What's my summer been like? (part 1)

So, it's been awhile since I've last posted. Feels weird. When we last left off, I had basically just finished DTS, and was volunteering at a YWAM base in NYC. Well, I'm still here. At first, not a whole lot was happening, but then NOAH happened. NOAH is an acronym that stands for Network of Anointed Households. It's a program that basically tries to bring families that are involved in ministry together. It has a few different events, but the big one is the NOAH camp.

NOAH camp is a one-week camp for missionary's children, and pastor's children. The grade range is from 3rd grade, all the way to 12th grade. Each person will be put into two groups: a flock group, and a family group. A flock group is a 'horizontal' age group, so all the people will be in the same grade range, and same gender. This group will sleep together, eat breakfast and lunch together, and, in the older kids case, have
time to go deep. A family group is a 'vertical' age group, so there is a variety of ages in this group, and both genders. This group has time to do activities with each other (usually competing with the other family groups), and eat dinner together. In order to try to reach these people, the camp emphasizes having fun, and reaching them through that fun. I was in charge of 3rd to 5th grade boys, of which there were 10. All the kids from 3rd to 5th grade are sectioned into Kiddie Camp. The older kids do worship, listen to a teaching, discuss it, and whatnot. However, these younger kids have a harder time sitting still, and so need a different approach. The teaching is shorter, and is much more interactive; there are more activities; a bunch of times we do body worship; and so on. So, after a few weeks of preparing, and getting to know some people, the camp started.

Monday the staff arrived at the place where the camp would take place. It's a small school called New Jersey Christian Academy. It's a nice place with a gym, pool, fields, and whatnot. We took some time to get everything unloaded, and prepare for incoming wave of children (sidenote- there were about 100 kids there). After getting everyone's stuff into their rooms, everybody headed to the gym. Here there were some rules that were read, and then there were games. It was a lot of fun playing games like, "Do You Love Your Neighbor?" and I don't remember any others. After doing that, the family groups split off to start planning their skits. They were performed that evening after dinner. I don't really know how to describe them, but they were really good. yeah. sorry for such a lack of details. I'M SORRY OKAY.

Anyways, the next day might have been the most stressful day of my life. After some teachings, and games, and stuff, we went to Six Flags. Thankfully, I didn't have to look after 10 boys, I had five to look after. We went on some roller coasters, and somehow, with a little cooperation from strangers, and divine intervention, all of us were able to get onto every ride at the same time. Not easy. Thankfully, afterwards they were kind of pooped out, so they watched a movie, and went to sleep soon afterwards.

Wednesday was another day of fun. There were some times of teaching, and singing and stuff, but the real fun began during the family group time. There were different stations set up around the school with different challenges. I don't know all of them, but the one that I was at was a station where different family groups did an obstacle course together. My job was to shoot people with water during the activities. People were somewhat miffed at first, but later in the day it got hot, and they started to ask to be sprayed. They finished off the day with a movie, and then sleepytime. However, the big day was Thursday. The parents all came this day to participate in the camp (it's a mandatory part of the camp). They listen to a teaching or two, and... well I'll get to that. After having some deliiiiiiiicious Korean barbeque, there was some time where the parents and their kids sat together, and the speaker led them through a time of reconciliation. This was powerful to see kids be honest with their parents, and parents listening to their kids. This was the major climax of the camp. After this powerful time of ministry, it was time for a party. Actually, it was time for THE party. For weeks we had been preparing the decorations for this party.

All decorations were handmade. With love.

Each family group had a different theme, and the kids and parents of that respective family group would have to dress up as their theme. Some of the groups included Flintstones, Toy Story, Despicable Me, etc. etc. It was a lot of fun, lots of games, and really cool to see all these pastors/missionaries (who are usually very serious, and uptight) loosen up and have some fun with their kids.

The next day there were some closing stuff, and then the kids had to go home. As well as the staff, after we cleaned up. Overall I can look back now and say that it was a lot of fun. However, not going to lie, during the camp it was extremely exhausting. Not just physically (as the staff are up until about one every night, then everybody wakes up at about 7:30, and the whole day is filled with stuff to do), but also spiritually. With such a busy schedule, there was so little time for us (or at least me) to take some time to have a quiet time. Sometimes, as exhausted as I was at the end of each day, I would take some extra time to stay awake and spend some time with God. Definitely a blast though, and hopefully will return for next year.

The staff of NOAH were inspirational to my faith, and were a lot of fun to hang out with!

Okay, so there's been some other stuff that's been going on this summer, but I don't want this post to be too long. So part 2, coming soon! Also, I still need a lot of support, as I am planning on attending the School of Biblical Foundations and Missions in Maui this fall. Prayer is incredibly important for this trip. I personally feel like this is a time when God wants to build on the foundation that DTS created. Pray that this would be a time when my faith would increase, and that I would gain further direction for my life during this time. Additionally, I need financial support. If you would like to partner with me, you can either make a check out to me and send it to 101 Main St. South Salem, NY 10590, or email me at timothyd.song@gmail.com to figure out an alternative that is convenient for you. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this post, and supporting me.