This summer, my life has mainly been consumed of preparing for a kids camp with a church that I am a part of. Early spring, I was asked to be a leader for the design team. In the past three years that I volunteered, I was always a counselor. I knew I wanted to try something different this year, so I was really happy when they offered me that position. I helped design a few things in the past for the church such as New Years or some other small events during the year. So I also felt really honored but nervous at the same time when I was offered the position. As a design team leader, you are in charge of a group of people. Duties include designing sets based off the theme and coordinating with the drama team to help them create sets for the plays.
Every year, the kids’ camp has a theme that all the plays, games, and bible studies are based off. In the past, we had themes such as Egypt, Peter & The Fish, and Pilgrim’s Progress. This year our theme was “Roman Age.” So when the kids arrive, they enter “Rome.” All the staff was dressed up in costumes to make the setting more realistic. Part of my team was giving the kids a tour of Rome when they first arrived. The kids’ camp usually lasts about 5 days and the ages of the kids ranged from 9-15. The camp dates were from August 11-16. All the staff arrived a day early to set up. The campsite was a great place with a large auditorium, about 4 large fields, a creek, and a forest. So I had a lot to work with as far as design to play out the theme well. With my team, we built a palace where Pilate judged Jesus to be crucified in one of the scenes. Inside the palace we placed a couple of paintings on the wall, made two large mosaics with construction paper that were laminated and placed on the floor inside of the palace. The daily plays consisted of The Last Supper, Jesus’ arrest, Peter’s denial, Jesus’ judgment, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. Every play took a lot of preparation and hard work. The crucifixion scene was the most dramatic and emotional play we had at camp. The scene felt so real and I really felt like I was a part of it. During the evening service, we had a lot of kids repent that day.
After one week, I was sad to see the kids go. I had so much fun playing the games, being a part of the plays, and just interacting with the kids overall. The camp went by so fast, however, it feels great to finally be able to relax.
The building where the evening services were held at.
Part of the staff during the entrance day.
Playing Capture The Flag
The morning stretch.
The tour guides during the entrance day 🙂
