Rachel's ointment...

Hey! Adrian here blogging today...sorry things have gone quiet for a few days. It's all still going really well so don't worry...silence in this case is a good thing as it means that we're doing lots and working hard!
After a relaxing, but busy, weekend which included visits to Lake George and Saratoga, a new week of overnight camp began on Sunday and a new week of daycamp on Monday. The overnight camp for the next two weeks is made up of high school students - maybe 13-17 years old. That's a very different dynamic to middle school...indeed, some of our team and some of the Beaver Cross Counsellors are around the same age as the older kids. They are adapting really well though. There are three lodges for young people, each with two cabins in them. One lodge is for boys and the other two for girls. This means that the boys cabins are full to the brim. Andrew and Peter have therefore moved to the staff lodge, but they remain as helpers with the overnighters. Both boys are clearly making an impact...they have connected well with young people in both weeks and are popular with the counsellors.
Tara, who had been on daycamp has swapped with Ashleigh, although Ashleigh is sleeping in a cabin with some other counsellors at night. Jennifer, who despite having been under the weather at the end of last week, has been nothing short of brilliant with the day campers, has chosen to remain in daycamp this week...although Jen has been involved in evening activities, remaining with daycamp allows her the option of resting in the evenings if need be. It should also be noted that Windy, the Director of Day Camp, has singled Jennifer out for high praise after watching her work with Nick and Nattie, the two blind children our team is looking after. On Thursday, Soraya and Ash will swap for a day to give Ash another taste of overnight camp and to give Soraya a taste of daycamp. It is easier to swap the girls between daycamp and overnight as the boys would be leaving overnight with bodies short where as with the girls it's a straight swap. I can't tell you how proud I am of the team...they are all engaging really well and while I think this trip is stretching all of us in different ways, it's been a real blessing so far.
Two popular campwide games we played this week were Goldrush and Clue (Cluedo!!). On Monday, some of the staff spent much of the day spraying rocks and dead brances (and trash!) gold. The lodge which collected the most gold would be declared the winner but teams of counsellors armed with water guns were onside to both assist and impede the capture of said gold. A well timed warning from a charitable American allowed me the chance to escape before a mutiny would have seen me drenched...thanks team! A campwide game of clue is pretty special too...each councellor took the part of a character, dressing up and so on, and each had clues to offer campers. Of course, the campers had to work through various forfeits and tasks before getting the clues and figuring out who the bad guy was. What amazed me about both these games is how simple they were...no technology of any account was involved, nor any elaborate ideas. But these sophisticated older children loved it. Almost as much as the staff!
Today we're going to visit the nuns on site. ST Mary's Convent is a community of Episcopal Nuns based on site. I think it will be a really good experience for the team to visit them for afternoon tea because it's something that simply doesn't exist in the Anglican context in Ireland. Last week, as you know, we visited Bishop Bill in Moosehaven. This was a brilliant night but it meant we missed the healing service at camp. Luckily, the second of only two all summer at beaver cross, happens tonight. This is led by Father Nigel Mumford, who is the Director of the healing centre here at CtK...it's a very emotional experience and offers a chance to be really challenged by what God can do in the world today. I think the team is really looking forward to this.
So, about the jock itch...Rachel has a foot fungus. She's been given an ointment for it which is also applicable for jock itch, athlete's foot and ringworm. Sometimes it's probably better not to read the packet...