Slightly sleep deprived from the chaotic night before, I faced yet another full day of excitement. So much had happened already and much more was still to come. Before breakfast, we leveled up our room again. This time, we made it look as if no one was staying there at all. All the luggage and clothes were put away and out of sight. The bathroom was spotless. We were determined to get the best room recognition that day.
Breakfast, small groups, and the morning meeting all came and went. I was a little more energized from the meeting and wasn't entirely sure why. Lunch followed and that afternoon's activities were announced. The camp was buzzing in anticipation of what they could be as some camp veterans had a good idea. When the activities coordinator announced it was Capture the Flag, the whole dining hall exploded. I had never played before because I had never been around a large enough group to pull it off. As we were finishing up lunch, I was being told tales of how crazy CTF gets. My anticipation was building.
After lunch, we all went to change into comfortable clothing and then assembled at the cafeteria porch for instructions. When we were listing to the rules, it blew my mind about how much of the camp we were going to use as our playing field. Think of a lot of football fields that had terrains of flat, woods, hills, a creek, and standard trails. We were split up into teams and sent off to our sides. We chose our flag location and jail location and then took our positions. The siren sounded and the game was afoot. My initial strategy was to stay back and guard the flag until I felt comfortable enough to go for the other team's flag. Which was maybe 30 minutes.
I ventured off into the main part of no man's land where both sides could go without being captured. I saw all the easy points were covered. I had heard and seen the college and working serving ones disappear into the woods. I wasn't willing to do that fearing I would get lost. But after long stretches of not finding an opening, I decided to go into the woods. I got about as far as I could go while still seeing the edge. Then, a sudden movement caught my eye. I saw a figure duck behind a tree. The person peered their head out to survey the situation. It was Joe S. Joe was Mike S's young brother. I would come to know Joe very well over the years and would also come to know that the man was a jr high camp staple. I, being the naïve kid I was, I started shouting "I see you Joe! You can't hide from me! I see you!" In doing so, I was effectively giving away my position to the rest of the enemy. Joe didn't say a word and slipped away deeper into the forest.
I didn't want to chase, but I decided to press my luck. I pressed into enemy territory. I spotted no one else in the woods. I was so deep, there was no turning back. Eventually, I saw the enemy jail. They had some of our people under guard. I couldn't quite see the flag so I had a decision to make. I either snoop around in enemy territory a bit more and risk getting captured, or I become an early hero and free the prisoners. I decided the prisoners were my better option. I waited for my moment and then I charged in. I thought I had a clear shot, but some of the prisoners started shouting in excitement. That alerted a guard I had not accounted for. Just before I could make the jailbreak tag, the quick-footed guard tagged me. Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
Here's where I wish I could tell you an epic tale of how we made a daring escape. But the reality was I got caught early in the game and that meant I rotted in jail for quite a while. I found out why getting caught was a bad idea. I milled around in the jail. Bugged my fellow prisoners, picked blades of grass and tossed them in the wind. Some of my teammates crept past us through the woods to go after the flag. My boredom was going to be the death of me. But then, there on the grassy horizon, was hope. A teammate came flying out of the woods and dodged the bored, but now alert, guards with ease. Then, they made the tag on the outstretched arm of another prisoner and we had won a jailbreak. We all celebrated as we got a free pass back to our territory through enemy lines.
Once I had made it back, I didn't see many of our older and athletic players in sight. I questioned other teammates who may have had some intel. All I could garner was that they had made a late push for the flag. A late push? Had we really been battling for a couple hours? That jail stint must've confounded my concept of time. Since I had no idea where the flag was and didn't feel like another round in the slammer, I patrolled No-Man's land like a lion protecting her cubs. Nobody was going to get through our land the easy way.
I stared down my opponents. Sweat dripping off my brow. Complete exhaustion. But I wasn't going to reveal that. They taunted me. I dared them to cross. I wanted to tag them all and be known around camp as The Warden. But then, through gaps in the branches, across the grassy fields. The dreaded siren sounded. Game over. Did we win? Oh please say we won. I quickly made my way to the rally point. I watched as weak and weary bodies stumbled out of the woods. The came like zombie hordes yet with some sign of life. As soon as I could, I began questioning the bold. Apparently we managed to get their flag and in an attempt to allude them, it was passed to a teammate who had made it onto a building roof. That person then ran across the roof until they ran out of shingles. A mad dash was made through the woods and one of our players holding the flag was captured, so it fell short of the border. The battle was a draw. A stinking draw. So many good people were captured that day and their sacrifice was for nothing. But in reality, that game was such a blast, that we talked about it the rest of camp.
