Thankfully, it was another hot and sunny day for Camp Kesher as water activities were on the afternoon schedule, but first there were a lot of other things to do. We met first thing for team line-ups, as we do every morning. Since we are five days in, the campers were on top of it. After morning cabin devotions, we rallied together for another morning Mishkan. Keeping with our Jewish wedding theme, the “Israel Moment” focused on the Sheva Brachot (seven blessings). What made this morning’s “Israel Moment” really special is that, among our staff and counselors, there were two wedding anniversaries!
Following Mishkan, the campers started their activity rotations. One of the rotations, led by Joanna Walter, called “Owning your Mental Health,” was birthed out of a necessity to engage our older campers on this topic. If we are to own our faith, we can also own our mental health. But how? Joanna engaged the campers on God’s heart for mental and emotional health and how our core beliefs and identity affect our overall well-being.
The afternoon activities were wrapped up with a camp-wide Wet ‘N Wild Kickball and Slip ‘N Slide, which the Yellow Team won. The campers also competed in a cabin clean-up competition with a pizza prize for the winning cabin. We will announce the winners at Friday’s morning Mishkan.
We concluded our evening with Ryan Karp sharing his testimony of faith in Yeshua. It was very relatable as Ryan was nine years old when God grabbed ahold of his heart. He was the same age as many of our campers. He pointed the kids to Ephesians 3:13–17:
“Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory” (Eph 3:13).
Ryan explained how the followers of Yeshua, like Paul and even Yeshua himself, faced many difficulties and opposition, but that it’s worth it. After Mishkan, the boys and girls had separate bonfires to ask questions, process, and discuss the message. For most campers and counselors, this intimate time of sharing is a much-needed and most fruitful time of the week.
