The Power of a Cabin Leader
Did you go to camp as a kid? One of my favourite memories growing up as a child was attending Columbia Bible Camp, near Chilliwack, B.C. Little did I know back then that I would end up working at Columbia in 1982 as a cabin leader and again from 1994 - 2004 as program director. (Columbia Bible Camp has since become Stillwood Camp and Conference Centre).Because I was so young, (or maybe because I'm so old now), my memories of being a camper are fading with each passing year. But here are some of the things I do remember:
- I remember one of my cabin mates being able to make this real cool noise with his mouth that sounded just like a goose honking. As fellow campers we were duly impressed and asked him all day to make the "honk". I'm sure by the end of the week he had no voice or honk left.
- I remember having watermelon and sloppy joes the last meal of camp outside each year. It was lunch and there was definitely some scary extra curricular activity going on in the sauce for me.
- I remember one of my cabin mates (not the same camper mentioned above) fell out of his bunk in the middle of the night. There was a loud bang followed by a loud cry. Those were the days of squeaky metal bunks with no guard rails or ladders.
- I remember singing "Once An Austrian Went Yodelling" over and over. Which reminds me of another song that doesn't seem to go away - Pharaoh Pharaoh!
- I remember being driven to our overnighter camp in the back of a van - sitting on the floor, no seat belts and a bit of an exhaust leak. Can you imagine our current insurance policies response to that today?
Besides those memories I don't really remember a lot about camp. Couldn't tell you the speakers name or what they talked about. Couldn't tell you which activities we did, or the wide games we played. But by far my strongest memory is still Phil Giesbrecht.
You see Phil was my cabin leader. Phil if you're still out there and by some slim chance are reading this, thanks for being a great cabin leader. First off Phil had a beard like Moose had this summer.
That was impressive in my eyes, I thought he was cool. The strongest memory I have of Phil was that he really cared about me. I remember being scared on the overnighter to the point where I had to sleep right next to Phil. I mean right-next-to-Phil! It had something to do with a scary story just moments before bed, but going to sleep next to Phil I felt safe.
At the time of writing this blog we have 200 campers already registered for summer 2015. By time you read this even more. We need cabin leaders to make a life long impact on these campers this summer. While every staff member is important and its true that without staff cooking, cleaning bathrooms or mowing lawns we couldn't run camp - our cabin leaders have the single most contact and influence on the campers life.
If you're looking to make an impact this summer - we're looking for cabin leaders. If you're looking to be used by God this summer - we're looking for cabins leaders. If you're looking to be challenged, if the thought of being stretched this summer appeals to you - we're looking for cabin leaders. In case you missed the entire point of this blog - we're looking for cabin leaders!We're looking forward to seeing many lives being transformed by the power of Jesus. We're looking forward to telling the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done. We need the care and love of cabin leaders to accomplish that. If you, or someone you know would make a great cabin leader, here's the link to our staff application.
See you this summer!
Ranger (Bob)
PS Can you spot me in the Columbia Bible Camp staff photo?
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