90 Young People Enjoy Summer Camp in Chile
In December 2007 we had the blessing of having the summer camp for the youth of Chile and Argentina in Lican Ray, in the south of Chile.
For several years we had the camp in the town of Paine, very close to the city of Santiago, but we wanted the youth to have a different experience this year.
Since the Feast of Tabernacles was in Lican Ray, during the Feast we began to investigate the possibility of having the camp there as well.
Several weeks before camp a school with dormitories offered all of the facilities for us to use for a reasonable price. The Church was able to pay for the housing and food for all of the campers, with the only condition that they pay for their transportation regardless where they were coming from. Most of the youth from Chile between 12 and 21 years of age were able to attend camp.
There were 90 campers—87 from Chile and three from Argentina. We also had four adults staying within the facilities to help with all activities of camp.
God provided His help in many ways. Four Church couples were taking their vacation in the same town during the same dates. They all offered their help, which was much welcomed. The ladies helped in the kitchen, and the men helped with the sports and all aspects of the organization of the activity.
The presence of God was felt all through the camp. No one was hurt. In one instance God's blessing was very much manifested. On the way to camp early on the morning of Dec. 24, the Church van just stopped with an electrical problem. It stopped right in front of a gas station. The workers at the station tried to help but to no avail.
One of the workers said there was an electrical shop just around the corner. However, he said there was only a very small possibility that the shop would be open. But one of the two owners of the shop was there. Since he was at the shop only to pick up some tools, he said it was impossible to help us. He also told us it was almost impossible to find a mechanic at that time and that day—the morning of Christmas eve.
I decided to try to find another electrical shop. Half a block away I prayed to God for help. At that moment the man at the shop called and asked me to come back. The second owner of the shop was passing by and offered to help us! He took care of the problem.
God was so active at the camp that He even gave us free communications! One of the campers is a university student. The university was doing an experiment with a brand-new kind of cellular phone. This student was involved in the experiment only during the month of December. Because of the experiment, phone calls and Internet connections through the cellular were free anywhere! All of us were able to be in contact with our families for free! The cellular phone was going from one camper to the next during the whole camp.
Each day began with breakfast at 9 a.m. Then we had an hour called "Remember Your Creator." This hour was dedicated to prayer and Bible study. Then we had a Christian Living class. This year for the first time we had skiing and swimming classes in beautiful Lake Calafquen, which is only a few blocks from the school where we were staying.
A Church member graciously offered his boat and his time to instruct the campers on skiing on the lake. Another Church member taught swimming classes. After lunch we had free time to rest. The afternoon was dedicated to sports such as soccer, volleyball, basketball and handball.
Before dinner we had an hour for the campers to speak to the rest in informal speech classes. There were five speakers each day. After dinner we had a group activity before going to sleep. There was a dance, organized games, karaoke and a talent show. At midnight all of us went to sleep.
We left camp the night of Dec. 30 with a feeling of unity, camaraderie and best wishes to come back to camp next year.