Whew!

Ok, so I know I've been talking about Coreweek, the youth camp, for a while now. And now it's done and I've recovered (for the most part) so I figured I would tell you guys about it.

We went up there on Tuesday, after fifty million phone calls about our lovely friend Hurricane Dolly and how she would affect us. All she did was rain on us. She was far enough south of us that's all we got. Thank goodness. It was actually a good thing, because it kept us cooler at camp, but didn't really keep us from doing anything outside. So anyway. I digress.

We had an amazing first night there, with lots of worship and coolness. It was pretty incredible. Everyone was commenting on how the first night felt like the "last night" in emotion and fervor. Let's just say the band used up all their songs on the first night and had to scramble around the rest of the week for other ones. :) It was funny. Haha. But amazing.

We had an "illusionist" there Tuesday night that did all kinds of psychological "tricks" for us. It was nutso. He was a Christian kid in college, but he was pretty talented. He kinda freaked us all out. He ended up talking to me a little bit about how he did some of it, and I am just amazed that he can do that. Who figures this stuff out? Haha.

Wednesday night, we seperated the guys and girls and gave them a talk catered to their gender and issues. Afterwards, some of the girls wanted to talk to the leaders to start to deal with some their personal problems and stuff. It was pretty intense.

We had a lot of awesome stuff go on the whole week, where the kids really came to terms with some issues they had or whatever. I just want to say, I am amazed at what some of our kids have to deal with. Holy cow. Anything from abusive situations, self image issues, the death of parents, to broken homes, depression, and drug/alcohol abuse. Let's just say it blew me away. The most amazing part, though, is how these kids have overcome so much through Christ. Amazing.

Our last night, Thursday night, was pretty nuts. We asked a bagpiper to come out and play at a mock funeral. We also had a local funeral home send a hearse and casket, so it was pretty genuine. We had all the kids meet up in a remote part of the camp, then they walked single file past the hearse and into the meeting room while the bagpiper played. We gave them a "funeral announcement" for them to fill in their names, and it was kinda the whole dying to self idea. They listened to the youth ministers as they gave their little spiel, then they "buried" their baggage, bondage, and struggles in the casket. There were a lot of tears, and a lot of repenting, and a lot of rejoicing. It was VERY powerful. Afterwards, we did some baptisms in the lake at the camp. I think 13 kids got baptized. It was pretty cool. I was so glad to be a part of it, and now I know so many more kids, and they know I am there for them. Really, it was just incredible. I know I've said that a million times, but it's true.

I guess I've raved enough. But it was a great week, and I feel so blessed to have been a part of it. God really worked. It was pretty stinkin cool. Haha. Anyway, I guess that's about it. Hooray. :)