Hillsong Camp!

CAMP WAS AMAZING!!! Time to break it down. It’s incredible how camp felt so similar to Timber-Lee, even though I was halfway across the world. I think God just puts in people’s hearts the right way to do camp. My awesome three days started early Wednesday morning. I took a taxi to the church so I could be there by 7am. My girls were super cute, they are going into their 6th year (it’s still so strange to me that they’re summer is right now and they go back end of January/beginning of February). They all grew up in Australia- kids are somehow even cuter when they have Aussie accents. It’s interesting though, at first their accents all sound the same, but after you’re around them for a while you start noticing even slight differences in their dialect. The conference center was really nice. It was great to be in the woods again after being in the city for a week. They set up two tribes to create some spirit and fun rivalry which mostly consisted of a lot of cheering while watching kids jump through an obstacle course or knock each other onto mats (organized chaos of course). One of the greatest parts- leaders got their OWN rooms! So I was in a room with three fabulous Hillsong college students, a girl from Germany who is traveling for a while like me and one of the main kid leaders. We also had a leader lounge we all hung out in after the kids went to bed where we could talk and play ping pong- it was so fantastic. Everyone is so great and on fire for Jesus (again much like Tlee ) During free time we did a lot of swimming in the pool and a lot of playing outside. I showed a couple of my girls how to throw a boomerang. First boomerang throw in Australia yeaaaaaaa. One of the guy leaders saw me carrying it as well and said he wanted to learn so hopefully it’ll be broken out a lot in the upcoming months.
Worship was AWESOME. I was so hot and sweaty by the end of it because of how much we were jumping around. The team was incredibly energized- I had such a blast. And the best part of it was that we sang Hillsong songs- but that’s because they’re the ones that came up with the songs! I couldn’t even believe that I was dancing to songs I have danced to so many times before at a HILLSONG CAMP! Worship was definitely my favorite part of camp. The kids were so excited to encounter God and learn about Him- it was great. These kids have such servant hearts too. Two of my girls cleaned up our plates and got everyone water every single meal without being asked, just because it brought them joy to do it. What 11 year old does that?! I was blown away by them all weekend. Of course they were typical crazy, funny and energized girls- but so precious. Let me just tell you about the food- I love Australia. For breakfast Thursday morning we had huge sausages, beans, toast and I had yogurt with this delicious Australian cereal (I forget what it was called). For dinner was beef and rice with jello and custard for dessert! First time I’ve tried custard- it was delicious. Friday morning we had spaghetti in the bean sauce (tasted like spaghettio’s), an egg and huge bacon. Finally for lunch Friday we had fish and chips (aka fish and french fries). They also had morning and afternoon tea which was basically just a snack and water. Haha, waaaaay different.
There were a few other things I learned at camp that is different when you’re in Australia- let me share. #1- Lollies mean candy. I thought they all just really liked lollipops as they consistently said they brought lollies to camp. I finally figured out that lollies means all candy, they aren’t just obsessed with lollipops (however, there were quite a few that made an appearance this weekend. Even giant lollipops). #2- They call a bathing suit- swimmers and flip flops-thongs (yea had to think about that the first couple of times kids were asking where their thongs were, lol). #3- Never forget to put sunscreen on your feet- you’ll look like you’re wearing red socks all the time. The Australian sun is HOT and can burn you before you even get your sunscreen on. Even hotter than FL sun. One of the other great things was we all got dressed up Thursday night and had a disco- so much fun. So there’s a bit of a glimpse of my awesome camp time. It was hard to leave to go back to the real world, even when the real world is still Australia. But I’m so excited to get to know the people I met even better and there is a Powerhouse retreat (18-25 year olds) this coming Wednesday to Friday. I am getting my fill of Hillsong awesomeness! God is just so good you guys and His love is incredible. I’m still looking for an apartment that’s close to church and a job (task for tomorrow), but I know that God won’t leave me hanging. He’s already opened up a few possibilities through some of the people I met at camp. So we’ll see what happens! Right now I’m just enjoying getting to know the beautiful girls in my room and discovering who they are and more about their culture. I’m helping out with voltage tomorrow at church and then will go to my own service Sunday. I’m praying for all of you and appreciate the prayers you’ve been sending my way! XXX (Australians end written things this way all the time- it just means kisses!)