Isaiah 4:6 ~ It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.
After another busy crazy week of setting up camp, we finished all the big projects just in time for our first week of campers. :) Also our short-term team from Chihuahua Mexico made it safely to Kansas. It was great to meet all of them and was sad to say good bye to them after working with them for two weeks. They helped us with setting up the rest of camp and worked with us this last week with campers. They all worked hard and felt like part of our staff family after severing with us for two weeks. They sure got a taste of KS weather with all the humidity, heat, and storms. :)
Our first week of camp went well and we all stayed crazy busy. The week flew by with storms, swimming,
volleyball, whiffle ball, biking, hockey, worshiping at the cross, basketball, dodgeball, and so much more. Days were packed full of activities, worship, and testimonies. I believe we had around 30-35 middle school campers. We had youth groups from Abilene, Winfield, Kansas City, and Lexington, NB. It was a very multi-cultural week with group of inner city kids, a Hispanic group, and the Chihuahua group with the rest of us. God is good and was awesome to see people from different cities, states, and countries all together worshiping, severing, and growing together in eXtreme encounters. We had 5 campers come to know Christ!! God is at work in hearts and can't wait to see what God does for the rest of the summer.
God was our shelter throughout this past week and a shade from the heat of the day. We experienced some eXtreme storms this past couple of weeks and praise the Lord He was our shelter protecting everyone. I've
never been so close to a lightning blot that hit our camp ground. I was in a the tent with Laura C. getting things together has a huge blot crashed outside our tent. We both grab each other and screamed. The light was so bright and could feel it hit the ground and the thunder was SO LOUD. I'll never look at lightening storms the same again!!! Our guys were running back down the hill from tightening tents said they felt heat on their backs and almost knocked them down. It was eXtreme!!!!!
Last Wednesday started out like every other day at camp with activities and we saw a storm in the distance and the radar showed it was going to miss us. So after lunch we all went back to activities when all of sudden the storm turned right back us with hard rain, hail, and 80mph wind!! I've never seen anything like it before! The rain came down hard and the wind blew it horizontal soaking all of us at base camp. We scrambled around to waterproof all the electronics at base camp and our kitchen was completely torn up with the wind knocking down all three fridges. It was CRAZY! We got so much rain it washed away the 12 tons of sand we just put on the volleyball court. The wind uprooted a huge cottonwood tree onto two of our staff's cars. Thankfully the cars came out with a small dent and a few scratches. Our guys heavy duty canvas tent that is suppose to withstand 70 mph wind blew over and bent the medal frames in some places. Branches down everywhere and lots of wet campers, tents, and sleeping bags. I'll see if I can post some pictures. God was defiantly our shelter and hiding place while the storm blew around us, there was peace inside us. It was a great eXtreme experience for the campers and myself to see the power of God.
After the storm moved on, the sun came out and it was like nothing happened. Crazy Kansas. :) We went on a "scavenger hunt" to find clothes, tents, ect. The rest of the evening was cleaning up and seeing what needed to be repaired replaced. God is good and no one was hurt.
I am home for the weekend and been spent time today with my grandpa, cousins, aunts, uncles, and the family for Father's day. Its been a good weekend to rest after a busy three weeks. Summer is flying to fast and I am not ready to come back to work, bills, ect. I love being out at camp. No makeup, hard work, no dressing up, getting dirty, working with others, sleeping under the stars, fishing, hoedowns, worshiping at sunsets, outdoor showers, storms, fish fry's, and so much much more. :) :)
Tammy and I will be heading back to Milford tomorrow morning for a week of cleanup and training. There also will be some alumni and friends of Extreme Kansas Camp coming out for part of the week. We'll be getting ready for upcoming weeks of Defenders, high school, and family camp weeks. Keep looking for updates and I'll try to update this when I can.
Keep standing strong and take time to getaway with Jesus.
Poor Kendra's car. Only came out with a small dent in the back and a few scratches!!
God's storms are powerful but yet He still kept us safe and it could have been worse.
God is good.
Called in some help. These guys were great.
The wind got a hold of this tent, but thankfully didn't blow over. The boy's tent is a different story and they are homeless. :) (they never slept in it anyways. lol)
Boy campers had to repair some tents and search for some belongings.
Trying to get warm by the stove. Everyone was wet and cold.
Repairing the kitchen. All three fridges blew over. Thankfully we didn't lose too much food. God is good. :)
Sunshine. :)
Returning from the laundry mat with dry clothes and sleeping bags.
Looks like a disaster relief. lol
Photographer Laura on the job after the storm.
Building sand castles while bedding dries. :)
More sand castles. They made a whole city. It was pretty sweet.
Me and Cora. :)
Looks like things are going well for you. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Are you planning on heading back towards the Wichita area around say the 4th or 5th of July?
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