Summer Wrap-Up: Oasis
Alyssa LaRocque
What a beautiful week of camp we just experienced! A full entourage of families joined us at camp on Sunday and just headed out this morning. The VBS theme "Shipwrecked" guided the children's program, and some favourite Oasis beach activities such as a carnival and an epic obstacle course led to many gleeful afternoons. Here are some other highlights:
Favourite Moments: On one of the beach afternoons, some simple water gun pumps were casually handed outin the shallow end. The program staff started drumming up the energy by staging water attacks on nearby kids and parents, and before long, the shallow end was alive with shrieks and splashes as people of all ages got their hands on the water guns and engaged in offensive and defensive maneuvers. I too joined in the fray and got great laughs over everyone's antics. I love moments like this of seeing everyone's inner child come out!
Silliest Moments: My family lives partially above the Town Hall, which is where the adults at family camp gather in the evenings to socialize and play games. Late one night, it was evident that it was no ordinary game going on downstairs. I heard tables shifting and objects banging and wondered if there was some major redecorating going on. The next morning, some of the adult men confirmed that they had turned a pre-school game into a full contact sport!
Meaningful Moment: The VBS program that is used for the kids classes has a song set of really catchy lyrics and music. I found it meaningful to see the adults singing the words energetically alongside their kids; this way, the lyrics that remind kids about God's presence with them are reinforced by the whole family. It was encouraging to watch in action.
The Weather Report: One of the directors commented to me that this was the first Oasis in some time that had a fully warm, sunny week! The only rainfall was on the Friday morning of departure, and the evenings were all comfortable and summery. It was polar opposite from last August at Oasis, when rainy, chilly weather pervaded much of the week. God is good to have blessed these families with weather that made it easy to relax.
We so appreciated the relaxed atmosphere of Oasis which gave us a chance to gear up for the awesome energy of Senior Boys next week!