Camp Out

Two weekends ago (I'm getting behind on my posting) the Bethesda Youth Leadership Team took the youth group to the Stauffer Pond for a short camp out. The youth didn't arrive until after 8, so the sun had already set, but this is the sunset that Mike and I saw while we were setting up for the camp out.

Once the youth arrive we had a little competition to see which group could set up their tent the fastest. The boys broke up into a few groups and the girls mostly helped each other.

The girls had a little trouble putting up their tent, so they asked the boys to help because it was getting dark and they had the biggest tent to set up.

After all of the tents were set up we had campfire where we sang songs, had introductions and Andrea gave a short reflection.


We finished out the evening with smores and fellowship. It was very cold that night so everyone wanted to sit close to the fire.



I got to sleep with the Freshman girls in a tent, meaning I was able to accomplish one item on my list of things to do before my birthday. While I was in a tent and not actually under the star, I still think it counts.

In the morning Andrea led us in worship and talked about the theme for the year.
Ben though it was fun to roll a large log around in the sand, while everyone else was listening to Andrea.

It was still cold in the morning, so this time we sat a little closer to the fire.


Then it was finally time to get in the water.


While we were exhausted when we got home, the trip was well worth it and we were very excited to spend sometime getting to know the youth a little bit better.