The rest of the day was slow going with small groups, dinner, and the standard rest time. Then approached that night's meeting. I thought it was going to be like all the rest. Full of good singing, a good message, another satisfying way to end a fun-filled day. But something unusual was going to happen. Kids began to call out songs and one after another, we flowed with the music. Then someone called the song Nevermore This World Shall Bind Me. It was a popular song throughout the camp and had been sung multiple times during the week. But in that moment, it hit me different. I suddenly had a mini reflection on the week. The words that were spoken in the meetings, the verses we had covered from the bible, and the words of the very songs we were singing throughout the week. I felt like a spark was trying to ignite something in me. As we were singing this song, Mike S was leading and all the kids were really into it. Then we repeated the first verse. "Nevermore this world shall bind me. I won't let it tie me up, nor let it way me down. Although Pharaoh's force surrounds me, I am free from fear and doubt." That last line. "I am free from fear and doubt." For the past six years of my life, I had let fear and doubt rule it. But that night, for the first time in a long time, I was free from it. Then I felt something tell me, "go up to the front and join Mike." It wasn't my dad, nor my friend beside me. I let the feeling lead. I left my chair and went straight up on the little stage. Then the chorus kicked in. "Here I am, standing on Mount Zion high, far above the storms. Where I hear the heavenly Father's cry. Hear Him this is my Beloved. My Beloved for you He died." My spirit was so alive and I couldn't explain it. Something I really had never felt like this before. And while all that was going on, two more boys joined us on stage. There were four of us now in front of everyone else, but all of us enjoying that very moment. A taste of what it means to be free from fear and doubt.
The song concluded and we all returned to our seats. A message was then shared, which I can't really recall what it was about because I was enamored by that living moment I had experienced. I had felt a spark. But what I didn't know yet, was how real those sparks and that experience were going to become.
After that night, I began to see things through a slightly different light. I appreciated the serving ones more. Realizing they were giving up time in their summer to spend it with a bunch of loony toon jr. high kids. The small groups became a little more meaningful and I paid more attention to what the bible verses were saying. The meeting sessions were more real to me. Yet, something was still missing, and I knew not what.
Thursday arrived and excitement filled the air. The day was going to be filled with many incredible events all leading up to the grand finale on Friday. But more on that in the next chapter. I want to focus on a moment that was about to change my life. The day's activities fired me up and the meeting that evening was so uplifting. People were the most joyous I had seen them all week. The singing was so spirit filled that no one wanted it to end. As the meeting concluded, we were about to participate in an event that was a junior high camp staple. The bonfire, also affectionately known as the "bond" fire. No summer camp would be complete without one.
We all went to grab hoodies and flashlights. Then in one massive group, we made the 10 minute hike through the woods, on a trail, that lead to a clearing on a hill where the bonfire was going to take place. As we walked through the night air, I paid attention to all the sounds that carried through it. The Pennsylvania woods really are something special. Eventually, we reached the clearing and I was in awe of what I saw. In the center was a roaring bonfire and in the distance on a higher hill, was a city all lit up under the night sky. The stars were out providing a twinkling blanket of wonder. It was magical.
Everyone found a place around the flames and shortly after someone broke out a guitar. Music filled the air as melodious voices sang out with gusto. Then came the best part of all. S'mores. An American summer classic. People were signing, marshmallows were toasting, and life was good. Then at one point, I found a seat on the grass. I stared deeply off into the night sky and began to reflect on what I had experienced that entire week. The friends I had made. The love from the serving ones that I didn't expect from people I barely new. The indescribable sensation I had felt during the signing time of the Wednesday night meeting. All of it began to sink into my being, down through the depths of my soul. Then, it felt like all the world had faded around me. But I was not alone. I felt an overwhelming peace I had never felt before. So much so that my anxiety couldn't touch me. I knew it was a presence greater than me, but one that knew me.
All my life I had heard about the Lord. I had known of Him, but never really made him my own. I was riding my parents' coattails. Until this week. I began to get a taste of what it meant to know the Lord. To take that leap of faith on my own. To experience Him for myself. As this realization was befalling me, someone prayed. Then another person. Then there was a pause. I felt that feeling again. This time I heard something. "Now it's your turn." I didn't hesitate. I let out all that was welling up inside of me with a thankful and grateful heart. My spirit was so alive and I knew in that moment, I could no longer deny what I suspected to be true for a long time. The Lord was real and He had chosen me.
When I finished that prayer, a loud chorus of amens came from everyone in the camp. The fire still roared, the stars still twinkled, and I knew the love of the Lord. That moment on that grassy hill in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, was my moment where faith became real. It was my beginning of a lifelong journey. And the first, of many, many experiences that I would have walking the Christian walk. And to this very day, I can pinpoint who I am and who I have become to that very moment. This was my beginning.
