Reformátusok Lapja, 1970 (70. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1970-10-01 / 10. szám
4 REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 11 This past summer was a very interesting one for me. As you all know, I spent the past three months working at Camp Kanesatake in Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania. Being there all summer gave me a good opportunity to look at each camp objectively and then compare it to our own youth camp that was held there in August. Each camp was run basically in the same way. Some type of class or session in the morning, recreation in the afternoon, and another class or session in the evening followed by some indoor recreation. With every new camp that came, I found myself making friends left and right, but somehow, something wsa missing. In many instances when the campers would ask me to say a few words, the best thing I could think of to say was, “Even though you’re not Hungarians, you’re still a pretty neat bunch of campers.” I guess what I was trying to say was, that of all the camps that I saw this summer, ours especially in the relationship among people, had to be the best camp that used the facilities of Camp Kanesatake. Maybe, it’s because we come from so many different parts of the country that we feel closer together, or it could be our Hungarian background that binds us together, but whatever it is, it is not present in the other camps. All summer while I was waiting for our group to come, I kept telling the boys that I worked with how great our group sang, and how good looking all the girls and guys are, and how at the end of the week, a lasting memory of the Hungarians would remain in their minds. Well, when Sunday night, August 16, arrived, and our group started to sing, the guys knew that my bragging about the Hungarians was true. It’s really neat, because when we sing, we put everything into it and each song becomes an encore to the first. It’s not like other camps who sing just to pass a little time, but more of singing with meaning. Another point I would like to compare is that of the talent show night. I’ll admit that each camp had some good talent, but again they all seemed a bit conservative in their skits. It seemed like they were afraid to make the audience laugh, and so their talent show didn’t go quite as well as ours did. I’m sure if you would ask any one of us that has been to camp, one of the most talked about things is the talent show. The last comparison I would like to make for you is that of our Friday evening service to that of the other Friday evening services. The types of camps that attended Camp Kanesatake ranged between High School Band camps to Southern Baptist camps. Of all these camps, only the 3-county 4-H, the state senior Grange, and the 3 Baptist camps along with ours offered some type of evening worship service. I was impressed with each service because at each one, when they asked for people to dedicate their lives to Christ, I always found myself going forward. Each service, including ours, was held around a big bonfire, but what lacked in the others was the most impressive and meaningful part of a service. At our service, each camper was given a candle that was lit, and it is at that point of the service that you can really feel that God was in that huge fire, as He was in the burning bush, and then by lighting each candle, God was now a part of each person, and what was really impressive was that the flame on each candle was equal in height, just as God is equal among all people. After the service, the other camps would continue with their routine of preparing for bed, and usually with most of the campers what they had just experienced was lost, never to be recaptured. As we walked up the hill toward the assembly hall, I knew that for me the presence of God and Christ would become more real and meaningful as the Lord’s Supper was being prepared for us. Yes, our camp cannot be compared to others. Every camp thinks theirs is the best, and the fun they have is really great, but even though every camp can say ours was the best and we had the most fun, no camp except, The Calvin Synod Youth Fellowship Conference, can honestly say, We have LOVE! Melody Toth CAMP 197«
