Refresh. Renew. Rejoice.

I guess this would be considered my first "blog post" seeing as how all my previous posts were just short second person narratives. But my weekend was sooo awesome I had to share it with someone. Anyways, I just got back yesterday from the NEAC/ELFAC Summer Camp at the Augustana University Campus. The Summer camp was awesome, it was my first time going this year so i didn't know what to expect. I actually thought I would be "camping", like sitting around camp fires and roasting marshmallows and stuff, so i was a little disappointed when I found out we would be staying in dorms. Showing up at the camp was a little awkward for me, mostly because I'm the racial minority. I was the only white guy at the camp, everyone else was asian. I don't mind this at all though, it was only weird because i only knew about 7 people coming into the camp and everyone else who didn't know me probably thought I was either at the wrong camp, or i was a student at the University.

The first day was pretty chilled, Nathan had asked me to join his worship team for the camp. I have to say I was a little nervous, I mean Nathan has some pro skills. I was more worried i would just be a hindrance to the team, but there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to learn whatever I could from Nathan and his team, Thanks again guys. So we played at the opening ceremony, played some games, then we pretty much had the rest of the night to relax. We ended up jamming out in my room till 2 or 3 before we called it a night.

Day 2 was where the real meaning behind the camp came out to me. Kau, Daniel, Terence, Eric, and I had a more personal time of devotion and prayer with each other. It's a very different feeling to pray like that, in a group of other believers your own age. i could definitely feel Gods presence among us. Later that day we made it to the climax of the camp, the GIRLS VS GUYS COMPETITION! haha this really was a ton of fun. In the end though, the Girls reigned victorious. I have to say, they were some serious competition.  Good job Girls.

In the evening we discovered a rec room/ Lounge area in the basement. We pretty much spent the rest of the night down here. me and terence had walked in on a group that was supposed to be singing songs and whatnot, but Stephen had introduced a new game to the group that we spent a good 2 hours playing.  The rules were simple, Figure out what the Pattern is. Eventually everyone in our Dorm had come and played. I think this is one of my favorite memories of the camp. We stayed down here till about 5 in the morning playing Guitar, speed Scrabble, Poker, Air hockey, and eventually even truth or dare. The last one was pretty lame, Kau had the best truth questions though, "Have you ever had braces? O_o" haha made me laugh. Eventually I called it a night and retired back to my room.

The last day. After dragging myself out of bed and making my way to the cafeteria to get some breakfast  we all headed to the Chapel for Sunday service. We rocked the Praise that morning. Everyone was on their feet singing. It was truly uplifting. We went through the closing ceremony and gathered for a group photo. After cleaning up the Chapel we headed back to the cafeteria for lunch before heading to the dorms to pack it up. At this point i think everyone was a little sad that the summer camp was coming to a close. I know I was, the camp had been a getaway for me, it had been a time of spiritual growth with many others. I came into the camp knowing around 7 friends, and I left the camp that day having around 200+ new brothers and sisters in Christ. This Camp was exactly what i needed.

I can't wait till next year.