In the middle of June 2016 I had an amazing experience at AZYM Pursuit which was held in Prescott, AZ. During the 4 short days that I was there I had a life changing experience. While at camp, I had no phone, computer, or camera. All I had was my Bible, a book, my friends, and my relationship with Christ.
The night before I went to camp was extremely stressful for me. I felt like I was going to be judged based on my relationship with Christ. I didn't read my Bible everyday, pray everyday, or listen to worship music all the time like my church friends did. I felt like I was an outsider and I was going to feel out of place with the small group of friends I had going to camp. I had also just gotten back from a 3 day trip to California, so I was very tired and just wanted to stay in bed. While I packed the night before I had a little bit of a mental breakdown and all I could do was cry. My mom came in and didn't leave my side, she just tried to figure out why I didn't want to go and then tried to help me through the tears.
The next morning I woke up and wanted to start crying again- luckily I didn't. We packed up my duffle bag and sleeping bag and headed to church to check in before camp. Once I saw my friends I got a little less nervous about going away.
I still didn't know why I felt so nervous about camp. I had been away from my mom before, and it was farther distance than where I was going to now.
Once the service was done and all 53 students were waiting for the bus to pick us up, I started to get anxious. I felt the tears in my eyes and I got looked over at my mom who knew something was wrong. Before anything happened I blinked the tears away and went back to talking to my friends about what to except at camp. After a good 30 minutes of waiting we finally got on the road. The 1.5 hour drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be-even without my music, but we were at camp in no time.
As soon as we got to the main grass field we were split into cabins and got ready for orientation and some Rec games. During orientation, the camp was split into 8 different color teams: black, white, pink, orange, green, blue, red, yellow. My church was split into 3 teams- pink, black, and white. My team was pink team (the best team). We were so hyped during the games we even had a chant, "PINK TEAM, PINK TEAM, WHAT'S OUR CRY?!" "V I C T O R Y!" "V I C T O R Y!" "THAT'S OUR PINK TEAM BATTLE CRY!!!" It got pretty loud and by the second full day more than half of the team had lost our voices or sounded extremely raspy. The first night of camp was very emotional. I'm not one to cry but once I got in a small group with my friends I got very emotional and started crying. I honestly didn't know when I would stop. After service we had free time where we all got snacks and just hung out and talked.
The first full day was not what I excepted, we had conversation and devotions after breakfast and then fine arts before lunch. I joined improv with my friend Nina which was a lot of fun to do. After lunch we had Rec Games and pink team only lost one game (which was actually a tie and I'm still a little bitter about). After Rec games we had a little bit of free time were we got ready for dinner and the night service. I didn't realize that people dressed nice at service so all I had were my yoga pants, t-shirts, and a pair of jeans. The first night of camp was very emotional. I'm not one to cry but once I got in a small group with my friends I got very emotional and started crying. I honestly didn't know when I would stop. After service we had free time where we all got snacks and just hung out and talked.
The second full day started out like the first. We had breakfast, service, conversations, devotions, fine arts, and then lunch. After lunch we had mud day where all of the teams competed in muddy activities. There was volleyball, an octagon for a game that is very hard o describe, a mud mountain, and tug-of-war. Pink team won all of their games but sadly during Route 66- which was a obstacle course through the mud, Pink Team came in last. After mud day we headed back to the dorms and got ready for dinner. After dinner we went back to the dorms and got ready for the last service which is also when we performed what we learned in fine arts so the girls in improv played to different games.
The night before I went to camp was extremely stressful for me. I felt like I was going to be judged based on my relationship with Christ. I didn't read my Bible everyday, pray everyday, or listen to worship music all the time like my church friends did. I felt like I was an outsider and I was going to feel out of place with the small group of friends I had going to camp. I had also just gotten back from a 3 day trip to California, so I was very tired and just wanted to stay in bed. While I packed the night before I had a little bit of a mental breakdown and all I could do was cry. My mom came in and didn't leave my side, she just tried to figure out why I didn't want to go and then tried to help me through the tears.
The next morning I woke up and wanted to start crying again- luckily I didn't. We packed up my duffle bag and sleeping bag and headed to church to check in before camp. Once I saw my friends I got a little less nervous about going away.
I still didn't know why I felt so nervous about camp. I had been away from my mom before, and it was farther distance than where I was going to now.
Once the service was done and all 53 students were waiting for the bus to pick us up, I started to get anxious. I felt the tears in my eyes and I got looked over at my mom who knew something was wrong. Before anything happened I blinked the tears away and went back to talking to my friends about what to except at camp. After a good 30 minutes of waiting we finally got on the road. The 1.5 hour drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be-even without my music, but we were at camp in no time.
As soon as we got to the main grass field we were split into cabins and got ready for orientation and some Rec games. During orientation, the camp was split into 8 different color teams: black, white, pink, orange, green, blue, red, yellow. My church was split into 3 teams- pink, black, and white. My team was pink team (the best team). We were so hyped during the games we even had a chant, "PINK TEAM, PINK TEAM, WHAT'S OUR CRY?!" "V I C T O R Y!" "V I C T O R Y!" "THAT'S OUR PINK TEAM BATTLE CRY!!!" It got pretty loud and by the second full day more than half of the team had lost our voices or sounded extremely raspy. The first night of camp was very emotional. I'm not one to cry but once I got in a small group with my friends I got very emotional and started crying. I honestly didn't know when I would stop. After service we had free time where we all got snacks and just hung out and talked.
The first full day was not what I excepted, we had conversation and devotions after breakfast and then fine arts before lunch. I joined improv with my friend Nina which was a lot of fun to do. After lunch we had Rec Games and pink team only lost one game (which was actually a tie and I'm still a little bitter about). After Rec games we had a little bit of free time were we got ready for dinner and the night service. I didn't realize that people dressed nice at service so all I had were my yoga pants, t-shirts, and a pair of jeans. The first night of camp was very emotional. I'm not one to cry but once I got in a small group with my friends I got very emotional and started crying. I honestly didn't know when I would stop. After service we had free time where we all got snacks and just hung out and talked.
The second full day started out like the first. We had breakfast, service, conversations, devotions, fine arts, and then lunch. After lunch we had mud day where all of the teams competed in muddy activities. There was volleyball, an octagon for a game that is very hard o describe, a mud mountain, and tug-of-war. Pink team won all of their games but sadly during Route 66- which was a obstacle course through the mud, Pink Team came in last. After mud day we headed back to the dorms and got ready for dinner. After dinner we went back to the dorms and got ready for the last service which is also when we performed what we learned in fine arts so the girls in improv played to different games.