Crossing generations
This past July, I had a unique opportunity to explore the other half of the organization I work with – camps. In addition to working on high school and university campuses, Inter-Varsity is also committed to developing children and youth through their summer camp programs. So for 3 weeks, I lived in beautiful (and buggy) Muskoka and worked with high school students as part of the Bible teaching team, communicating God’s story in interactive and fun ways. I didn’t think it had been that long since I was in high school. However, it was very clear that I was not in the loop of the current generation of youth when I had a blank stare on my face as these high school aged campers spoke in their slang. The opposite was true as I spoke to them. The dry moments were many. As we faced more and more uninterpreted miscommunication, frustration grew as I wondered if they were getting anything that we as a teaching team were sharing about leadership and God’s story.
Throughout the past few years, I have been learning about how people are different across ethnic and cultural lines. This time, God was showing me how we are different across ages. As a teaching team, we wrestled to understand and relate to youth trying to figure out how to communicate in a language they would understand and be meaningful to them. Though it was frustrating and confusing at times, God was clearly at work in stretching our patience and love for them, to see them grow and develop into leaders. I was deeply touched by the end to hear from them that our effort had made a difference to them. These students would then go on to a 2-week placement being leaders and mentors to younger campers and I was confident in them as they trust God to lead them.
Though I had been aware of Inter-Varsity camps since being a part of the organization, it wasn’t until this experience that I became more aware of what they did and the significance of it. Not only have I grown in deeper amazement at how God is at work in young people no matter the age, I have also grown to admire in a new way teachers, parents and caregivers who pour themselves out to love children and youth and help them grow into men and women of God.
Sometimes I ask myself ‘would I do this again?’, weighing the joys and struggles of an experience. It was awfully tempting for me to simply say that it was hard and I’d rather take the easy route. However, whether or not I end up doing camp again, I feel strongly that I do need to continue to extend myself to those who are different from me. Not necessarily because I have something good to offer, but rather the contrary – that I have something good to receive, and that I need to receive this good thing. Love, joy, patience, to name a few. And so I found myself a little bit sillier towards the end, which was quite freeing.
For more information about OPC, check out
http://www.pioneercamp.ca/