Photo Highlights

Here are some snaps of events from my summer...

Quality time with Mike and Tysie right after I got home....

Breakfast sandwiches with Briggy and Jenni

Visiting with Family
(Uncle Doug)

a Jose Gonzalez concert

(fantastic guitar player)

and swimming with some old-time Grace amigos.

Multi-colored costumes

and

multi-colored skies
Giant smiles

And some quality time together....

Quotes of the summer

When there are 800 different kids running around a camp property across the span of 8 weeks, some hilarious quotes are inevitable.... here are some that really stood out from MBC 2007!


"Awthuhhhhhh, youwah supposed to be gawding the pywonnnnn!!" -Micah, 3-5 (RPSdynamite)

"wyan...Wyan...WYAN!!! ...it's a hwrmitcwab gwaveyawrd" -Micah

"Micah's suwve, stwong and powahfuw!!" -Micah (re: volleyball)

"Boy, she doesn't mess around when she breaks wind!" -Marie, 3-5 (re: a staff member's fart)

" Hey guys!! If you scrunch it all up and shove it in the bottom of the pillowcase, it hurts WAY more!" - Darby, 3-5 (on how to win a pillow fight)

"So I saddle up my horse and I ride into the ci-ty,
I make a lot of noise 'cause the girls they are so pret-tyyy..." - Mitch, 3-5

I MISS JENNI!

Once upon a time Jenni was reading over my shoulder and it made me awkward.

The date today is Thursday, August 9, 2007

This summer has gone SO fast... it is most incredible. Last week was family camp and my family (he he he.... FAMILY at FAMILY camp...- Oh geez, over tired, anyone???!) was here because my mom and dad were directing. It was nice to be able to talk to my mom because it's been a while since I was able to talk to that lady whenever I wanted. It was refreshing.
Because there were SO many people at the camp (28 familys, resulting in 'hundreds' of people taking part in the program) all of the staff were ousted from the loft. The guys ended up being so kind and sleeping in two 10-person tents, while the girls were sleeping like queens up at B&E's house.
On account of there were not enough beds for all of us to have our own (there are 4 beds and 8 girl staff) we shared. Jenni and I were sleeping buddies for the WHOLE week!! It was fun because every night we would lay there FULLY exhausted and ask eachother quesitons...
an example of these questions would be: In what order would you marry the guy staff?? First to last, please. The male staff include: Briggins, Ryan, Jordo, Chris, James, and Luke. Another question would be what is your favorite camp breakfast. It was funny because we would start out answering the questions really quickly and be the end we'd be answering sooooo slowly. Now that we're back in cabins and I miss her a lot. I heart you Jenni. "How are you doing??"

Ok, I'm running out of time here.... Also last week we had an awesome treasure hunt made for us (the girls) by the one and only Briggsie. At the end of the treasure hunt there were invitations for the girls to a formal evening where "friends become soul mates". It was super fun, and the special evening is this upcoming weekend.

Today it is super stormy. everyone is in the lounge playing indoor games. I love storms. This is a very scatter brainy update.

This part is for JOSH.
He's a great encourager and does the coolest encouragement things ever.
Thanks mc Jo-Jo claus. You're a great program director.

Just a quick one.

Please pray for unity amongst the staff.
And good communication. And renewed energy. And patience.
This past week was good but had a hard end. I'm home just to have a change of scenery for a day and then I'm back up at camp on sunday for family camp.
On a more positive note, the LORD has been teaching me a lot... like I said the other day, and my thursday morning devo went well (I think).

For those of you who have emailed me or sent me mail at camp, THANK YOU! I mostly haven't had a chance to get back to people because really there isn't any time, but just know that I appreciate it HUGELY, and absolutely love going up to get mail, even if it involves singing basically a solo of "I'm a little teapot" or something like that.

Good news!!

I'M ALIVE!!

