I mentioned the other day that things don’t always go as planned. I just didn’t think I would be experiencing it so literally Sunday night. The goal is to recap some of our Base Camp events each night, but the storm left me without internet. It is really hard to post without it! As we go with the flow, we’ll try to hit a few highlights from two nights in one! (From a different perspective, no internet meant more time to sleep!)
What do you think of the start of Base Camp 2015: Joshua? Did anyone get zapped by the metal detectors as we headed in for singing time? I saw a few leaders get beeped as they tried to carry things like metal keys through the detectors! You would think that they would know better.
Singing and worship time is always such a fun way to start as well as end our evenings. Do you have a favorite song? Can you tell your family what verse we are learning as we sing?
Well, now we are two nights into learning about the agents of the International Intelligence Agency (IIA) and their counterparts of the Evil Spy People Network (ESPN). Our secret agents seem to have their hands full with Katia and Boris Badguyinov, not to mention with their own Agent Nigel Hawkes. Now that the IIA has used the truth serum on the spies, what do you think their next step will be? Do you think you would ever like to take a truth serum? I sure felt sorry for Boris when he confessed how mean his sister, Katia, can be to him.
Learning about these spies is really nothing compared to what we have been learning about Joshua and the Israelites. Did you realize that there were real, live spies in the Bible? Do you remember what happened when God brought His people to the Promised Land, and they sent spies to look at the land?
If you were in Mr. Dilly’s group, you probably learned that he can do quite a verbal impression of Rahab! More importantly, though, we talked about how the Israelites let fear get in the way of taking what God had promised them. All the spies except Joshua and Caleb came back and told the Israelites that there was NO WAY this was going to work. Joshua and Caleb, though, remembered how God had already provided for them and trusted Him to do what He said He would. They saw things differently. Unfortunately, God was pretty frustrated with the Israelites, and there was a consequence to not believing. Do you remember what it was? Do think it was fair? Sometimes when we get in trouble, we don’t think being disciplined is fair, and I bet the Israelites didn’t like it either. The amazing thing Mr. Dilly reminded us about, though, is that OUR GOD is a GOD of second chances! Just because we goof up, He doesn’t throw in the towel on us. In fact, just like with the Israelites, He continues to care and provide for us even when we are being disciplined. God doesn’t discipline just so He can be the boss. God disciplines to teach us what we need to know.
Today our youngest campers picked up the story with Miss Shirley as they learned how the Israelites finally trusted God and went into the Promised Land. They finally saw that God is bigger than any obstacle we might see with our own eyes. He is bigger than all our fear! I loved the picture Miss Shirley told us about when they went to cross the river. Do you remember what went first? The Arc of the Covenant because they were to remember to always follow God. In the same way, they followed the Arc of the Covenant as they followed God’s directions and marched around Jericho. If you were in Miss Shirley’s group, can you share with your family what you did to show this and tell them what happened next?
While there is so much more to tell, it is getting late, so I need to go to bed. We’ll catch up on more tomorrow, but until then, here are a few more pictures!
