Lessons in Defeat || Jason - July 28

When your day starts out with chirping birds thought to be Micah’s dreaded “line up” whistle, you know you’re in for a long, hard, fun day at camp. Darn those birds... and that stupid whistle... santa vaca.Today was a big day. The soccer tournament and championship awaited everyone. We taught the kids about God’s never ending love in the morning rotations. It’s such an incredible quality of God to tell these kids about. Most of them do not get loved in their home lives. Some of them feel very alone and abandoned so for them to learn about God’s never ending, never failing love is life changing. Several kids even professed faith in Jesus today!Then on to the soccer tournament! All the teams decked out in their respective colors and cheered their hearts out. Then came the championship match, Tomate vs. Azul! Of the two teams, I was unashamedly rooting for Tomate, primarily because Tomate is the best and secondly because I also happened to be Tomate’s team leader. The championship game was intense with great play from both teams and a ridiculous bicycle kick from a kid named Sandiel. However, Azul pulled out the victory winning 2-1. A joyous trophy ceremony followed. Even though my team didn’t win, we took joy in knowing that everyone had fun and the kids on Azul were insanely happy with their victory.After lunch it was on to the beach! The kids enjoyed playing in the ocean, looking for crabs and seashells, and getting stung by jellyfish. The highlight of this beach trip was a wheelchair-ridden kid named Alejandro. Today he allowed a few of us to carry him down into the ocean for the first time! The joy on his face as the waves hit him was a highlight of the week. I spent the rest of the time at the beach wrestling in the ocean with Joel, one of my campers.After supper, several of us started a little dance party with some of the kids on the basketball court. They loved it and most of them had never danced before. I loved dancing with the little girls and seeing them smile when I spun them around. After large group, Micah and Liz gave a seminar to all the campers and staff over the age of thirteen. It was on healthy romantic relationships. A lot of is seemed really basic to me but then I realized that these kids had probably never heard a positive, Biblical view of relationships like that before.All in all, it was a wonderful day with the kids. It’s amazing how love transcends all languages and how we can become such great friends and influences in the kids’ lives without being able to speak much of their language. God moved today as we taught and played and loved on the kids. Praise Him!- Jason R