Sorry that it's been so long since I last updated. It's going to be a while yet. I really dont have time to sit down and fill in on all the happenings of malagash.

Last week was 3-5 camp, it was super fun. I counseled with Jenni and we had a great cabin.
This week it is 5-7 camp. Rebekah is my jr., and our girls are SO boy crazy that it's halarious. Alli and Emily are up for the week, which is really nice because despite having so many people around up here all it's kinda lonely sometimes... it's nice to have some family members here. Next week it'll be family camp, directed by my parents, so my WHOLE fam will be here. That makes me happy.

I'm healthy (except for a sore foot from jumping on a sharp rock-I think- and an achy neck from being a stubborn chicken-fighter), and am reminded daily of how FAITHFUL our LORD is. This thursday I'm leading a devotion on Psalm 139, and as I prepare for it and as I read it over and over the words of King David amaze me because I forget so quickly how great God really is.

1"O LORD, you have searched

me

and you know me."

14 "I praise you because I am

fearfully and wonderfully

made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full

well."

I am refreshed as I read the verses. He KNOWSme. He knows when my foot is sore, He knows when I'm exhausted, He knows my heart. All that He created is so awesomely intricate and wonderful, including the campers that are making us nuts :).

Christiane, I love you.
it was hot in the kitchen last week. Thanks for slaving in there along with making multiple trips to the hospital and loving the kids at the same time.

P.S. Christiane and I saw pilot whales the other day.. we went out to see them closer in a canoe and were like 20 ft away. It was awesome.

Cinderella??

the first "week" of camp is already nearly done... really it wasn't a week, only 3 days and 2 nights, but it went so quickly!!
I have a cabin with 7 girls, only one of which I'd ever met before (Kelt, it's Maddie- she's SO cute!!!), and they're all great despite the things that always come along with a group of seven and eight year old girls(bickering, extreme competition, etc.).

I've taken a few pictures during the past couple days and I'll put some up when I get them developed... I'm old school and still use film(I actually like it in the end a whole lot better, it's just slower). Since there are only about 15 girls, I'm co-counselling with Nicole:).

There have been a tonne fo cool games and a couple great surprises for the campers, such as a movie last night, complete with tickets and a big screen, and a campfire with s'mores and then fireworks and sparklers the night before. Chris has done a great job directing so far.

Last night we were playing a game with Disney characters that had messages that the cabins had to go around and collect and put together in order to win. There were good characters (Tarzan, Tinkerbell, RobinHood, Belle-with chip the little cup:)-, Pocohauntus, and Cinderella!), and bad characters (Captain Hook, Cruella Deville, and SheerCon-the tiger from the jungle book-.)
It was a really fun game, but it turns out that the bad characters were TOO scary, and there were several terrified and crying little girls by the end of the night. I felt bad for one little girl and let her help me to sweep the hall and be a little mouse while I was waiting for the teams to come(I was Cinderella), and she actually thought I was Cinderella!! She was asking me about dancing with my husband in Disney land, and if I missed him when I was here, and about my step sisters and stuff. It was a really good reminder about how great the faith of a child really is.

Worship has gone really well so far (I think), my girls all like me(I am pretty sure), I only had to go in the frigid ocean once to be a buddy for one of my girls, and I've only had one wet bed. It's been a good three days.

This weekend a bunch of us staff are planning on heading over to PEI to visit a farm that Josh's old roommate lives at. It'll be great bonding time:).

I should go, my hour break is almost up..
J.

Mowed Lawns, Lightening Storms and Swimming at night.

heeellooooo everyone
It is Saturday, June 30, and I would have updated this earlier, but Chris just took 4 and a half hours to select and register for his courses for DAL. I'm glad to announce that he's finally FINALLY done.
I have to be quick because Briggins was kind enough to let me come on before him...

Week one of training is over... It was a good week. Really good actually. It's been cool just hanging out, spending time with and getting to know the people that are going to be my support network for the next two months.

