Sunday Fun

     Sundays are always a great day at camp. It's laid back and restful but we still have a ton of fun. Sleeping in, coffee cake, and church are a great way to start off the day as well as recharge for the next week of the term. In the afternoon everyone enjoys a good game of ultimate soccer (5 teams + 5 soccer balls + 5 goals all at the same time).
     Tonight is a worship night, something I always love. It is such a good way to end the day, to join together in praising the Lord and remembering why we are here. John Pierce, our worship leader, is a super talented musician and does a great job leading a worship set that everyone can get involved in.
     Here are some pictures from a great day so for:

Leaning

The verse that I clung to in the weeks leading up to finishing college was: 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) 

As I process the different issues and points of loss from this summer the lyrics from yesterday’s 2Deep replay in my heart. 

“I lean not on my own understanding 

My life is in the hands of the maker of heaven 

I give it all to you God 

Trusting that you will make something beautiful out of me” 

(Hillsong- United Pursuit; “Nothing I Hold Onto”) 

As the days go by, the commonality between the terms thus far in the summer is the same that we experience throughout the year. 

Meaning, we are broken people living in a broken world. While we have the opportunity to know the joy and have a hope that will not disappoint - Romans 5:5 - we still feel the pain of injustice and betrayal that exists here on this earth.

Last night we discussed ways in which we can be involved in supporting efforts of justice with the mentality that while we cannot and never will be the solution or source of comfort, we are able to walk alongside them in faith as we point to our hope in the Lord that He is making all things new. 

It is awesome to know that here at camp we get such a limited glimpse of how God is working in the lives of campers and staff, anticipating that it will be brought to completion. 

Sitting at His Feet

Joanna Weaver states that "The world applauds achievement, God desires companionship." This quote hits me quite deeply because I am an achiever, everyday has a to do list, and I foolishly can find worth in the accomplished list at the end of the day. But aren't we all achievers? Possibly because we live in a society that encourages and judges based upon achievement. But Jesus came to break those encouragements and give abundant life through surrender.

Wow! What an incredible gift. The story of Martha and Mary paints a very clear picture of the the worker's heart and the attentive heart. While Martha is serving and loving Jesus through preparations, Mary is serving and loving Jesus by sitting at His feet and knowing Him. When Martha gets upset at the fact that her sister is breaking all cultural expectations of women and not helping her in the kitchen, Jesus kindly rebukes her and tells Martha that Mary has chosen the Better Part and that will never be taken away from her.  (Luke 10:38-42)

The Better Part will never be taken away. While worldly achievements will fade, sitting at the feet of Jesus will never be taken away. Kivu is a beautiful place for campers and staff to be able to put aside the distractions of accomplishment to sit at the feet of Jesus and know Him and be known by Him. And that is exactly what is happening here in the gates of camp, campers are saying that this is a place to remember the Good News and that we have the choice to choose the Better Part! My encouragement to you while you read this in the midst of that to do list, is to put it down and sit at the feet of Jesus, for it will never be taken away.

Joy

I recently read a quote by Mark Twain that said, "Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with." The second half of the statement stayed with me, and I soon realized that I witness this sharing of joy daily here at Kivu.

Joy is evident in this place, and it seems to be contagious. It spreads through the camp with each smile and fit of laughter, and it is such a divine pleasure to watch campers and staff live out and share their joy with one another. It multiplies throughout the course of the term, too, which further supports Mr. Twain's claim (or Mr. Clemens for my fellow literature nerds).

And what is the source of this joy? It's more than loving the outdoor activities or dancing our hearts out at parties. We have joy because of Jesus! His love, His hope, His calling... they produce a joy that surpasses circumstances. And then He blesses us with our beautiful camp community for 2 weeks, and the joy just bubbles over. We're joyful for the good things He's given us, and we're joyful for the work that He has done and is doing. 

Psalm 16:11 says, "You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever." The Lord is working here and in His presence we're experiencing joy. We hope you'll come and let us share it with you.

New Relationships!

     Term 3 begins today and we are so excited. It is so fun to watch old campers come through the gates and to welcome in campers that have never been to Kivu before. The first day always gets me dreaming about the fun the term will bring. I'm excited for the mountain biking trips I will be leading and all of the other fun activities we get to do.
     The best part of the day is thinking about how much campers learned and changed the previous term and knowing that these kids are about to experience the same thing. It's incredible to see how God works though the staff here to show kids that they are loved. That's what kept me coming back as a camper and I love being able to be a part of the vision of loving God and loving others.
    Here are some pictures of the relationships that have already started to develop!

The Good Goodbyes

Yesterday was goodbye for our second term campers and I must say, I hugged them with a lump in my throat & a gap in my heart. 

