Last Day & Night at Camp (Thursday)

Hello all, this is Britney and Morgan reporting on the last day of camp.

Thursday morning began early with shared stories from our small groups and a message Dan shared with us about the encouraging words his sister sent referring to the work we are doing in Romania. We finished the leader meeting by praying over our small group and about the final night we have together.

Later that morning before the rain began we played a not so quick game of Wanted where leaders had posters hung up around camp and campers found the posters, or in Noah’s case didn’t find the posters, then tried to bring the leaders to the home base. At the end of the game many were exhausted so we had all worked up an appetite for lunch…

SURPRISE! We had chicken and potatoes for lunch! Mel says that the potatoes are the reason we have all been hitting the gym on a regular basis. Thank God for potatoes! Any who… after lunch we were busy as usual having our American Team Time, where we read all of your wonderful comments, and rehearsal for the Life House Skit (The Everything Skit). Neither of us had ever seen the video and we were very moved by the intensity and emotion it portrayed. For those who have also not seen the skit, it is a mute drama showing God’s unending love for us through temptations and perseverance of faith (you should just watch it, it is far too meaningful to even attempt to summarize). We both agree that being apart of this drama was (there isn’t a word for how amazing the experience was –Britney) (yeah –Morgan)

The rest of the night was made up of English classes, more drama rehearsals and writing many, many “happy fun notes” to campers and leaders. We are unable to remember what we ate for dinner, but it’s pretty safe to assume it was chicken/pork and potatoes. The final evening program featured Ali, Morgan and Emma, Emma claiming that their inabilities to master their various Summer Olympic sports were simply due to the season…they began their training for the upcoming Winter Olympics! After some butt scooting and bare (yes, bare) belly hugs, the whole camp began worship by singing past camp songs and the one from this year. The skit followed worship, and the emotion was evident in the room. As all the messages had been this week, Daniel spoke about the importance of God’s adoption into His kingdom.

Small groups followed Dan’s message and were filled with meaningful discussions, many cookies and lots of tea (as usual). Britney is going to speak about the “all night-er”, as I fell asleep within 15 minutes after small groups ended. Well… my night was filled with tons of “Happy Fun Note” writing, journaling and card games. I especially loved the games of Zurich played, if you haven’t heard of Zurich you should definitely ask Dan, Jesse, and I about it. (If you ask anyone else they will either be just as confused as you or very annoyed). After a few games of Zurich, which seemed to always change, I was taught the game of Macauo (thanks for the spelling Irina) which I will definitely be playing again! And I, Morgan, got a lot of sleep! 😀

As for a quick health and mostly heart update for the two of us, I think that at this time we were down about the fact that it was our last night at camp, but had a lot of great memories to reflect on. We both stayed healthy the whole week, as for majority of the team, and got sufficient (more than sufficient for Mo) amounts of sleep. I, Britney, wasn’t really sure what to think, I was shocked that camp was almost over, but I am also really ready to see my family. As for myself, Morgan, it was a surreal feeling having to realize the fact that our four days with these campers had come to an end. Even now (it’s actually 10:30 on Saturday…whoops) it hasn’t set in that we had said our goodbyes and our week had come to an end. However, it is truly a blessing to look back and realize God’s work over these past two weeks and the time we spent at camp. We all miss Wisconsin, but Romania has become a part of what we call “home”.

That’s all for now folks, Britney and Morgan out.

To recap our meals this past week, here is your daily Joke with Jesse:

Are you a sweet potato, because I yam!

Shoutouts:

To Sydney: The team was disappointed you didn’t have any boy updates in your comment 😉 also, please stay in Wisconsin until I get home. I miss you a lot and am excited to see you soon. – Mo

To Jake: Hearing that you passed your test made me very happy. I knew you could do it. Here in Romania, new drivers are required to have a yellow exclamation mark sticker on their windshield for their first year of driving…not a bad idea, huh? Can’t wait to see you. – Mo

To whomever: Shoutout from Cabbage

To Britney’s Family: I miss you and love you all so much! All your letters made me so happy and I’m excited to see you all on Tuesday! Rachel your letter definitely made me cry and laugh because you know me so well… I miss arguing with you too, I can’t wait to give you a huge hug when I get home.

8 thoughts on “Last Day & Night at Camp (Thursday)

  1. Thanks for the camp updates! Thank you for sharing God’s love with the awesome people in Romania.

    Special shout-out to the adult leaders for supporting the students well. (Larry and Angie, best of luck getting as many receipts during the trip as possible. Pat, thanks for giving hugs. Lief, have fun with your brother Valentin.)

    I’ll be praying that the relationships and messages from camp continue to flourish and that the team has a meaningful debrief time.

    -Kristen Emerson (leader on the Romania ’11 team)

  2. Camp may be over but your trip is not
    And even when the trip ends, memories won’t be forgot.
    You’ve crammed into two weeks memories for your life.
    Stories to tell future kids and your future husband or wife.

