Late Summer Wrap Up

It's another year at North Park. I've been in Chicago for almost a month now but before I talk about school, let me give an update on how my summer was.
Phenomenal, unforgettable, amazing, eye-opening, exciting, jam-packed, challenging, crazy...I could ramble off so many different words to describe this summer, I can't just pick one.
June 10th was the day that I went to Staff training at Covenant Harbor...that was the beginning. I had a lot of fun during that ten day training. I got to know a lot of new people and then it was a bittersweet goodbye as I was off to South Africa for two weeks.
June 23rd was the date that I traveled with 9 other team members to London and then to South Africa. I have never had the experience of riding in a plane for so long or watching movies and eating meals on the plane. We finally got there and got to meet the iThemba members and then we went to meet our host families. Veronica and I got the privilege of staying with-The Dobson's (Gill, Dave and Matt), they were so wonderful to us and we couldn't have asked for a better family! They taught us so much about South African culture. I know that when you think of Africa, you might normally think of the poor communities with tiny houses, South Africa does have that but they also have more established communities which is where the Dobson's live. We stayed in this nicer community but then we worked with the Zulu community, which is the more under-privileged people. In South Africa they drive on the other side of the road and car so that was interesting, they also only pretty much drive stick-shift. Trucks are called 'buckys' and there are also so many other fun words that they use. Our team took off with iThemba to the kids' camp for three days. There were 40 zulu kids and 10 groups of kids, each with a Zulu leader and an American leader. At first, the kids were really shy and they didn't want to really speak to me but eventually they really opened up and got more comfortable using their English. It was a really awesome time with the kids and they got to experience being by the ocean and swimming in a pool, some for the first time. After the kids camp was over we got to go into the Zulu community and visit them which was awesome, they LOVED seeing us and it was really cool to see how much we made an impact on their lives even when we couldn't completely speak the same language. Oh! I learned some words in Zulu and the kids loved to laugh at us when we would try and speak it. We had the opportunity to visit a Zulu church, which was a completely different experience. We also got to help paint a shed and plant a garden at a preschool (creche). We did a lot of things just around the community and also with our host families which was a lot of fun. God really just showed me the difference of cultures and his presence in everyone of them, he also taught me a lot about love. There are so many things that we did and a lot that I could say, but it is a lot to write on here.
There was a long plane ride back and then I had three days to adjust from South African time and life to Chicago time, then I was off to camp to be a counselor for the first time.
July 11th was the first day back to CHBC. I got back and it was so much fun to see everybody again, I was really excited but also really nervous because I hadn't counseled before but everybody else had two weeks on me. I got the opportunity of co-counseling that first week with Molly, a day-camp counselor. Molly helped me out a lot that first week and she showed me the ropes, that was a complete blessing. I was a counselor for 5 and a half weeks; 2 weeks were junior high kids. one week I counseled in Kishwaketoe, the younger kids, with only four girls. 2 weeks were 4-6 graders and then the half week was like 3-6 grade girls, I co-counseled with Anna that week which was awesomeee!
I loved camp, it completely changed my life and I loved being in the community of it. There are lots of stories about cabins that I had but let's just say it was challenging yet so exciting and fun at the same time. I loved teaching the girls, but at the same time they taught me. I never thought I would be able to speak to girls that are going into highschool and have them take me seriously, but it happened and it was so cool. I had the chance to pray with several campers this summer and I witnessed some becoming Christians. I got to see how God was working in these campers lives and I realize that we, as a staff, were all part of something so important to the Lord. I got to be really close with a lot of staff and without them, I would have never made it through. The experience I had at camp was so indescribable but it changed me. My daily walk with God has grown, my faith and trust is renewed and so much more real.
I cried when I had to say goodbye (I don't cry. Ever). The last night, before leaving camp, I wasn't planning on staying up all night but it happened. We hung out in the gym and played basketball and messed around and then we went to the pier where we gazed at the stars until the sun came up and then we watched the sun-rise. It was such a perfect end to camp, it was so cool to experience God's creation in that way.
Best summer ever!!! I am missing South Africa and CHBC a lot but I am confident in what God did this summer and it was what he wanted. Now, it is time for the school year to play out. Yay!!