To see them go was hard, but to know they are walking away the way that 

they are is encouraging and exciting.

A little bit on the way that they are:

they are incredibly intelligent and love to learn

their hearts are huge for the world around them

they love to be loved & love others - a lot

they care about the little things because they know they can be big

they feel commissioned to be great 

they see the mission of Christ & want to be a part of it

I hope this excites you a little bit to see what the Lord is doing here at Kivu. It excites me a lot a bit, and I am ready to welcome in the new term with open arms and an expectant heart of good things.

Through These Gates: Welcome Term 3

My Friends Judge Me

My Parents Ground Me

KIVU accepts ME.

-Term 2 Camper when asked, 'Why do you come to KIVU?'

Through These Gates

Look inside these little gates you'll see a people loving BIG
They'll welcome you and make you smile in costume and in wig
They have no sense of judgement of your life and all the weight
They simply want to make a story,  through this tiny little gate

These tiny little gates are a gateway to life a-new
The rafts, the bikes, the ropes and all, will help a spirit renew
As friendships form to help connect when life seems oh so dark
Walk in these little gates to find hope begin to make its mark

You may find yourself mouth wide open in awe of what you see
For when we slow life down a bit, its people with whom we plea
We long to be together, making memories that will last
You may just find inside these gates, a brilliant view of your long dark past

We say we do our program so we have something to do
But really what we long for is a world on which to chew
From sea to shining sea, and twenty countries from afar
Students come inside these little gates and find a shining star

A star of hope that lights their way when friends at home betray
ALL people in these little gates have stories from the Frey
We all work through the hard times so together, we can find the truth
Walk inside these little gates deputized to be a sleuth

Asking questions through our story gives us permission for this life
To cast away perfection and know together we live in strife
For years these tiny gates have shown us a string of single clue
We welcome you today Term 3 to our home we call KIVU.

Friday Fun Day!

After two weeks of incredible daytime adventures, campers were given the day to relax and hang loose around camp on this beautiful, cloudless day. It is such a blessing to see how quickly friendships and memories have been formed. As the head cook in the affectionately named "warming hut", it has been my delight to see just how the general sense of familiarity and laughter has increased over each meal. Finishing the night out, we were treated to a concert by local Durango musician, Annie Brooks, whose well-scripted lyrics reminded me of our eternal hope despite the pain our bodies incur in life. At the end of this term, the way that the Lord has unified the cabins has been mutually encouraging to the rest of camp. Beyond all, we are so glad that these campers spent these last two weeks here with us and we will be sad to see them leave!

Kitchen Staff Bonding

Today, the kitchen staff, kitchies and cooks, headed up to the lake to relax and soak up the sun! We have been working on the dock for the past couple weeks but it we are excited to announce that the lake will be up and running for the remainder of the summer!

Let me take a minute to introduce myself. My name is Jeanne Arthur from Boerne, Texas and I am the dining hall discipleship leader this summer. I go to Baylor University and would love to work in the network side of disaster relief after graduating. I have had the joy and privilege to be surrounded by amazing college students who are serving Kivu through the maintenance of meals and cleaning of the kitchen. We are reminded daily that we have been given able bodies to joyfully serve the Lord by serving the children at this camp.

One of my favorite parts of my position is "kitchie bonding." Here is a picture from today's fun! We are having a great time watching your children bond during meal times with their cabins and new friends.

Hiking- It's Natural

Happy Tuesday, y'all! Yesterday I had the sweet pleasure of taking a group of staff and campers on a day hike on a trail a few miles up the road from camp. There's something about hiking that promotes great conversation, and we certainly experienced that right alongside the incredible views of God's creation. Here are some photos of our day trek which, though it was briefly interrupted by a thunderstorm, was just another reminder that the Lord's blessings are abundant. Thank you for sharing your children with us for 2 weeks-- they are a joy!

Monday Mornin'

This may be a morning late, but it's a morning worth posting about. It's also my first post so high-five to that.

Last Friday night we had a "mystery night" that consisted of playing Let's Make A Deal. We all dressed up crazy (per usual) & had an incredibly fun night full of games & prizes & laughs (also, per usual). But these lovely ladies below from Cabin 3 won burritos with a friend at Vallecito, and needless to say, it. was. a. blast. 

It may have been a quick trip, but we had great conversation with fun questions and really, just spent some quality time together. They asked some hard questions that really got me thinking and, more than that, showed that THEY were really thinking. It is pretty fun having gritty conversations with the youngest girls in camp. They know their stuff, everybody, so don't count them out for a second. I can't wait to spend the rest of the term with these kiddos. They make this place happen, and we love every one of them.

