Camp, Camp, Camp

Thursday:
We have so much to say we don’t know where to begin! The bus ride was long and interesting… but a good cultural experience. The camp was located in a valley in Peruvian mountains, and we were all in awe of God’s creation. Nathan gave the first session almost as soon as we arrived. Veronica translated for him and did a great job! Our group and the group from Bolivia were split up between four teams of campers. The teams’ first tasks were to come up with team names, chants, and decorate flags. Then we ate dinner then we went to bed. The language barrier was a challenge for some of us, and a few others in our group weren’t feeling super healthy, but it ended up being a good day.

Friday:
We woke up ready to lead devotions for the teams’ we were leading. The Bolivian team and ours got pretty close, teaching each other English and Spanish (and sometimes French). We performed a skit before the next session which Veronica and Elicia led, both went pretty fantastically. Then we broke into our teams again for some competitions, we played a crazy version of soccer and got sun burnt (and also bit by Peruvian bugs). In the afternoon we had an Easter egg hunt. None of the campers had done it before and we had fun watching their excitement as they found the plastic eggs we hid. There are still about 10 eggs missing that the camp will probably find in July. We had a great day and in the evening we had a fancy dress up dinner and a talent show. We had to decorate tables as our teams for the dinner, and we had to walk in the dining area in pairs. Elicia and Sharon won second and fourth place for the best dressed couple along with one of the Bolivians and another American VIA that came down for the camp! The talent show was a big hit; the kids got really involved and brought some unity to the teams.

Saturday:
We woke up and went to team devotions which were led by the Bolivians, and then we had some great beefy pasta for breakfast. One of the Pastors of one of the churches gave a few lessons on music; we played a couple more fun games and announced the winning group
We had a sort of closing ceremony where the Asbury team stood in front of everyone and shared their favorite memory. It was really awesome. Then, because there were a few birthdays to be celebrated (including Veronica’s which is Sunday), we had a prayer for the birthday kids followed by the whole camp attacking them with eggs and flour and some purple stuff. You may not believe this part if you know Veronica, but somehow Nathan and Noah were able to throw her into a pool. This was not only being entertaining for all of us, but also pretty convenient because the showers had no water and she needed to get all that stuff off of her!
Then we had a soccer competition between the Americans and the Bolivians. I am proud to say that the Americans won!
After the competition, camp was over and we left.

We are currently back in Cusco staying with the Strongs, safe and sound. Tomorrow, we will be attending three different church services and helping out with the kids for one of them. We are having a great time and enjoying every minute! More updates to come...


The pictures below are in random order.

Noah for his the "dress up" dinner

Veronica gets a typical birthday greeting...

...and is washed off in the pool.