Optimist Roundtable 8/12
By Martha Sykes
Just getting back on board after a wonderful week at church camp!! It was such a blessing this year to actually be able to go and see our campers after not being there last summer!! Not all of them returned that have been attending for over 20 years, but we did have a few regulars plus we had the opportunity to meet some new campers. Greene Hills camp is located near Alexandria, PA which is part of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church.It is nestled in the woods where you can be away from the hustle and bustle of life as we know it with television, telephones and traffic. While there, we are unaware of what is going on in the world and we just enjoy our time together learning about Jesus.
As I was sitting and looking around the area one day, it was interesting to listen to what I call “sounds of church camp” !! There is a lot of laughter at camp!! We live in cabins for 5 days and the campers sit and laugh so much that it warms our hearts!! During our worship services we sing songs and we don’t care if they are in tune because we praise God with every word and note!! Pastor John Godissart and I are co-deans of this camp and have been for I think,22 years and he is so creative and talented with his way of teaching and preaching! The campers just love him and he truly is a leader with the love of Jesus in everything he does. His guitar playing, singing, puppet shows, and ventriloquism acts were some of the best sounds of our week!! Our campers love to act out our Bible stories!!
We were fortunate to take the campers on a train ride and they were so excited and talked about it all week!! Makes all of us counselors realize that simple things matter in this crazy world!! All week, we listen to trains traveling through the town below the mountains and this year we had a camper who loved every train that blew its horn all week!!
The best sound at camp this week was hearing our campers pray to take Jesus into their hearts!! They are so enthusiastic about learning about God!! It truly is a rewarding time and the weather was perfect for all of our activities. At the end of every day, the sounds of the hooting and hollering remind us that enthusiasm is contagious as these special needs campers enjoy this week together every year!! As we leave to go home, we are blessed more than ever by the laughter, the singing, the hugs, and the love of Jesus!!
