A big thanks.

Andrea McCorkle has been serving as our camp nurse for the last few years. It has been a true blessing to have a woman of God ready and on call throughout the day (and night!) to deal with our injuries, medications, and occasional emotional breakdowns. She has given her week, year after year, to ensure our health and safety remains. Able to kiss any boo-boo, Andrea will be dearly and deeply missed.

Our favorite quote from her is “I like to treat the whole patient, not just the hole in the patient.”

And we are very grateful.

We received this note of thanks from our camp doctor, Dr. Weber.

“Thank you for your service as camp nurse these many years. You have done a super job and you will be missed greatly by everyone in camp. We wish you the best in Kansas finding a new church and new set of friends. Come back and visit us and don’t be surprised if some wayward intercessors HOP over to see you from time to time.”

The Bean Teams- A Summary.

The 2008 Summer Camp Games came to a reluctant end this morning, but the laughter coming from Mobley Hall drowned out any tears we might have shed. A combination of quips from our Covingtonian hosts, miniature automobile collisions, and the literal ripping apart of current events off of opponents’ bodies created a celebration of sorts that made it easy to forget, if only for a few minutes, that this is the last full day of Camp. The Hummer Race combined the remote driving skills of both boys and girls from each team, who (somewhat successfully) weaved their cars through a series of beach balls. After two heated rounds of racing, making it into the final round were the Refried Beans and the Garbanzo Beans. The Garbanzos came through with a flourish, thanks to the talent of Hunter Chapman who successfully took out 11 beach balls using only his thumbs. Following this was an intense and highly-skilled combat, preceded by a highly effective demonstration from Cleetus and Wilbur. We were used to seeing Wilbur cry, but we didn’t know he was this much of a “sissy”. I guess it’s because we didn’t know he was a gal. Both champions (the Pinto girl and the Kidney boy) displayed brute force easily greater than Wilbur’s. Possibly Cleetus’. But definitely not Marie Dixie’s (she’s a plaid belt).

The final scores, and the overall winner of the KING BEAN, will be presented on Friday night at the Homecoming Service.

Monday

After too many students stayed up late on Sunday night, Monday morning came early. REALLY early for a large group of students and counselors, who met to pray in the prayer room beginning at 6am.

The bean team competition is getting intense. A round of volleyball four-square found the Pork & Beans team as the target for all the other teams. After a few rounds, and a game of fort building (blindfolded, of course), the teams were in a close race. Only 50 points separated the top and the bottom.

Teaching impact groups and leisure impact groups were all successful- the students all found their place pretty easily and enjoyed the ones they had chosen.

The evening service, again, was very blessed. Hopefully you have been able to view it with us live online either here or on riverstonesummercamp.tv. The worship was strong- Nic and his band did an excellent job ushering in the presence of the Lord. During our early prayer time, many people felt the Lord speaking to them about freedom from shame- that His heart, for the night, was to speak freedom from shame for our students. Kevin, the speaker, spoke about that topic exactly- talking about how Jesus is a "thrifter"- He looks for people who are broken, hurting, incomplete, not perfect. And those are the ones He chooses and loved deeply. This truth resonated deeply with the students and really impacted them.

Continue to pray for us. So many students are experiencing the true love of God- where is God leading us next?

Enjoy the pictures- there are over 75 in the three slide shows from the first two days of camp.