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We are going through the book of Exodus this month. I had just finished reading Exodus before I came. It will be good to analyze it in detail.
The camp seperates people into family groups. Mixed gender groups of six share a parent, who acts like a counselor. My parents for the month are John and Londa Florey from South Dakota State University. Their biological son is Bryon, who had his first birthday this past week. Each family also has a cousin family. I live in a cabin with the other guys from the cousin family.
Below is the schedule for a normal weekday:
8:00am – breakfast
8:45am – quiet time
9:30am – two classroom style teaching sessions
12:30pm – lunch
1:30pm – site stewardship (chores)
2:30pm – free time
5:30pm – daily prayer meeting
7:30pm – worship and swimming style teaching session
9:00pm – family group time
11:30pm – lights out
On Monday, July 6, we learned about the manuscript Bible study method. Manuscripting is the study method used by InterVarsity. We also learned about crossing cultures and approaching differences as group. We participated in a simulation showing how differences arise. During free time I went kayaking with my sisters Alyssa and Michaela. There ended up being a toad in my kayak that Alyssa really wanted. I gave it to her and she named it Jeremiah. Tom Lin, our night time speaker, earned his degree from Harvard when God called him to ministry. Tom talked about taking God to unattractive places and people.
On Tuesday, July 7, I read about Moses talking to God through the burning bush in quiet time. We continued talking about this in the morning session. The theme for the morning was “The Calling To Leadership”. The other half of the morning was spent in guided prayer. I was really distracted, so this didn’t go so well. For lunch, we had sandwiches, chicken salad (with split grapes) or Cajun chicken.
This photo was taken inside the cabin of the Dawn Treader
It was very windy during free time. I decided it would not be a good day to learn to sail, and instead took a ride on the Dawn Treader. The Dawn Treader II is a 22 foot Catalina sailboat, with a jib and a mainsail. It was sailed by Nathan who claims that it is un-tippable. I asked him why this was the second Dawn Treader, and he said the first one tipped over, but that the boat we were on was un-tippable and “sea worthy”. Nathan sailed us out of the bay to see the Mackinac bridge. We could barely see the top of it. During our family group time, we “interrogated” our parents and learned about their marriage.
On Wednesday, July 8, I went for an early morning devotional kayak trip. It was a quick trip and only took an hour. At breakfast there was homemade raspberry yogurt. The theme for the morning session was “The Leader’s Emotions”. In the morning session we went through the twelve plaques. We also discussed the Johari Window, as a tool forgetting to know ourselves and others. During free time, I went sailing because the wind was calm. The most difficult part of sailing is knowing which way the wind is coming from. After sailing, I took a nap in my hammock.
During our night time session, Tom Lin talked about the shrewd manager. The manager was going to be fired, so to win himself friends, he cancelled debts that others owed his boss. I learned that our time and money is God’s, and that we should strategically use it to win eternal friendships.
On Thursday, July 9, I sat down with Dan Shiau, the camp director. I had looked him up on LinkedIn before coming and learned that Dan had earned his bachelors degree in Material Science from MIT. Dan went on to do research at the Lincoln Lab on campus. I was curious what he worked on at the Lincoln Lab, because my professor, Dr. Cory Prust, worked there. He told me that the lab is a private DoD lab known for two things, lasers and radar, but he was working on a Department of Energy project. Dan was involved in IV at MIT. While working at the lab, he was heavily involved in church ministry. After three years, he knew he was called to the ministry and his Masters of Divinity degree.
During the mornings session we looked at the Passover. The Isrealites were instructed to celebrate the passover every year with a feast. Easter is the passover that we celebrate since Jesus sacrificed himself so that we didn’t have to die. We also looked at the Isrealites exodus, and how it mirrors God’s plan for the earth.
In the second half of the morning, we brain mapped the passage to find the central truth, and create our theology.
That night my family group played a game called Nertz.
The whole day of Friday, July 10, was spent discussing sex and relationships. The camp adressed homosexuality in a very real way. Thank you for your prayers. Our family group was open in sharing about the day.
Looking ahead at July 13-17, the night time teaching session is titled “Re-interpreting Moses”.
The following are the daily morning session titles:
Monday – Identity and Calling
Tuesday – Evangelism on Your Campus
Wednesday – Evangelism Day Preparation, and Holy Spirit Empowered Evangelism
Thursday – Evangelism Day Preparation, and Holy Spirit Empowered Evangelism
Friday – Mackinac Island Evagelism Day (All Day)
Saturday – Debriefing Mackinac
Thanks for reading.
Jacob
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