Sunday, August 3

After a short night of sleep, we made it to the church by about 9:15am. They had a biscuits and gravy breakfast for us. The pastor from Washington state is originally from the south. After breakfast, we had the church service at West Lynn. Randy preached, and the youth praise team led the worship. It was interesting to see them, as most of them were in the camp for the past several years - and God is working in their lives.

We made it to the school and got everything setup for tomorrow - at least everything in the school. We didn't have a lot of time to get everything done. We appear to be ready for a good week of sports camp and VBS. One of the biggest surprises was that the area for basketball is now about 2/3 of the original size. Another building was build in that area, so the combination of larger classes and smaller room will be interesting.

Sunday evening was spent at the Iclefs, newer members of West Lynn. They are a younger family with 3 kids. They live near the Horseshoe Bay Ferry. It was a beautiful day with stunning scenery. They fed us and we enjoyed spending a couple of hours with them.

Monday, August 4

We began the day with a team meeting - our team and the Washington State team and the others from Vancouver who were helping with the camp. We had a short devotion and then we got things setup - all the sports equipment out to the fields and courts - and waited for the kids to come. Today is an official holiday in Vancouver - BC Day. (British Columbia) Numbers in the camp were a little down from what they will be later in the week. Several new kids signed up this morning.

The camp is run in 5 sessions. For 3rd-8th grade, there are 3 sessions for sports (basketball, soccer and baseball). There is a lunch session and a Bible lesson session. We are leading most of the sports activities and a couple of the Bible lesson classes. Phil Gravitt and Ed (from Washington) are leading baseball, with Lindsey and Katie helping. Soccer is being led by Rubens, a Brazilian student who is going to college in Vancouver. There are a couple of others that are helping him. Basketball is led by Don Akers and Chris Short (from Washington). Amity and Amy will be helping as students.

The weather was great and camp ran mostly without a hitch. All the workers seem to get along great, and the kids have cooperated, for the most part. The opening rally is always full of life, and the kids seem to be having a good time.

After the camp, we went to Deep Cove, on the easternmost part of North Vancouver. Being a holiday, it was very busy. Lots of folks boating and kayaking, and many people just out enjoying the view.