Wednesday, August 1st

Today we continued our tearful journey toward the close of camp. At breakfast, painted in the eyes many of the campers and some of the staff were, a watershed waiting to break loose. We give thanks to God for a beautiful day which permitted us a trek to the local shops to treat our campers to cool sweet creamy treat - ice cream. There was a sweet smile on the face of everyone at camp. The beautiful day continued to be blessing enabling us to enjoy being outdoors for sports. With the windows open in the chapel we could hear the campers joyfully praising God as they sang the songs they learned during camp. As the campers have moved from one workshop to another one could always hear their joyful voices. I had a fun quick game of "Frisbee" with several campers who were enjoying the disc they made in crafts. We closed the evening with a game of Prison Break, a Dodgeball game, and chapel. When the bell rang for us to bring our game to an end 70 plus sweaty bodies poured into the chapel with some already mixing sweat and tears knowing that this is our last chapel together. During our closing chapel the campers raised the roof in a puddle of tears. It is difficult for us to keep dry eyes when we are enfolded in the arms of tearful goodbyes from our campers. The sea of tears has yet to dry. Tomorrow is the real goodbye as we spend out last few hours together, pack our bags, and board a bus for Krakow. It is not really goodbye, but see you later . . . we just don't know when later will be. Written by Pastor James