Samaipata High School Retreat
We were living in the clouds this past weekend--literally. We went to Samaipata this weekend for the high school retreat. The town is located in the mountains and all weekend long the clouds hovered so close to the mountain tops we were occasionally in the clouds as we drove. We left around 1 on Friday (getting out of school a little early) and then came home Sunday night. Samaipata is about 3 hours from Santa Cruz. We took three buses and a couple other vehicles full of all the luggage and food. There was a speaker for the weekend and we had many sessions that were really great. I was in charge of sophomore girls and let me tell you sophomore girls have a lot of energy around 1 o'clock am.
We had group games and also free time so a lot of games were played--American football, Bang, Dutch Blitz. During the group games we played Montana Hoops, Dragon Dodge ball and relay races with mouth wash and squirt guns. The camp we stayed in was called Traudi and it was in the middle of a valley with gorgeous mountains around us. During the free time Grant and a courageous group climbed up one of the mountains and explored. They encountered a lot of briar patches and barbwire while they were at it.
There was a bonfire the last night and Grant and I shared our testimonies and then a few other counselors shared and then we left it open for the students to share. It was so amazing to hear what God had been doing in their lives in just the last week. Many had recommitted their lives to being radical about their faith instead of having passable faith. They made commitments to step up and be leaders in the school and to encourage one another.
It was a great weekend but Monday came way too fast and everyone is moving a little slower than normal. Both nights were late nights. There were many raids on other cabins and pranks pulled on each other. The sophomores were hilarious with their prank. They raided the senior girls cabin and yelled and made a loud racket but as they were doing that they were stealing their things. The next morning they had an auction to sell all the shoes, toothbrushes, hats and deodorants they had acquired. Also the next morning the senior girls came and yelled and sang loudly at our door to wake us up. So the other counselor ran to their room found their key and locked them out of their room--they were still in pajamas and barefoot :)
We were living in the clouds this past weekend--literally. We went to Samaipata this weekend for the high school retreat. The town is located in the mountains and all weekend long the clouds hovered so close to the mountain tops we were occasionally in the clouds as we drove. We left around 1 on Friday (getting out of school a little early) and then came home Sunday night. Samaipata is about 3 hours from Santa Cruz. We took three buses and a couple other vehicles full of all the luggage and food. There was a speaker for the weekend and we had many sessions that were really great. I was in charge of sophomore girls and let me tell you sophomore girls have a lot of energy around 1 o'clock am.
We had group games and also free time so a lot of games were played--American football, Bang, Dutch Blitz. During the group games we played Montana Hoops, Dragon Dodge ball and relay races with mouth wash and squirt guns. The camp we stayed in was called Traudi and it was in the middle of a valley with gorgeous mountains around us. During the free time Grant and a courageous group climbed up one of the mountains and explored. They encountered a lot of briar patches and barbwire while they were at it.
There was a bonfire the last night and Grant and I shared our testimonies and then a few other counselors shared and then we left it open for the students to share. It was so amazing to hear what God had been doing in their lives in just the last week. Many had recommitted their lives to being radical about their faith instead of having passable faith. They made commitments to step up and be leaders in the school and to encourage one another.
It was a great weekend but Monday came way too fast and everyone is moving a little slower than normal. Both nights were late nights. There were many raids on other cabins and pranks pulled on each other. The sophomores were hilarious with their prank. They raided the senior girls cabin and yelled and made a loud racket but as they were doing that they were stealing their things. The next morning they had an auction to sell all the shoes, toothbrushes, hats and deodorants they had acquired. Also the next morning the senior girls came and yelled and sang loudly at our door to wake us up. So the other counselor ran to their room found their key and locked them out of their room--they were still in pajamas and barefoot :)
