Scioto Hills -
Tour has been amazing up to this point, and the past few weeks have followed suit. 2 weeks ago now, (wow where does the time go. . .) we were at Scioto Hills camp, and for a few of us it felt just like home for a few of us. Grayson, Joe Price (Suss), and Tommy all had grown up going to Scioto Hills camp and we were totally looking forward to going back and serving at a place where we had been campers not too long ago. It was so much fun. The camp really blessed us. We were able to relax a lot and were impacted through God’s Word as well. We were blessed to hear Kyle Estep speak. He was incredible. His words spoke directly to the students, as well as to us ‘adults’. One of the biggest highlights for us was getting to spend a lot of time in prayer. It quickly became something that we looked forward to every night. We were able spend a lot of time together and it will be a cherised memory.
On a lighter note, a tradition of Scioto Hills is the late night taco bell run. At around 11:30, a group of people pile in a vehicle or two and drive to taco bell to eat. While this doesn’t sound like such a big deal, the kicker is that the dining hall of taco bell is closed, but the drive through is open. Tommy was driving a group of people through the drive through with eight passengers and had to ask the person if they could take eight orders. We were quickly told that we were only allowed to give three orders at a time. So we gave three orders, went through, paid and got our food. Then we drove out of taco bell, turned around and right back into the drive through and gave three more orders. Then after those three orders, we left taco bell and did the same thing for the last two orders. We ended up getting back to camp late, but it turned out to be quite a hilarious experience and one we soon won’t forget.
One thing we were able to do is keep the Heartsong tournament championship streak alive. The first day, we ended up winning hocker (think football, meets basketball, meets ultimate frisbee, with soccer goals and no out of bounds. It’s a lot of fun). The second day, Jo-Jo, Grayson, and Tommy ended up winning the 3 on 3 basketball tournament. Then it was ultimate frisbee. If this were an ESPN sport, this match would have gone straight to the classic channel. We ended up in the championship game and were down 2-1 with 30 seconds to go. With time running out Grayson threw a perfect toss to Tommy in the endzone to tie the game and send it into overtime. In overtime, we quickly scored and ended up winning the ultimate tournament. The last day though, the team struggled. The main sport of the camp is definitely soccer, so we tried to put together a team. Let’s just say soccer is not a blessing that most of us were given. Suss showed off his sweet soccer skills and schooled a few kids. Tommy decided to jump ship when seeing the disadvantage and joined up with some campers and ended up winning the tournament, which we count as HeartSong continuing the tournament championship streak.
Skyview Ranch -
Grayson loves horses...Tommy does not.
Jo Jo and his ride
HeartSong had the opportunity to be at Skyview Ranch last week, and it was incredible! As soon as we got there we were welcomed with extremely warm and encouraging people who provided an amazing opportunity and venue for us to help serve the campers. This was one of the biggest weeks they had ever had, and some of their usual kitchen staff was attending as campers, so a couple of us decided to pitch in and help out in the kitchen staff. We all loved the extra interaction we were able to have with the kitchen staff there at the camp, and it was awesome to be able to do something to help them out other than just play the music during the sessions. Other than the opportunity to serve and the new friends we made, this was also a sweet opportunity because it gave us another chance to get to know the campers.
The energy at the camp was extremely high all week and not a single meal went by without the loud chants of their different teams that the campers had made during the week, espcially the junior highers. We still have no idea what they were saying, but they definitely made a lot of noise. The campers also had challenges during the week where cabins can challenge other cabins to sporting activities and such, and we were challenged by two different cabins . Not to brag, but the HeartSong Tournament streak is still alive and well. We surprised ourselves with our carpetball and volleyball skills. It was a lot of fun to get to interact with the campers on a lighter note.
One of the highlights from the week was a food fight that took place on Thursday night. The campers played games that all involved different ways of getting messy with different kinds of food, such as the counselors dipping themselvs in soy sauce before their campers rubbed a mushy pinapple something or another on them and threw rice and sauce on them. After the games, they brought out tons of leftover food and everyone participated in an all out food fight!
For chapel, we were leading music for the high school camp, however, on Friday night they combined the senior high and junior high chapels. It was amazing to hear all the different voices praising God together during this time! The week was extremely exhausting, yet extremely rewarding at the same time. We all formed new relationships that we are excited to keep up! God is definitely working at Skyview Ranch, and we were excited to be able to take part in it for a week!
-HeartSong
