Dylan/Luke

Path from the Chuckwagon to the Boys camps

Note: Wednesday Dylan & Luke were giving the opportunity to serve as "Chief" with the boys at camp.  What follows is a small glimpse of their experience.

"Alright everyone circle up and tune in." This saying meant that I, Chief Dylan, along with other Chiefs, and all the boys of the middle aged group, the Miccs, needed to circle up and listen to the problem at hand. For the Miccs, we walked and circled up for an hour and a half around lunch time.  After that I was moved to the youngest group, the Cowboys, for the rest of the day.  I was immediately greeted with hugs and excited talk and was welcomed into the group.  Soon we headed to the pond to go swimming.  The boys had been threatening to take me on the whole time.  As soon as we arrived at the pond, the boys gathered around me getting ready to take me on.  They all ran at me and I picked them up and took them into the water with me.  We crashed in, and the boys didn't get the memo that they were supposed to let go, so I flung them off of my body and surfaced.  After a rousing time of swimming and throwing boys into the water, we left to get supper ready and finish our work schedule.  I helped make a supper of ribs, watermelon, and pudding.  After supper, we showered and then went to Vespers service.  The youth group was leading the worship service for the night, and I enjoyed leading singing and the atmosphere of the worship time with the boys.  I had a great time being a Chief for the day, and it might've even inspired me to do it in the future.

"I'll back you up on that Chief Dylan."  This means I agree with what Dylan has said.  After breakfast, I went from being regular Luke to Chief Luke.  I joined the eldest group of boys, the Buccaneers, for their day.  I immediately felt welcomed and answered the questions they rattled off to me.  We began the day giving a tour to a new recruit.  During this time, I was able to hear the boys voluntarily share their stories with the new recruit and inform him of their progress since they've been at camp.  After the tour, we began work schedule, and I joined one of the boys, J*, and Chief Alex with laying down new borders along the path.  J*and I worked hard without any power tools on 

cutting a three inch diameter log.  After a lot of work using a hand saw and wood scraper, we eventually cut it off.  I was so proud of his work ethic.  We then had difficulty finishing work schedule because there were a lot of times where we had to circle up because they boys had gotten into a conflict.  We eventually ate lunch of burgers, corn, and watermelon and then settled into siesta time where I gladly rested and took a nap.  When I awoke, we finished work schedule and then headed to the pond to swim.  I raced the boys at the pond and then attempted to tackle some into the pond.  Surprisingly a lot of them with pretty strong, so I ended up in the water quite a few times that were witnessed by the youth group across the pond.  I allowed the boys to throw me in many times, and it wore me down by the end of the swim time.  The boys aren't allowed to have their hands on each other, but they can punch, push, kick, and tackle their Chiefs, so I absorbed a lot of that throughout the day.  I was taken away from the boys, but eventually met them back up at the showers.  We showered and then headed back to the camp to make supper.  We had a supper of ribs, applesauce, and pudding, and then got ready to go to Vespers service for a time of evening worship.  Walking through the rain, we arrived at Chuck Wagon and enjoyed a great evening of centering, praying, scripture reading, and singing.  At first the boys were a bit timid, but then a lot of them joined in, and I could see joy on their faces which gave me joy.  It was a great day.
*Name omitted for privacy