Wow, Camp Gilgal… what a summer! This is not the sort of summer we ever hoped for, imagined, or planned on happening. But you know what’s awesome is that none of this surprised God. God wasn’t surprised that this would be a season of staying at home. He wasn’t surprised that camp would be online. I’m so grateful that we have a God who is in control and who knows what’s up all of the time.
Maybe this is a summer that you would rather forget. I would encourage you to remember and memorialize the things God has done in your midst in this season of COVID-19 and in this summer. Our camp theme verse, Joshua 1:9, is God telling Joshua to intentionally remember what He has done in his midst and commanded him, and that He can confidently move forward knowing God is with him. We have the same God that Joshua had, and it is so good for us to remember His faithfulness to us too.
At Camp-ish this summer, we got to hang out with parents & kids, which doesn’t normally happen! We got to be together multiple times a week in a Zoom room even though we were all scattered in different places. We even had our first ever virtual talent show. We had our first ever book club and our first virtual staff cabins. We got to have Skidoo, Schnitzel, Judah, Ruski, and Anonymous lead activities virtually. We started celebrating Shabbat & Havdalah every week together back in April and we are continuing that into the fall! And we got to invite new people into the Camp Gilgal family.
When we remember the good things God has blessed us with, we are led to give Him praise. As we look back on this strange and less than ideal summer, there are still so many reasons to praise God.
We love & miss you Camp family, and we can’t wait until we get to see you in 3D again!
In Yeshua,
The Camp-ish Gilgal 2020 Team: Sneezy, Hiccup, and Red Sox
Hey Camp Gilgal family! I’m writing to you on day 2 of a period of working from home as New York City is doing what it can to curb the spread of COVID-19. I’m sure that a lot of you are getting bonus days off of school and that some of you are figuring out online school and that your family is having extra “togetherness time” too.
PeachFuzz is obsessed with my computer keyboard, so writing things or working on projects is a little tricky (I’m typing this on my phone), but we’re also scheduling lots of extra hangouts and Bible studies over on Skype (check Facebook or Instagram for the schedule updates).
The easiest work for me to do from home right now is talking on the phone—so if you’re bored or worried or need help with homework CALL OR TEXT ME. Social distancing doesn’t need to mean social isolation. This is the time for all of our skills with our phones to really pay off! Use your instagrams to share Bible verses that are giving you life right now! Share favorite podcasts or Spotify playlists. Let’s encourage each other Camp Family!
I wanted to give you a little bit of a recap of WWW 2020 and share some highlights and photos should be up next week. We had an incredible time at Wonderful Winter Weekend 2020!!! There were 37 campers and staff, plus a camp baby! This year we studied Psalm 40 and discussed what it means that Yeshua is our help and delivers us from the “pits” and struggles we face in life. Sneezy taught the junior campers, and Hiccup led the teen camp discussions. We looked at examples of people in the Bible who had found themselves in pits, how God had met them, and how we can share about God’s deliverance of us too.
During the weekend, the campers also participated in our first Intergalactic Olympic Trails! We split into four teams and the campers named their planets: Byak Bork, Zorpalorp, The Dismal Abyss (sometimes The Dismal Abbys), and Alpha Reyach. They got creative and came up with their planet’s environment, animal and plant life, flag, anthem, and Olympic uniforms. On Saturday the teams all created their planet’s unique sport and we even competed in a couple of them.
Several times throughout the weekend, campers participated in worship through music and liturgy. Anonymous led worship for us and RedSox and Beardo guided us through the Shabbat liturgy and the Havdalah service. Beardo shared about the parsha Friday night and Saturday.
It was an amazing weekend full of fun for old and new campers alike. RedSox began the weekend by telling everyone one of the things she was most excited about was knowing that there would never be the same exact group of people at Wonderful Winter Weekend again and even if there was, we would all be older and different. Her point was there would never be a WWW like this one ever again, because camp is what it is because of the people that make up our incredible family!
I had an awesome time at WWW 2020! Our time was full of laughs, great food, and impactful conversations about the Lord and how He desires to meet us in our struggles and pain. I was so blessed to be able to study the Bible with all the campers who came this year and I can’t wait to do it again…Speaking of which: did you know that there is a teen skype study on Wednesdays at 7PM? Join us to study the Bible! We also have a daily blog on the parsha, which you can use to stay in the word at campgilgaleastinthebible.wordpress.com. Lastly, we hope to see you at Camp Gilgal this summer! Get the discounted price is you register by Sunday, March 18th!!!!! Go to campgilgal.com today!