    You’ll start your transition home but you’ll never be the same.
    And that’s actually a good thing, whatever your name.
    You’ve been changed for life, you’ve gone through a mod.
    But, of course, you’ll still always be beautiful children of God.

  3. Ah! I miss everybody so much! Reading about everything at camp gives me all the feels, and makes me miss it so much. It’s such a challenging and life-giving experience on this trip, and I hope each of you has experienced something special that will forever shape how you view and relate to Jesus.

    Ok, a couple questions and shout outs:

    which guy on the American team has the worst/dirtiest/best mission trip mustache? I want picture evidence.

    SO to the Rosings. The Slaps had one victory in the playoffs but lost in the second round. Also, we miss you guys and can’t wait to see you when we are all back in Madison. Meet at the Mason.

    SO to the Fitchburgers (Cabbage, Sammy, and Britney). Im super proud of you guys and for your generous, compassionate hearts for serving God. I love everybody on the trip, obviously, but we got that Fitchburg bond, yo!

  4. So great to hear from you. Morgan, you always fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. I love that about you! 🙂 Glad you are all healthy. We have missed you a great deal, even though this time has really flown by. We can’t believe you’ll be home in 2 days (its Sunday). Captain is really missing you. I told him to go “find Morgan” the other day and he ran out of my room and started searching all around with his “good eye.” It was very sad and I felt really bad afterwards (even though it was also funny). So he got a peanut butter treat…. Then, I had to give Finn one so that he didn’t bite Captain’s face off for his. 😉 The twins are so excited to tell you all about their orientation adventures (we got lost just trying to find the “Student Center” to register…. not a good sign!). 🙂 They are very nervous as well to be freshman…as I remember you and Sydney were as well back then. Gake will be here on Tuesday, so we’ll see you at the bus when you get home. Safe travels and again, enjoy all of this. When you return to the U.S., I suspect you’ll be a bit sad to see how much we all take for granted…. If there is one prayer I ask God to answer, it is that He keeps all of your hearts close to those in Romania. You have had an experience that very few in this country will ever have. Don’t let it fade!!! I love you so very much and can’t wait to hug you! Love, Mom.

  5. Hi all,

    Hoping that debrief went well and that although you have left Romania, your hearts have been forever changed and softened because of your time there. We know that you will return to Madison with very mixed emotions….that is to be expected. Your team has experienced something so unique and challenging. Lean into each other as much as possible upon your return. And…extend a little grace to those of us waiting for you at home. We have missed you tremendously and might be inclined to smother you with love for a bit. It’s challenging for us to remember that your thoughts and hearts may need some time to make the transition. We are not trying to be inconsiderate or insensitive because we, too, are grateful for all of the experiences you have had, but we’re also excited to welcome you home.

    Safe travels! Hugs to you all.

    Alissa and Noah…love you tons!

  6. Why HELLO to all! This is the first Romania Team Blog Post I’ve gotten to read and I’m looking forward to reading more! It is so evident to me that the Lord is using each of you in specific ways to glorify him. I am so incredibly happy that each of you answered God’s call to be in Romania this summer: the most difficult part of the trip is purchasing the plane tickets and waiting to leave (actually, each part of missions has different difficulties, just like life). Woops, sorry, I didn’t mean to get all deep on y’all! I’ll be praying for you all for your debrief time, travel, and reentry into American culture. I encourage you all to be open with each other!! (Seriously!!!) These are friends who have had the same experience as you; there will be a time when you return home where they aren’t around all the time. Also, pray with each other whenever you have the opportunity; don’t let the Devil tell you there’s nothing you can do in a situation- there’s always prayer (which is hella powerful).

    Anyway, those were some random thoughts from T. I’m excited to see you all!

    P.S. Philippians 1:9-11

  7. This is unfortunately my first (and probably last at the same time) post, but I want you guys to know that the work you’ve been doing over in Romania has been great, and I know as do you, extremely impacting to the lives around you all. I’m sure this has been said, and extremely emphasized as well, but I don’t think it will hurt too much to say again, and that is to take what you have learned from this trip and affect the lives of fellow neighbors, students, friends, family, and the occasional stranger in a positive and enlightening way, so that they may see the world as you do yourself. As you leave Romania, there will inevitably be a withdrawal phase back into our American culture from the wonderful experience you’ve had, however the key is not to dwell on this, but use it as the fuel to forge change. I’ll be looking forward to your arrival home, and may just have to smother Noah with love and kisses as Mr. and Mrs. P promise to do, but if you don’t want that, I guess that’s okay too;).
    Cherish that what you have learned,
    Jack

  8. Somehow I just lost my reply, but Sammy, we cannot wait to hear all about the people you have met and the experiences you have had.
    We miss you tons and Atlas says to tell you that he is a big dog now since he went swimming in Lake Mendota yesterday! And he had a big dog bath, too!!! But, don’t worry ’cause you will still recognize him 🙂
    Love, The whole Piascik bunch

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