The 600 Club

This last weekend we hit 600 registered campers. How fantastic is that?! We're pretty pumped. It's over halfway, it's nearly 2/3rds full and registrations keep coming in.

As we continue to prepare for summer (submarine construction is still going on) - there's a lot to do and a lot to be thankful for. 615 campers is a really good place to start being thankful. Our staff is another consistent thing that I thank God for. These crazy, fun-loving young adults who are easily motivated to build a submarine for a wide game, dream of fun themes for summer camp, and work tirelessly to find chapel music that will teach kids about God.

You might be thinking..."Jogee...you literally JUST wrote a blog about staff...". That's true - but here's the thing - I don't think I will ever get sick of talking about the staff here. I'm blown away by them each day. We just had a meeting with our winter staff about how to make our guest's experience here like nothing they've ever had and the work that they do here is very humbling. It's a privilege to work with them.

Last week we posted a video from one of our last week's camps and a mum posted this comment on it: 

"My kids feel so loved and welcomed at Camp Evergreen. They talk about it all year. My son especially talked about all the questions they got to ask and how his leader would take time to answer them. Our family is so very thankful for Camp Evergreen. Their leaders really did make them feel special. Included. Worthy. And as a bonus, they had a BLAST!"

I think this really summarizes what I was saying before and how we're at 600 campers in only 6 weeks of registrations. Our staff - these young adults who are allowing themselves to be used by God to make the difference in our campers' lives.

Give a camp staff a hug. Tell them thank you for working at camp. I know that they would love that. How do we, in this day and age of technology, generational differences (Millenials vs. The Rest of Us), and madness, say thank you to these young people for making themselves available? There are few ways to support them (we talked about them a couple weeks ago but here they are again):

• Volunteer at camp. Support the workers...That may look like mowing grass, working in the kitchen, or even in a cabin.
• Pray for Staff. Last year we did the summer short-staffed. Pray that these young people will hear God's call and answer it to come to camp for the summer.
• Consider financially supporting a staff worker who chooses to work at camp. You can do that directly or by talking to camp about our Entrust Program.