This past week we served in the Middle High program for the PCJC Family Summer Camp. Meliss, A, and I have been working MH for quite a few years now, but this year was exceptional...exceptionally hard. So fitting that our theme was "SHINE".
To give you an idea of what we experienced - We began with 65 kids and 24 staff, and by the time the (Kev deemed) "Shine-flu" had swept through us, we had 30 kids and 12 staff. The epidemic of sickness was overwhelming.
But from the massive waves of fallen peeps, I saw amazingness Shine through the darkness. I saw Shin Furukawa fight through his sickness and step up to lead the games, run the cabin times, wash and fold tshirts, make two batches of spam musubi in one night, and take the mic when no one was there to do it. Amy Ige, who already had a challenging cabin - take on a few extras after other cabin leaders were sent home with the flu, and without one word of complaining. We lost our AV girl and two guys who just came up to camp for a Friday visit, Charlie and Kei, offered to run the entire AV techie stuff...knowing there was a chance they might get sick by being around the MH program. Melissa and Aimee, for being the best moms who aren't actually moms. I don't think there was one sick child who didn't feel loved and cared for by them. Tonya for her amazing "deanness" and Scott for stepping in as a cabin leader on Thursday, caring for Yuki, and for the devotional of the week-calling on people to Shine for one another as we lost staff person after staff person. Katsuya Omine, for after being woken up on Thursday morning and being asked to speak on the fly for the last two messages (since we lost our speaker), and with no hesitation saying YES...and for the record, his last message on Shining in the Darkness reverberates in my heart even today. Shine on Kats. For Reg, Andy, and Dr. Mark for paying to take care of every sick person around the clock from Wednesday till Saturday. Josh Komata, for his tender heart at not wanting to leave because he was sick. Mrs. Koshimizu, who offered to give us her humidifier every time she ran into me. for Noah, who exceeded my expectation with his servant's heart and amazing devotion to his kids. Robbie and Daniel, for splitting up and taking on the "lost boys". Grace Mendoza for fighting through the stomach pain and for committing to the girls who were still well. Ervin, for being asked to come to camp to lead worship, but for not only rockin the sets but also learning every kids name, being our official photographer, stepping in to lead small groups, eating with kids at meal times, cleaning up on the last night, and honestly just being the most amazing servant ever. Megan Yumori, for holding off the Shine Flu until the last day. To Shawn Arata, not that he dealt with the sickenss at all, but for taking on Daniel, Ray, and Yuji - that in itself was incredible. And to my Pat, for feeling sick and still taking care of unloading the buses, making sure people got home, transferring boxes into church, and for being so awesomely in control that Melis and I felt it was okay to run to urgent care for some meds. And to everyone else who did something that I didn't even know about.
I saw a tenacity and a heart to serve God's people that I didn't know existed. I am humbled by these people and so blessed to serve alongside such warriors, who shined so brightly in the darkness that there was light.
Shine On.
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A few more...
Amy Wong, who selflessly did all the behind the scenes AV work while still jetlagged after moving back from Australia; Aimee who deliberately had to turn it down a notch but was still 110% there; Melissa who stepped up her leadership game all week; J who battled sickness on both ends of the week but still had an amazing attitude throughout; Lori for caring for us thru the week and for driving some of us home at the end of it; Amy Ige and Cabin Leah for being so accepting of each other and for trying hard every single day to win overall cleanest cabin; Noah and Pat for being so caring of their cabin as evidenced on Thursday night with the twisted ankle; Shawn for putting up with the toughest cabin while dealing with Japan jet lag; Josh and Jordan for successfully getting a split Norcal/Socal cabin to bond; Robbie and Daniel and Cabin Peter for being there to welcome a new brother in Christ; Denise for making spam musubi every night; Ervin who gets my vote every year for Family Camp MVP for being everywhere and a part of everything; Reg for riding all the way down to LA in the sick bus and taking care of everyone on it; Kats for actually speaking more times than anyone else and for doing it so eloquently and unassumingly; all of the prayer warriors who were praying for staff throughout the week and who bought us the staff hoodies; Kev for being the MC, batsu master and basketball ref even though he was feeling ill; Josh and Brittney Morey for coming to camp, even though they couldn't stay the whole week; Carol Takasugi for lending us the marshmallow spears every year and giving us the extra smores and glow sticks, Kaoru Mulvihill for providing 3 straight hours of much-needed free massages to the staff, Carol Okeya for making the ice blended mochas and for hosting the awesome Venice party, the Norcal folks who provided food for Pre-Glow; and all the countless others that did things seen and unseen that blessed us all. I too am humbled to be a part of this awesome group.
I can't even type right now because the waves of tears keep coming...
My heart is so full and I am so thankful. =)
PRAISE GOD!
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