The Wilds, 2007 - The Final Day

It has finally arrived - Friday! For me, the week has gone by quickly. For Stephenie, it has gone by like every other week. She is eager to get back home and see our other children, Mollie, Titus, & Silas, who have been keeping MeMa Moulson company.

Watching the teens play "Tube Tug" today was quite exciting! You should have seen Donna Rowson trying to push a tube, that was twice as big as her, back across her line. She ended up getting flipped backwards! It was quite a sight. Oh! Wait a minute. You will be able to see it! I video taped the whole thing.

The young people are tired and ready to come home! They have all had a great week making memories and making friends. This will be a week that the teens will not soon forget.

Stephanie Guzman & Alexandria Gonzalez, along with their cabin and counselor are going to the Shoals to have Smores this afternoon. I'm not sure what everyone else is going to be doing. When I asked Tim & Levi what they were planning to do, they just shrugged their shoulders.

Tonight is the fireside service. This service is always a very special time. It gives teenagers, who have surrendered their lives to God before, the opportunity to renew that commitment to God. It also gives the other teenagers the opportunity to surrender their lives to the Lord.

This afternoon at lunch, Stephenie & I met The Hill's who are missionaries to the Navajo Indians in Arizona. They brought a group of Navajo teenagers to camp this week. The Hill's know Pastor and Mrs. Scott from their years at Tennessee Temple. The group had to drive 5 hours to the airport, then fly to Charlotte, then drive to The Wilds. It was a long trip for them. At least they didn't have to drive the entire way. Just their beign here is a demonstration of God's rewarding of their faith. One of their church members, when discussing how they could get a group of teens to The Wilds, said, "If we can build a new church building by faith, why can't we send our teens to camp by faith!" Enough said. They made it to camp!

Well, until tomorrow.....

Pastor Campbell

The Wilds 2007 - Family Reunion

Today, Thursday, was the day for "Family Reunions" at The Wilds. After lunch, we gathered all of our teenagers together for a short time of fellowship. We provided them with candy, gum, suckers, Gatorade, etc. that we purchased at Wal-Mart on Tuesday. We then gave them the opportunity to share some testimonies of what they have learned during the week. I also gave them a short Bible challenge that was based on some of the spiritual lessons they have learned during the week.

I stay busy "running" back and forth between the Juniors and the teenagers trying to video tape them participating in the games and activities. As much as the young people "hate" seeing me with a camera in my hand, they enjoy seeing the pictures later and remembering the great time they had.

The Junior Boot Campers played "Spoke Tag" this evening and the teenagers played "Feetball." Some of our teen girls don't get as involved as I would like to see them. The teenagers seem to have more fun when they "wholeheartedly" participate in the games. Tomorrow, Friday, is one of the teenagers favorite games - "Tube Tug!" That's always an enjoyable one to watch!

(Sorry, there's no picture today. Something was wrong with the internet to where I could not upload one to my blog!)

The Wilds, 2007 - Water Wars

Today, Stephenie & I went into Brevard with the "former" Meredith Plyer and her husband. Meredith's husband, John, is the Youth Pastor at Providence Baptist Church in Augusta, GA. We went to Wal-Mart to get some things for "Family Reunion Time" which is on Thursday afternoon.

We got back to camp in enough time to see the Junior Boot Camp's "Water Wars!" All of our Junior Boot Campers are having a great time!

Then we saw (and video taped) the teenagers playing a game called the "Buzz Saw." It's a crazy variation of musical chairs. (It's quite interesting to see over 800 teenagers playing musical chairs all at once!)

During free time, I (Joseph) manned one of the new "squirt guns" that have been installed down by the creek. Witihin minutes I was completely drenched!

After spending some time with the young people this afternoon, we came back to our room so that I could get a shower after my experience with the water cannons. Stephenie laid down to take a "sanctified" nap.

All of the young people are doing great! When asked, "Are you ready to go home?" they respond, "No." Don't worry, though, they will be ready by Saturday morning to get back to the own bed!

Don't forget to be in church (at SCBC) on Sunday night, July 29th. That is our Youth Service. The young people will be giving testimony from their week at camp. We will also being showing video and pictures from the week. You won't want to miss it!

The Wilds 2007 - Goin' Tubin'

There is always plenty to do at The Wilds. Here's a picture of some of our girls preparing to go tubin' down the creek. They've added a new attraction to the creek. It's called "The Wild's Water Wars!" They have positioned and installed water guns (that are fed by the creek) along the banks of the creek so that bystanders can drench the tubers as they come into the home stretch. My wife had a blast today getting the teens wet with the water guns. However, Travis soaked her in return!

The Wilds 2007

We arrived safely at The Wilds (Brevard, NC) on Monday. This was our (Stephenie & Joseph) 8 trip to The Wilds since we have been at South Charlotte Baptist Church.

Two years ago, the engine on the bus overheated on the way "up" the mountain. The engine had to be rebuilt because of that. Last, the same bus, with a new engine, once again overheated on the way "up" the mountain. I was able to coax it up the mountain without doing any damage to it. Well, this year, I decided to go a little different way to camp which I didn't think would be as difficult for the bus. We went I-77 north to I-40 west to I-26 east to camp. Even though it wasn't as steep, it was enough of a grade over a long enough stretch that once again the bus overheated. I drove the bus on the shoulder for about 3 miles going 15 miles an hour. We made it again without damaging the bus.

All 20 of the young people did just fine. They got a little stir crazy about an hour from camp. After leaving Charlotte at 9:30 AM, stopping for lunch and bathroom breaks, we arrived at the camp at 2:30 PM which is when they begin registration.

There are over 1,100 campers and sponsors this week at The Wilds. That does not include The Wilds staff. That's a lot of people.

We are having a great time! Stephenie is doing well considering that Jeremiah is a camper for the first time this year! Her biggest concern is that he take a shower on a regular basis during the week!

The Wilds takes pictures all throughout the week and posts them on their website. Check it out, you may see one of your children!

I may post more later this week if I get a chance! If not, we'll see you on Saturday!

Recent Happenings!

It's been awhile since I posted anything.

I had the privelage of baptizing Jeremiah and Titus last night in church. They have both been saved yet we had not been "pushing" them to be baptized. We would talk with them (and pray for them) about baptism every chance we would get. Well, a young boy was baptized yesterday morning during the church service. This gave us opportunity to talk with them again while eating lunch. They both decided that they wanted to be obedient to God and be baptized so we decided to do it in the evening service. (Being a good independent Baptist church we always have the baptistry ready!)

I haven't gotten a lot of sleep recently. I am trying to, in a week, completely remodel the kid's bathroom (minus the shower/tub). Stephenie would like it to be finished before we go to camp next week. I'll post some pictures later.

Finally Finished!

The siding on the house was finally completed this past Friday afternoon. The last thing that they did was put new gutter up. The house looks great! We have had quite a few comments from people about how the siding looks. We just have a little bit left to do on the deck.