Vol. 3 (Camp Edition):
Back To Eden
Matthew 19:8b: "...But from the beginning, it was not so."
DAY 1
This year, camp began before our arrival in the serene indigenous reserve that is Six Nations Chiefswood Park in Ohsweken—or for us, Eden. Conversations already began on the bus and in carpools that Sunday. On arrival, we received our name tags, schedule, and family and cabin assignments; familiar faces from last year and new faces, all already warming up to each other. With our place of fellowship, Zilpah, a couple of minutes from the campground, we quickly had our dinner and prepared to move. It was sunny, and many of us were sitting in groups under trees, eating.
Like a flock of sheep, we trailed behind our Camp Admin, Nifemi, to Zilpah, where she welcomed us Back to Eden (or VOL 3 Camp) in a warm, familiar circle of blankets, chairs, and instruments of worship. We began by warmly welcoming the Holy Spirit into our midst, after which Abi shared and reminded us that God would be speaking throughout and after camp, and how we needed to position ourselves to listen. Part of loving God is visible in listening to him after speaking, and we were in Eden, after all.
Ennie talked about what it means to live for an audience of one and why we were gathered here: Awareness, alignment and empowerment. That is, recognizing that we live for an audience of one, living our lives in the direction of this awareness and receiving sustenance from the Holy Spirit to remain aligned.
Campers were assigned Love Partners, a camp tradition in which each person anonymously writes daily love letters to someone, and they also penned a Letter to Self, which was sealed and returned at the end of camp. It represented a personal time capsule of reflection and growth. Lastly, there was the haven board at Zilpah, a public but anonymous space where campers could post sticky notes to share prayers, confessions, encouragements, or thoughts they didn’t have words for. Our Camp Admin, Nifemi, shared the camp rules with us.
We split into our families (the 4 rivers of Eden: Euphrates, Tigris, Pishon, Gihon) and met each other in a spontaneous icebreaker session, before coming back to the main fellowship circle. After much singing, clapping, dancing and jumping, we called it a night, and went back to our cabins.
DAY 2
We woke up at 6 am on Monday to observe our quiet time, after which we gathered for a prayer walk around Eden, us in fellowship with God, as were the trees, the rivers, and all of nature, in stillness and agreement. We ended the walk in Zilpah for our family devotions. We were split into families for communal devotion (and also the Olympics) so we could better share what God has imprinted on our hearts during our walk/stay in Eden with friends, and so everyone could get a turn to speak. The families were named after the rivers in the Garden of Eden: Euphrates, Pishon, Gihon, and Tigris (Genesis 2:10-15).
When we returned to the campground, we found the reserve a physical imitation of the Garden of Eden. There was a Tree of Life and a Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil had fifteen $100 bills around it! What tempting knowledge that was! This was an exciting twist for us campers. We freshened up and returned to Zilpah for fellowship. It was a beautiful cry to our father, we exalted him holy and asked for his help to see us through everything. Angel led us in a word about forgiveness, and then we siestaed. Some of us ate lunch, some continued their fast, some reflected in corners of the reserve, and some took a nap, exhausted from Sunday.
We gather again, but for men's and women's sessions; Kings and Queens, respectively. The men gathered to discuss marriage and God’s guidance for it, and the women gathered to discuss health and nutrients the body needs in service to God. We gathered together for unfiltered conversations about relationships, shared dinner and continued on to fellowship at Zilpah again.
At the end of the night, Femi Fash led us in the chorus of “I Need You To Survive,” a beautiful promise we should make to our neighbours and strive never to break. We returned to Eden, where a few still gather to sing more worship to God. God was everywhere at camp, and the desire to commune was ready to burst out at any time.
DAY 3
Tuesday began like Monday but with more familiarity. We were up again at 6 AM for quiet time, followed by our prayer walk. Nobody had eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, still, though some campers stared at it for a comedic questionable length of time. At Zilpah, we had our family devotions and returned to Eden to freshen up. We continued our fast, a little behind schedule; we returned to Zilpah for fellowship.
Pemi, by the help of the Holy Spirit, reminded us about letting go of the things we hold tightly to with a powerful analogy of her, a brim-full cup of water in her hand and a loving God at the end of the finish line asking her to drop that cup, run to him and receive the cup of water with him. After this, we stirred up the spirit with our hearts' cry. It was beyond mere songs. By this time, we had spent enough time in Eden and let go of our flesh-related weights from the city, to easily access a Father who was always there. Some people even fasted from their phones. Flesh was starving, and the spirit was greedily feasting. Arthur led a session on advantages, and we had a snack break for anyone who needed one.
Interestingly, Spring, Tourism Coordinator at the reserve, came to teach us about the land and history of the place we were residing. We learnt about the indigenous people and prayed with Spring after.
After lunch, we had the AO1 camp Olympics, which were grouped by families. In Eden, we play as a fellowship. It was competitive, but also communal. There was a lot of heat, so we stayed hydrated, freshened up, had dinner, and returned to Zilpah for our final stretch of fellowship at Eden. We had swayed side to side in God’s love all through our meeting with him, but on this night, we danced like David danced, singing praises to God. Tunakupenda Yesu, kwa sababu unatupenda kwanza. We love you, Jesus, because you first loved us.
After midnight, Great and Ayomide welcomed us into the month of July and the second half of the year, right after Gbemi, announced the winners of the camp Olympics – the team the river at the camp would be named after in fond memory. We acknowledge that we are all winners in Christ, but at Camp Olympics, we ordered from last to first: Gihon (Yellow), Tigris (Orange), Pishon(Blue), and Euphrates (Red). We cleaned up and returned to Eden. A few people joined, left, or returned to the camp over the three days, which slightly affected the distribution of love notes, but some ended up focusing more on the haven board, where we collectively shared our thoughts and words of encouragement. “Prayer Works!” “God hasn’t forgotten about you!!” Anonymous wrote.
Back in Eden, we gathered in a circle for Campfire, where people shared what stood out to them/what God had exposed them to at camp, while pineapples roasted over a fire that took us a while to light. There were bugs, but perhaps they wanted to share what they had learnt at camp too. We called it a night after and got some rest.
DAY 4
On Wednesday, after three days in Eden, we packed our bags, cleaned our cabins and prepared to go home. No one had eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so we watched the dollar bills come off the tree. We boarded the bus, and some others carpooled; our hearts were full. Eden was no longer a physical place but a place of fellowship within us. We would carry Eden with us everywhere we went, just as we had promised.