We’re sorry that posting has been a little light this junior camp! We’ve been having a great time with your campers and as I write this we are in our last Shabbat service and hearing from Beardo about the parsha. Before FOB all of the tribes met the point bar and were given invitations to the party tonight which is the culmination of our camp celebrations: Shabbat dinner, award ceremony, testimony campfire, and our party…all tonight! This has been an amazing year reflecting on what it means that the one who created everything wants to be the king of our hearts and lives. I hope that the words of Psalm 145:3-13 are a gift to your campers and your families that keeps on giving.
Thank you for letting us play a small part in the lives of your families, we are so grateful to have spent these days with your children.
We can’t believe that it is Wednesday already! We’re at campfire right now after a day at the aquarium. We saw lots of amazing sea creatures including a tank of sting rays we could pet!
The tabernacle lessons have been focusing on the Kings of Israel and we are getting well established in our tribes.
Please pray that the good weather would continue and that the campers would continue to grow together and grow up in the Lord.
I am back and so excited to start camp this summer. I started around two weeks ago as the camp intern. I have just finished my first year of college at Moody Bible Institute majoring in youth ministry and cross cultural ministry. I was an ATL two years ago and am so excited to, right after my year of college, be given this opportunity to be serving as an intern with the Camp Gilgal family ( register now for camp) .
I am stoked to have the opportunity to come back to junior camp where we will be swimming, hanging around the campfire, horse back riding, and much more. This will also be my first time at teen and adventure camp. We are so excited about the new teen camp location and to be experiencing camp traditions in a new place as well as new traditions that will be remembered and continued in the years to come.
We are excited to be introducing to the campers to a new adventure camp trip that hasn’t been done for ten years. We will be participating in many aquatic activities together such as, surfing, sea kayaking, and much more.
I can’t wait and am excited to see what God will do in each of the campers and tribe leaders at camp this summer. We are praying that God will allow and bring in the right campers and staff for the summer and that they would leave refreshed.
Being a camper at Camp Gilgal is pretty fun, but have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a counselor? Well, I’m pretty sure we all have, so what if I myself were to be a counselor? Knowing me, the possibilities are endless. Let’s start with tabernacle. First of all, during worship I would probably sound like a person trying to audition for an opera and failing miserably, which would probably sound like this: “AAAAHHHHH”-*coughing, literally choking* and this is why I don’t sing loud. When we read the bible about a chapter I’m really into, I would be listening and helping campers find their page in their bible. This next area is somewhere that Camp Gilgal goes often: campfire. When we sing songs I would probably sing like a baby bird asking me for food. It would sound like this: CAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAK (give me food right now woman)!! During campfire talk every time I agreed with something that someone said, I would say “AMEN TO THAT!!”This last area and time is my favourite: F.O.B.. F.O.B is the best time because it is a time to chill out.
As a counselor I think it would be twice as marvelous because I would be even more tired than I usually am, therefore I can enjoy it even more. Welcome to my ending. Thank you for reading this weird story on me as a future counselor.
Cole K.
Age:8
Tribe:Benjamin
Ninja Heist
Hi my name is Cole! The all camp activity I will be telling you about today is Ninja Heist. I really like Ninja Heist, it is so fun because I like getting tagged! So in the game there are 2 teams. 1 are ninjas and 2 are guards. We switch off teams. If you are the ninjas you run to get the treasure. If you are the guards you try to tag the ninjas and bring them to jail. The rules are away from the jail and no hiding the flag under the grass. One time, someone caught me. Ninja heist is so fun you should come to Camp Gilgal to play it. Ninja Heist is great if you like to tag and if you like to get tagged. Just like in Capture the Degel, the person who tags you has to escort you to jail.
In Ninja Heist you get to take turns being ninjas and guards, so you get both kinds of action. Ninja Heist is a game I learned at Camp Gilgal. This is my first summer and I can’t wait to play and come back next year!
Halye G.
Age:10
Tribe:Naphtali
Swamp Cows
Every night there’s something in the swamp that makes sounds. My radars (ears) recognized them as cows in the swamp. It is a deep, repeating, echoing MOOO! When we go to the dining hall, I try to bend over to get a peek to see what’s in the swamp while no one’s looking but there are guard’s (counselors) all over (probably to keep us safe!). I hop over rocks to see through the water, but there’s nothing, nothing except for frogs and turtles. Those aren’t the swamp cows! In the night I heard them so I look out my window and there was nothing! I woke up the next morning and there was nothing, no sound at all. I guess I’ll have to stay up all night to understand, or look in the swamp (or find a way to scuba dive to find them) and find the answer to my swamp question.
