Good Times, Bad Times

Visual representation of how I felt on Monday.

     That's the simplest way I can summarize Liberty English Camp 2016. There were good times, there were bad times. It's taken me this long to recover and process almost everything. I slept for about four hours during the afternoon yesterday. Thinking about it now on the Tuesday after camp, I'm not really sure where to start with the in-depth summary. So I'll do this. I've collected my photos from camp (phone and camera) into one location HERE. When you get a free minute or twenty, take a look. There's a lot of good stuff there (if I do say so myself). Also, I found this video from this year's camp. It includes a lot of good footage from our activities. Jim from the Texas team threw it together to display at the anti-talent show. See how many times you can find me in it.
     Now, onto the other stuff. And I'm still not sure where to start...perhaps with Saturday? Yeah. Saturday was the packing and finishing day of camp. Since our official closing ceremonies happened the night before, the only thing to do was finish our puzzle, have another powder war, and say goodbye. The powder war was enough of a success at the Big City retreat last year that the Liberty staff wanted to do it again. I think it went over well again. I stayed out of it this time so I could get some good action shots. That didn't completely prevent me from getting attacked. One of the girls from my team chased me down and got blue powder on me. If you look on the left side of the picture, Max is suspiciously clean. We'll have to rectify that next time. (insert evil laugh here)

     With the drone flying around, this felt like a bigger thing than it really was. Jim from the Texas team flew his DJI Phantom around getting shots of people turning neon colors. Several times the drone was attacked too. It still bore the colors on Sunday while we walked around the city with the students. He used it to great effect all week and even got some great shots of people running into the water after the festivities. At the same time, Paul ran around throwing powder at people while carrying a GoPro. I'll link to the video when I can find it.

     After that, everyone either jumped into the lake or walked back to their rooms to shower and clean up for the ride back to Kiev. That power is tenacious stuff though. Where the yellow or blue or purple hadn't washed off completely, some people seemed to be carrying bruises. We tried not to make it a big goodbye session. We wanted as many of them as possible to come to church on the next day and then sightseeing afterwards.
     In the afternoon, we all went back to the places we were staying at before camp to rest and clean up. Most of us showered and got ready to meet up at Max's house. We needed to have a debrief after camp. It's important to say what we think about it as early as possible so the memories don't fade or become distorted by time.
     It turns out, not saying goodbye may have been a good idea. Come Sunday morning, we saw between fifteen and twenty students join us at worship and sightseeing. Worship was cramped and hot. We all packed into the orange room at the Big City office. By the time we ended, it was standing-room only. The office doesn't have air conditioning, only a small ventilation system to pull hot air out. But when you pack in forty or more people there, it struggles to keep up. But it was a great time. Jerry gave the sermon about one of the blind men that Jesus healed and tied it into the difference between believing and not believing. I have a good feeling about this group. In the past, we've only had a few come visit the worship after camp. This time, with so many there, I think that followup will be very fruitful.

     The afternoon was a long time of walking, talking and enjoying a day out in the city. The Texas and Manchester teams broke up into smaller groups and took some of the other students with them around downtown Kiev. The staff wanted them to show the teams around and help them with souvenirs and such. It was a great time to just hang out and relax in a new, exciting place. I also had a hot chocolate. The weather was great during the day. A little windy but the temperature was kept down by the ever-present cloud cover. When we got down to the river, some of us needed to warm up a bit. The many coffee snails around the city provided a cheap, warming drink for those who needed it. We even met up with the crew from X-Way along the way. As I heard it, they kept going until almost 10PM on Sunday night.

     This all had to be done before 6PM. The Texas team needed to be on a plane that evening. So by the time we all met up again, the goodbyes were long and many. Gifts, hugs and tears were shared by many. But among it all, the common theme I heard was that they (the Texans) want to come back. Perhaps even with their families in tow. And that's one of the best things I can think to have come out of this camp. That feeling is partially responsible for why I came back for a year. I believe the Manchester team (who left today) feel the same way.
     That evening, my mom and I got to visit with the McLanes for a while. We'd been trying since my mom arrived to go up there. We finally did on the last night she was here. It was a great chance to see them. Although all we did was talk, I think they and my mom enjoyed it a lot. We finally left there after 11PM so my mom could go pack for her flight in the morning. We even got to Skype with my dad for a bit in there too.

     The team from my church needed to arrive at the airport by 8AM so that meant an early morning for us. We met the van with everyone else at the bus stop by my apartment at 6:50AM and drove out to Borispol airport. Yet again, there were hugs and goodbyes but considerably fewer tears. Even though I didn't spend the week with them, I think their camp made a big impact on them as well, especially the college students.
     Their flight left around 10:15. By that time I was well on my way back to my apartment. I thought I'd spend the day writing and relaxing. Instead I found it more and more difficult to keep my eyes open. By about 1PM, I crashed and just laid on the couch. I woke up a few times but slept until nearly 6PM. I was still tired but forced myself to get up and move around. I still went to bed early (well, before midnight at least). But I feel that now I'm completely caught up on sleep now.
     So now that brings me to my own after action report. What are my thoughts on the camp? I'm still not completely sure. But I'll write them out and by the end have a little list.
     First, I'm glad it's done. I think I had the lowest work load of anyone at camp and I was still worn out. Camp is a lot of work. It's not a vacation (despite jokes and leading questions to the contrary). There are planning, teaching, walking, running, playing, singing, performing, dancing, talking, laughing, creating, sitting, listening, translating, and thinking to do every day of the week (and sometimes the months before as well). Since this was my third camp of the summer, I've been doing all of those, times three, since the summer began. Lets just say I'm glad it's over.
     Second, being in more of an advisory position this week was a big change. I got to see how other parts of the camp operated. I was able to see a bit more of the big picture. I got to help in areas that I don't normally get to. Since I was superfluous during one of the days, I went along with a group to get water. Zhovten didn't have a place to fill water jugs on their property (what the heck guys?). So they gave us a driver and van to go to a place about a kilometer away to go and fill them. Through that and glimpses of Marina's difficulties with staff, I saw there is much more to camp than teaching and leading games. Logistics is a huge part of camp even though most don't see it. If camp is running well, you'll never see the logistical dragons that are being slain behind the scenes.
     Third, this was never going to be a vacation. Despite most people's need to take vacation time from work, it will never be relaxing, soothing, or calming. English camp is anything but a cake-walk. Some people don't understand that when you take time away from work to do this, we aren't doing this for our health. We aren't doing it to de-stress. We certainly aren't doing this as escapism. There is a much higher purpose to English camp than our own selfish needs. We are sacrificing time, energy, and money to make a difference in these student's lives.
     Fourth, despite all the trouble and downsides, there is still a lot of fun to be had. We bond over the hardships and grow together in the fun times. By the end of the week, a common refrain was heard from the students. "We don't want it to end. We've had so much fun, it should be longer." I think that's a testament to the planning and effort the staff put into the camp over the past year. There was a concerted effort to do as many different things as possible in the week while keeping within the theme. Each of those events helped break down the preconceived notions the students had about the church people putting on this camp. I think that fun will go a long way towards building solid relationships with them in the coming months.
     I think I'll leave it at that. If you've got questions about something specific from camp, let me know. It'd be almost impossible to write about every little detail and keep it interesting. It's one of those "you have to be there" things. Stay tuned. Even though I'm heading out in three and a half weeks, there is still more to come here.