kind of add on

  527. a little bit to what Emma said. Like, I think

  528. any opportunity you have to connect day to day

  529. stuff to the message is awesome. Sure. And like

  530. particularly the messages that I'm really excited

  531. about, because we have like a kind of double

  532. lesson in a way every day where Megan's going

  533. to have. a teaching with everyone. Okay. And

  534. then we're going to break into our little smaller

  535. groups and then go into our own teaching. The

  536. supervisors would lead that. Okay. And it's just

  537. really cool because the way we're going to be

  538. doing it this summer is like an overview of,

  539. Megan will be talking about the character of

  540. God and what's sin all about and what does the

  541. cross mean and the resurrection and life with

  542. God and like five different points, like a format,

  543. but like using different illustrations and analogies

  544. and then. the supervisors and like the large,

  545. the dispersed groups will be looking at specific

  546. stories in the Bible from Abraham all the way

  547. to like Paul. Right. And how this, the character

  548. of God and the pattern sort of, you know, sin

  549. of God's mercy of like a death and resurrection,

  550. how that plays out again and again through the

  551. Bible. Sure. I just think that this is so important

  552. to like. to just to it goes hand in hand with

  553. camp is like this again this amazing um story

  554. that we are all so excited about yeah um to where

  555. like as much as the games and everything is so

  556. important that ultimately where our joy comes

  557. from is is god right you know and that the same

  558. god who you know asks people to do very difficult

  559. things um is also the god who yeah who loves

  560. play who wants to play with us i think like even

  561. if that this maybe seems a little crazy. I think

  562. it, uh, it can help tear down some of this stigma

  563. around our faith that like, you know, we're just

  564. super pious people and we, um, we just come together

  565. and sing songs and then go away and, you know,

  566. don't do any of the fun stuff that everyone else

  567. gets to do. It's like, no, that's not true at

  568. all. Yeah. So I, I don't know. I just see it.

  569. It just goes hand in hand. Maybe that's because

  570. I grew up in Christian camps and everything,

  571. but. Yeah. No, I think that totally makes sense.

  572. Right. And I think you're right that God is in

  573. our joy. God is in our play just as much as God

  574. is in the like serious moments and the like behavior

  575. correction and the like all of those things.

  576. Yes, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Okay. So

  577. if there are some kids who are listening, who

  578. are like, I don't know if I should come to Camp

  579. Trinity. Maybe it's cool, but maybe these people

  580. seem really lame. Okay, what is your message

  581. to the kids who are, like, coming to Camp Trinity

  582. or who are maybe still thinking about coming?

  583. First of all, ouch, if they think we're lame.

  584. Do you have something else? I don't know why

  585. I processed that wound. Well, you processed the

  586. wound. I would say that Camp Trinity, no one

  587. here is lame. I think that we all... We're all

  588. counselors that just want to have fun as well.

  589. And I mean, we're all a big community and we

  590. want to have fun with you. I mean, if I'm talking

  591. to that one kid, we want to have fun with you.

  592. We want you to come and hang out with us and

  593. have this fun summer with us. And we're not going

  594. anywhere. We're here. We're going to have all

  595. of these activities and we're here to play with

  596. them. But I think that. you should give us a

  597. chance i mean we're all gonna show up we're gonna

  598. put our best foot forward we're gonna show up

  599. with the best summer energy and i feel like you'd

  600. miss out if you didn't give us at least one week

  601. of your time okay sure it's a real good tails

  602. pitch right there anything you'd add to that

  603. rylan yeah i would just say like a simple summary

  604. if i can is that like um it's really a place

  605. for uh the church and the unchurched people to

  606. come um And it is really for everyone. It's run

  607. by people who take the Bible seriously, who take

  608. God's love seriously, and who want to show it

  609. to you. But it is for everyone. And something

  610. I was saying to some of the LITs is whatever

  611. you end up coming here for, you're going to get

  612. so much more out of it. Sure. So for them, it

  613. was like, well, you're coming here for hours

  614. because you're... Parents forced you or whatever.

  615. You're going to get so much out. But the same

  616. goes for kids. You might come here for fun. And

  617. if you want to have fun, come here. You're going

  618. to get that at bare minimum. You are. But then

  619. you're also going to get so much more. You're

  620. going to build friendships. You're going to get

  621. to see some really special things in your leaders

  622. and just the care that's been put into this whole

  623. program. So yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna

  624. get, uh, what is it? The bang for your buck.

  625. Yeah. Yeah. You get the fun, you get the community,

  626. you get some Jesus. Yeah. Just like all of these

  627. pieces that we're all looking for is like, whether

  628. you're looking for a place to send your kids

  629. away so you don't have to worry about them, whether

  630. you're looking for a place to have lots of fun

  631. and adventures to make new friends, to like,

  632. yeah, get some of that, like, you know, Christ

  633. centered love and community. All of those things

  634. are available at Camp Trinity. And I think that's

  635. what makes it really special. Yeah. And I think

  636. for kids, too, especially growing up, you kind

  637. of want to find a place where you can belong.

  638. And I think that Trinity is just the place where

  639. you feel like you will fit right in. I mean,

  640. all the counselors here, we want you to be here.

  641. So we'll leave. I hope that every camper that

  642. comes to Camp Trinity leaves on Friday feeling

  643. like they were meant to come to this camp and

  644. they belonged at this camp. I think that that's...

  645. our main mission for the summer for sure. Sure.

  646. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Everyone has a place

  647. at Camp Trinity. Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank

  648. you so much, guys. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah.

  649. And thank you for tuning in to this week's episode

  650. of Trinity Talks. Whether you are a kid or a

  651. parent or just someone who's interested in camp,

  652. someone who comes to Trinity, I hope that you

  653. feel encouraged that you come. Join us this summer

  654. and that you pray for our staff and leaders as

  655. they go through this really challenging, really

  656. beautiful, really amazing, joyful, fun summer

  657. together. Yeah. We will see you again next week.