To be honest, I have no idea where to start with this one LoL. I returned yesterday from 2 of the most awesome weeks of my life. I didn't want to leave :( Icthus is the closest I've ever been to Heaven here on this earth. Montana was a close second.
Icthus was founded by Eddie and Kay Rew, and has been going on for 24 years. I hope I get to go back next year for it's 25th anniversary. ICTHUS is Greek for "Fish", and the Greek Letters ΙΧΘΥΣ stand for "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior". It is a Christian camp that preaches Jesus to 8-12 yr old kids.
I first started as a camper in (I think) 1993. My first night I got really homesick and wrote a letter to my mother that went down in Camp Icthus history. I believe my final year of camp was 1997, so obviously the homesickness wore off. One year I think I went to all 3 sessions of camp in one summer. It was at Camp Fortson back then, behind the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Now it is at Willow Falls Camp in Blue Ridge, GA. Willow Falls is BEAUTIFUL! I love just getting away from it all. Sometimes you'll hear the noises of the water trucks down the hill at the water plant, but other than that it's tranquil. I came back to Icthus as a counselor in 2009 for one week. I spent the next few months trying to convince myself that I wasn't going back, but the next year God said, "Not only are you going back, but you're going back twice!" When I got there in 2010 I felt like I was going home. This year I did 2 sessions as well.
At first session there were only 20 campers and 4 counselors, so it was a small group. I remembered some of the campers from the previous year, so it was great. I taught Archery along with my specialty, Riflery. I like Archery better, but the Rifle Range is very beautiful in the right light LoL. I only had 4 boys in my group, and 2 CITs (Counselors-in-Training) so it was fun. On Thursday, everyone went tubing on the Ocoee River, so I just stayed behind and had the camp to myself for a few hours. Andy Craddock led worship with his mandolin, and Richard Sharp of Operation Mobilization was the guest speaker for the week. Both men were amazing. Andy brought his whole family with him, and I had one of his sons as my CIT and another son in my group. Richard brought his wife Rachel. Richard's from England and Rachel's from Colorado. They met on the Operation Mobilization ship that sails around the world preaching the gospel. Richard's itinerary is along the lines of "Italy, Malta, Germany, Canada, Camp Icthus..." it's amazing how God brings such people to this tiny camp in Blue Ridge. At the last dinner of first session, I had a group of campers start imitating every move I made, which led to them following me around the dining hall during dinner. One 8-yr old camper in particular continued to copy me for 2 hrs, even at the Archery period following dinner, so we gave her the first ever "Copycat Award". It was adorable.
At second session we had a full camp with about 50 campers and 6 counselors. I had nine 12-yr old boys in my group and one CIT. I taught only Riflery and all but one of my periods was full. We had a hodgepodge of chapel speakers. Mr. E came back in to do his illusions. I'd seen him every previous year I'd been a camper, and he even cut my hand off in one of his tricks in 2009. This year he brought me up on stage and put a picture of a ballerina body in front of me. One kid was a monkey, one a strong man, and one a clown. It was a circus trick LoL. It's hard to explain illusions since you have to "see" them. The next day was Mr. Bove who is a missionary to Borneo. The day after that, Richard Sharp came back to speak! Thursday's speaker was...me. I was humbled to be a part of a list of such reputable speakers. I wasn't worthy to speak. I spoke about Habakkuk and how he ties in with the stories of Daniel and Esther that were theme stories for this year of camp. I have an earlier blog entry on Habakkuk as well. God told Habakkuk He was sending the Babylonians to punish Judah. The Babylonians took Daniel back to Babylon. The Persians conquered Babylon, and years later you get the story of Esther. It's all connected. I tied it in with how we each have a purpose in this life. God knew us before we were created, and He knew exactly how we would bring glory to Him. I think I have an earlier blog post about that too :) The Bible ties together beautifully. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't truly read it. There is a way to read the Bible that leads to death, and one that leads to life. Jesus Christ is the central theme of the Bible. He is God's Word (John chapter 1). I forget which day it was, but I fell out of a canoe fully-clothed into the lake. I ended up swimming with the campers since I was already soaked LoL.
Camp Icthus is amazing, and I sincerely did not want to leave. I'm even a little campsick now. In my next entry I'll go through my personal journal and write what God showed me while I was at camp.
For the Kingdom,
Stuart
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