At Snowridge!

Hey guys!
I am so sorry I haven't been on in a long time! Just an update. It is awesome up here! I'm going to post some pictures for you to see some of the things we've been doing and who I've been doing it with. First week was ministry training, which was great because we all got to know each other really well before our campers got here. We went on our first hike and I camped out for the first time! It was a bit tough at first with the thin air and climbing the mountains! The first week of camp was great! We have on and off weeks, so my first one I was not a councelor. I helped with the behind the scenes stuff like meals and relieving the councelors for a few hours of free time every day. The best week was this one, when we got to go to Denver for urban training! We stayed at Sun Valley church, which is part of a local ministry for the urban kids. The girls stayed in the house next door, owned by the church, and the guys stayed in the church. This Monday we ate lunch with a homeless person. It was great, but the guy that we took out to lunch was very quiet. But it really opened my eyes to the stereotypes that I didn't even know I held. It was heartbreaking to hear the stories of these people who started out with a normal life and then have somehow ended up where they are today on the streets. We went to a Rockies game on my birthday (June 16th) and it was fun...although I'm not that big into baseball, but the people made it fun. On Tuesday of this week we went to a ministry site where we hung out with kids that underpriveledged and are part of the local ministry called New Life. Playing with the kids was fun and we spent the day with them. On Wednesday we had more urban training and then got free time where we went to a couple of places in the city. That night we went to a cookout with the kids we were spending time with in Denver and I went kayaking! It was a lot of fun. Afterwards we decided to go splunking (sp?) and that was an awesome experience. We climbed the mountain until we found a cave to go into and went through the cave. At the top it was the most amazing view. I loved it! Thursday we came back home and stopped at one of the guy's houses from project. We had a cookout and all hung out. Yesterday was a really fun day because we climbed the sand dunes and then went to a waterfall nearby which was FREEZING. Tomorrow (Sunday) I start my first councelor week and I will try to keep you updated (probably next Saturday, my day off). Be praying that I will have the strength and the patience to get through this week because it will be trying at times. Most of these children have never been disciplined, nor ever been out of the city, so this week is going to be harder than the first. I appreciate everyone's prayers and support and I will be back on here soon! I love you all!
Amanda