Action & Suds

The action continues in Hyde Park while Kim leaps around the room trying to get rid of the persistent bat that's circling above my head...oh, she's got it. I guess that's the second reason we have a broom and dustpan upstairs... I spent last week at another youth camp about a half-hour from Hyde Park. This one was much smaller than the last, with 35 youth and just a couple churches attending. My responsibilities included counselor, nurse and lifeguard (we bathed in a trench and canal). The smallness of it made for an extra awkwardness initially with everyone knowing each other and bantering with their inside jokes in Creolese.

Guyanese Creole has about as many similarities to Jamaican Patois as differences but I'm getting used to the accent. This camp was a good immersion in Creolese. I even played a part in a skit one night and people laughed when they were supposed to. And by the end of the week I felt very much a part of this church/camp family. They drenched me with water and painted my face to show their acceptance.

This was the trench we bathed in until we sent the boys upstream and got to use the canal across the road, wich was deep enough to swim in. The water comes from tributaries of the Essequibo River so it was clean, depending on your definition of clean. They call it black water because it's the colour of rootbeer, due to minerals. It might've also had something to do with the floating suds and occasional wrapper, bottle, and film of oil. I tried to look on the positive side and convince myself that the oil was making up for my lack of conditioner. Once the girls complied with my no-pretending-you're-dead rule, I enjoyed dancing around in the water with them and jumping in the canal to rinse the shampoo out of our hair.

It was truly a blessing to be with these bright, fun young people and I even connected with some of the other counselors. I was encouraged by the passion I saw in the pastors who ran the camp and those who came to speak at the sessions. They have a tremendous desire to build into the lives of the youth here and since it's a relatively small community, they take the opportunity to know their congregation.

This week I'm looking forward to focusing more on DTS prep and spending some quality time in prayer and seeking God.

"Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4b

Bless you,
eM