What do they look like? Do they scare the turtles? Are they really just bullfrogs like my staff said? I’ll just have to keep listening and keep hunting the sneaky swamp cows at Camp Gilgal next year!
Mason C.
Age 7
Tribe of Benjamin
Soccer at Camp Gilgal
This was my first year as a summer camper at Camp Gilgal. One of my favourite activities this year was soccer. While I was playing soccer I enjoyed getting hit in the face two different times. Both times I was running after the ball. Luckily I didn’t get hurt… it was just funny! One of my favourite things was being goalie. I really enjoy being goalie because I can stop the ball from going into the goal. I feel happy and accomplished when I stop the ball. My favourite part about soccer was playing defence and blocking the ball. It was my 2nd time playing soccer and I had lots of fun.It was a great activity!
Vivian K.
Age: 10
Tribe:Naphtali
Interviewing Aylo
Hi my name is Vivian. I am 10 years old and in the tribe of Naphtali. I’m going to be interviewing Aylo who is also 10 and in the same tribe as me. Aylo decided to become a camper because she went to WWW and had fun and also wanted to learn more about God. Her favourite book of the Bible is Psalms. Aylo’s favourite A.T.L. is Skidoo.
Her favourite candy is KitKats and that’s what she wants her counselor name to be. I can picture myself saying “sup KitKat”… one day! Ohh so precious. Aylo is going into 5th grade. Aylo’s favourite activity at camp is boating. Her favourite meal at camp is lunch. Her best friends are: me, Halye and Ava. In her free time she likes to draw. She told me that campfire and tabernacle make her closer to God. She says campfire talks are very inspiring. She likes the worship songs in tabernacle. That is all I have to say about the amazing Aylo!
Michelle B.
Age:12
Tribe:Issachar
Take Me Out To the Ball Game
‘Twas a dark and stormy day, we were all sluggish and it was pouring outside. Everyone was sitting in the Mishkan drenched and dead looking. Suddenly, Sneezy stepped into the light and said “Camp Gilgal we’re going on a field triiiip!” It was great, we thought it would continue raining but it didn’t! This year we went to a baseball game of the Valleycats v.s Lake Monsters and let me just tell you-Beardo was the only person who was actually watching the game. However, I was having just as much fun since I was talking and laughing with the people next to me.
I was sitting next to Hoops, Sarah and Isaac, and we were basically just laughing the whole time. It’s times like those that make camp fun because you get to spend time and get closer with people from camp. Because of the field trip, the 4 of us have a TON of inside jokes. Ok-fun’s over, the game’s done, Valleycats won (which was very surprising) time to go back to camp, but wait… all of a sudden BOOM SSS KAPOW! We look up and see beautiful huge fireworks! They were so close and I wish I could explain how amazing of a moment it was but it’s just one of those things where you have to be there to understand. Whites, reds, blues, oranges, the sky was bursting with colour and the crowd was filled with oohs and aahs. Basically, I loved the field trip, and it’s one of my favourite memories from camp.
I am back and ecstatic for Camp Gilgal this summer! I just moved to New York City last week as I will be interning with Jews for Jesus for the next next nine months. I just graduated from Southeastern University in Florida last month, so I am very excited and blessed that my first job out of college is with Jews for Jesus and especially happy it is back with camp. I did the camp internship two years ago and have been staff at camp since 2014.
This year I am excited to not only be back at camp, but I get
to serve at camp in new ways. This summer we are at a new teen camp location,
so I will be able to help make camp a new and exciting experience while keeping
our favorite camp traditions. I am very excited to be a part of this historic
year as this is the first time teen camp has ever been at a new location.
(Register your teen campers, ages 13-15, so they can be a part of this amazing
summer!)
Our adventure camp is also going to be an epic experience
because this is the first time we have done this type of trip in over ten years!
Beardo and I will be scouting the trip next month and I am thrilled to help run
the program! I know everyone is going to have an amazing time as we are going
to have incredible activities such as surfing, sea kayaking, beach biking,
sailing, hiking, and lots of making and eating food around the fire.
And of course, before all of that we will have the no stop
fun filled Junior Camp!!! I am so excited for another great year of mission
impossible, a camp out night, the field trip (I cannot wait to see what Shark-bait
has planned), variety show, theme meals, swimming at the pool, and so many more
activities.
Registration is open, so go to campgilgal.com to get your family
registered for an unforgettable summer at Camp Gilgal that you do not want to
miss out on! Hope to see you there!
Jewish, Campy & Interesting 
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