Central Cal Junior High Camp

It's the weekend, and that means that week one of the Called Out journey is complete. We just finished our first camp for the summer with the Junior High students of the Central Cal District. It was a great week with good kids and some great fun.

Thanks to all who read this for your encouragement and prayers. I've appreciated the e-mails I've received and am grateful for your support in the days ahead as I continue to travel and learn and grow while I'm a part of this journey.

I've got a few quick photos to share from the week that we've just completed. The first photo is from the Quaker Meadows Campground. The campground is located just inside the Sequoia National Forest and really was a beautiful facility. We had a lot of fun hiking down the mountainside on Wednesday to see the fallen King David Tree.

The second photo is where I spent much of my time during the week. As the males on our team weren't needed in the cabins as counselors this last week, we assisted with the activity sessions each day. I had great fun with my area on the pond. "Pondmaster Henck" was my name for the week as each team of students came and competed against each other in relay races in and around the pool in bikes and paddleboats. It was funny to often see complete opposites in girls who didn't dare get wet and then most boys who were practically jumping off the boat to win the race.

The third photo is after the all camp dodgeball game on Thursday. It was particularly fun having the camp staff face off against the students. This shot is of some of the other Called Out folks, other staff and some students who were at camp.

The last photo is from Saturday morning and the last chapel time where Called Out was "unplugged." Our equipment was all packed up in the bus, so I was the photographer/powerpoint operator for the morning. We were in the chapel each night and played for worship and did some morning songs before students split up into their small group time.

We left the mountain this afternoon and made our way slowly down in the bus and stopped for lunch at the famous "Hamburger Stand" in Springville, CA. We then drove for four hours through Bakersfield again, through the Mojave Desert and into Barstow. And that is where we are now. We spent about 2 hours to get through all of our laundry and we made our way to a restaurant in town at around 8 p.m. for dinner. Tomorrow morning, we're having our own Sunday service in the hotel before we leave and then we're in the bus for much of the day as we make our way to Prescott, Arizona. Camp Pinerock is where we'll be for the next 2 weeks as we serve at AZ Junior High and Senior High Camps, back to back.

I'm off to bed for now as it's getting pretty late. We're up pretty early on Sunday, but if I can, I'll post some more photos. If not, thanks for reading and enjoy this next week. Talk to you soon...