Week 9: More energy than a hyperactive kid
Thank you very much for your prayers this week. The Lord was very good this last week of JBC. I could tell people were praying and my energy level was was amazing for week 9. Normally by this time you can tell the counselors’ wagons are draggin’, but I had as much energy as I’ve had all summer. Which was good, as I did have a very hyperactive camper this week. He was diagnosed with ADHD, and although I don’t agree with the vast majority of behavioral diagnoses (in my opinion, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is better understood as Adults Don’t Discipline)), i could at least see why he would have been labeled as such. He had a lot of energy! But God gave me more, and it was me who was running down the hill while he dragged behind rather than the other way around.
The speaker this week at JBC was Mike Wessburg, he travels as a team with Rich Tozour who was preaching for the teen camp. The juniors enjoyed his magic tricks and dummy Stanley. None of my guys made decisions in the services, but as we talked one on one with several of them decided to get serious about their devotions and other things. I talked with the hyperactive kid after lights out one night (he wasn’t going to sleep anyway 
) and he was able to nail down the assurance of his salvation. All the guys pictured above are my ROBOTS, the one in the picture on the left playing tube tug is the same guy that is on the left in the picture on the right. He, the hyperactive kid, and the hyperactive kid’s older brother (center guy, center picture) were all from Wilson, NC, where I used to live, but they go to a different church than we did. Three of my other campers were from the Brevard area, and I actually saw two of them at church this morning.
Well, only one more week of camp, and as I will be on COR (counselor on rotation), this last week was my last set of campers. That’s kind of sad as they may have been my last campers ever, depending on what I do next year. So what is COR, you ask? Well, see my explanation from last year, week 3. Yes, all these notes are posted on my blog for your perusal and enjoyment. 
So rather than repeat that from last year, I will give you a different “in depth” look of one of the favorite activities from JBC, the game show…. “Spin That Wheel!” Rather than have an elaborate funtime in JBC like we do in teen camp, we have what is known as the JBC game show. It combines elements of several game shows, largely Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right (and maybe some older ones I’m not familiar with). The standard teams of Red vs Blue are laid aside, and the classic battle of Boys vs. Girls is taken up. The announcer, Abe Abey (dressed to the “kilt” as a Scotsman - ha, ha, sorry bad pun - complete with accent) comes to the platform and introduces the host of the show, Big Bob “Woofer.” One final character is probably the kid’s favorite, Leonard (he’s a goofy brainless character that acts as the stagehand for the game show) Kids are called at random from the audience, introduced as holding the record of shopping for 27 straight hours (girls) or the largest booger collection (guys) and are invited to “Spin That Wheel!” On the wheel are different slices, such as various numbers of points, Song, Spar, and Skit. The kids continue spinning the wheel and collecting points until they land on a song, spar, or skit slice. (yes, the game is completely rigged, but the kids don’t seem to know or care). When they land on the song slice we all sing a crazy song together like…
Oh let me tell you a story about a computer named Charlie,
A computer i used to use
Until one day I fed him too much knowledge,
And he nearly blew a fuse.(chorus)
He went Beep - O - Beep Beep
Rattle, Rattle Bing-Bang
Bing Bang Boing B-Boing
Then we do sound effect of lighting a match, setting off a fuse, and exploding… something like…
Fwshhhhhhhht!
Fsssssssssssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
BANG!
If they land on a skit slice, the team leaders come out and do skit like the wagon ride one they do at teen camp, or a classic, “The King and I” If you don’t know what that one is, ask my dad And if they land on a spar slice, the boys and girls have a little mini-game competition like a relay race to complete a giant board puzzle or a rearrange letters to spell certain words or put the shapes in a skill ball. Throughout the game there are various interruptions such as someone running in wanting to be on the game show because he can do a really good imitation of the chicken (stick a rubber glove on his head and blow is up until it pops), a policeman coming in and calling up one of the guy counselors to give him an “Ugly Violation,” etc. There are also breaks for a message from the sponsor, Jacques and Johnk’s Magic Shop. The great magician, Jacques, comes up to do a magic trick for the kids but messes it up and his lowly assistant Johnk ends up doing it instead. Also something that is said randomly reminds Abe Abey of his homeland of Scotland and he goes into a soliloquy of how great Scotland is and how they were never conquered, etc until he realizes where he is and abruptly stops. It’s a lot of fun! So know you know about America’s most under-watched, overrated game show, “Spin That Wheel!”
This coming week is half teen camp, half family camp. Rusty Smith will the speaker for the teens and Jim Binney will be the speaker for their parents. The younger kids will either be with their parents or have a special service with some of the Wilds staff preaching/teaching. It’s much smaller week than the rest of the summer and about 30 of the counselors leave to go home after the last required service and Staff Appreciation Banquet tonight. Oh yes, we have more special eating tonight! Yum, yum, yum! For the Staff Appreciation Banquet the dining hall goes under a major transformation with tablecloths, candles, placemats, etc. At the end of the banquet the Spark Plug awards will be given out as well as the best cabin cheer award. Spark Plug awards are given to the most servant-minded, encouraging op staff guy and girl and counselor guy and girl.
Well, as usual, my laundry is about done, so I’ll end this brief, err…. maybe not so brief note. Thanks so much for your prayers. Next week at this time I’ll be in Greenville, preparing to start another semester.