Good talk, good food and good people.

That's what we do here at Kivu.

Why is KIVU Different?

Today I had a chance to spend the afternoon with our 3rd Year Campers.  They've been to KIVU several years and know how we function.  They understand our culture.  They come back each summer for a reason.  So I asked them today to help me understand why they return.  With pen and paper in hand, I wrote their responses.  Here's what they had to say.

"I can share what I am going through in life."

"KIVU offers great adventures in the Colorado mountains."

"The friendships I make here last well beyond camp."

"You guys help students deal with modern day problems."

"KIVU brings together teenagers from all over the country and around the world."

"Non-judgmental."

"I can freely express my thoughts."

"We can be who we are."

"Honesty and vulnerability are modeled here."

"I can get away from the world and pressures of everyday life."

"The staff are intelligent and know what they are talking about."

"The staff are honest about what they are going through in their own lives."

"The staff are imperfect."

"The staff want to help you not just for the 2 weeks at camp but for the whole year."

"The staff are people I can relate to."

"I truly want to change after my term at camp because I've seen the staff go through things I am struggling with and they have changed."

"It's not just a Christian camp where you confess sins and move on.  They really help us get to the root of our struggles."

"It's okay to be broken.  You don't have to 'have it all together'."

"My friends judge me.  My parents ground me.  KIVU accepts me."

Kivu Challenge

     So I realized that while I have been posting the past two weeks, I have done a poor job of introducing myself. My name is Cole Crawford, I'm from Denver, and in May graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in business management. This is my second year on the leadership team here at Kivu and my fourth year on staff overall. I will be here though August and then I will be moving to Hong Kong to work for a non-profit call International Care Ministries.
     Yesterday we had the Kivu challenge. Each cabin teamed up to compete against the other cabins to see who could accumulate the most points by completing different challenges throughout the day. Some of events included a river relay, trust fall, tire stack, a hike, bike ride, and a bunch of minute to win it games. It's not always an easy day, but the cabins always have bunch of fun and more importantly the challenge pushes them to bond for the rest of the term. Here are some pictures from the day!

River Fun

The summer heat is here, time to get in the water!!! This year at Kivu we our offering a new paddle boarding/kayaking pursuit on the Animas River! Here is a quick video from our trip yesterday!

Hey Horse!

Yesterday was a fun afternoon on the trail for several of our Kivu girls!!!  Enjoy the pics!

It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Today we celebrated Christmas at Kivu! We had a camouflage Christmas themed party inspired by the one and only Duck Dynasty family! The food was incredible, the pictures were awesome, the gingerbread houses were super, and the dance party was so festive! Not only do we get to celebrate the holiday spirit but we have another day to celebrate abundant life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The kitchen staff today studied the Christmas story from Mary's initial point of view. In time of potential trial, Mary turned to the Lord and rejoiced, her soul glorified the Lord. We discussed that due to the hope we have in eternity with the Lord, we can rejoice in time of trial. And Mary is a beautiful example of praising the Lord in all circumstances. Here are some pictures from today. 

The kids are asleep full of Christmas dinner, Santa cookies, and good cheer after a long day of Christmas celebration! Merry Christmas and to all a good night! 

World Tour (Party)

So, in this post you won't see pictures of your kids, sorry parents.  But I just wanted to give you a snapshot of our amazing World Tour party we had last night through the eyes of me and my kids!  Here is what I posted on my personal blog this morning:

Last night (here at Kivu), we went around the world.  This could have been one of our best parties in along time!  We got to start in Paris where we ate dinner and were serenaded by actual live music and it was really good.  They made the best Eiffel Tower out of this huge ladder and Christmas lights and they had a crepe stand.  It was super!  After dinner I left the party but the kids continued on to Moscow where they had a variety show and then to Cartegena where they learned to Salsa dance and they finished the party in Tokyo under the stars with a great all camp dance.  This party had fun and they had ever detail covered. It was amazing!

Dressing up was so much fun!  Maggie and I were so glad that we shopped so much in India last Fall because everyone had a super outfit from Jaipur (except for mine which was from Saudi).  I really loved last night and the outfits just made the super party perfect!

Gabby & Rae sporting their adorable outfits from India with as much sass as humanly possible!

Hally, Maggie & Morgan (our wonderful kid-sitter) showing all of the variety India has to offer!

I absolutely love this picture of Gabby, Lesley & Rae!

Andy & me sporting our attire from Saudi Arabia. . . .

Kelly & me with our adorable little girls!

Best friends!

Brady & Dax.  Brady is supporting some soccer team (logo covered up) and Dax has on my robe from China (he commandeered it when I took away his blanket because it is so soft and silky).

Me & Mag