We spend a lot of time going over policy stuff and praying for the campers and stuff that is going to happen here this summer, as well as some preparation of the camp property. On monday I mowed the lawn for the first time in my life. Two and a half hours, and four blisters(2 on my toes, 2 on my hands) later, a small portion on the lawn looked GREAT(if I do say so myself).

Two nights ago I woke up at about 4am and went to get something to eat, and out the window on the dining hall I stood and watched the most incredible lightening and thunder storm. It was over PEI and I could see blots of lightening coming down over the ocean, as well as lighting up clouds that covered pretty much the whole length of the Island. It was incredible, and I felt very very small.

Last night it was pouring out and so all of us FTS went out to run around in the rain(it was POURING), and on a whim we all decided to go swimming. in our clothes. at 11:00 pm. let me tell you, Mennonite square dancing is tricky to do in the ocean while wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. It was a good night though.

So now week one is over and I'm hurrying to finish up and go to bed. Grades 2-4 camp is starting on Wednesday.
Chris says: I have to direct (he's directing), and I have no idea what I'm doing.
Good luck with that, chris. p.s. his toe nails are sickly orange right now.

Ok. Goodnight.
Mail me.
lovvvvvvve j

Summer has begun...

ten. nine. eight. seven. six. five. four. three. two. one. ZERO

Hey guys, this is just a super quick update... I'm at camp right now... Ryan and I had a great drive up with Susannah and Jo. ahh, so much laughter.

Some prayer requests for the summer:

-unity among the staff... there are a lot of us, and a lot of personalities...

-patience and wisdom for when we're with our campers... those guys can come up with some tricky questions

-ENERGY... enough said

-good health

-opportunities to have conversations with campers

I'm excited now that I'm up here... it's so wierd to think that after not being here at all last summer, I'm going to be here ALL summer this year!!

I'm also excited to get mail from all of you through out the summer (hint, hint!)

email:

bhill@malagashbiblecamp.com (in the subject box just write "for Julia Churchill)

snailmail:

Julia Churchill

Malagash Bible Camp

8 Bible Camp Rd. RR#1

Malagash, NS

BOk 1E0

another retreat...FR 2007

Only 19 days until I head up to camp for staff training! Yikes!
I can't believe how fast it's coming.
This past weekend was really cool because it was a retreat with a whole bunch of kids there that are the ages of campers that'll be up there in just over a month.
I love waking up in the morning and going out to sit on the porch and read or eat my favorites- mini wheats (no milk) with a cup of green tea.
It was a good 3 days.
I don't think that I'll ever be tired of the Mali beach photos. I wonder how many there are floating around out there... I'm sure there are hundreds that have been taken over the years. Alli took this one.
Here are Jenni and I proudly showing you all our clams that we dug up!









On Saturday Jenni, Alli and I scooted down to the beach and had a great time clam digging... until I got sliced by a razor clam. Those guys hurt! When I was really little, probably about 8 or 9, I cut my finger digging for clams, and I just remember flinging my hand around while Steph Fox carried me up to the nurses station to fix it up for me. All in all I do not remember it being a horrible experience. This time was slightly more traumatic. I had to run up to the lodge holding my poor little finger so that it wouldn't bleed all over the place. Then I had to get Jer to clean it up for me. You'd think, that after 10 years of seeing my blood about 4 times a day, that I'd be unphased by the stuff.... not the case. I spent the rest of the evening randomly giggling as I thought of how funny it would have been if I passed out in different places around camp... such as infront of all the campers when I went to get help. Or in the field as I ran up to the lodge.

Our van was filled up with Churchills, Frizzells and a Marsh. It was a run ride that included a lot of laughter, some deadly sunday-drivers and tub of Scotsburn Choc. Chip cookie dough ice cream and bendy plastic spoons. YUM.

On the drive home, we found out that Nathan was the much talked about boy of the weekend. Grade 6 girls--- you gotta love 'em.

On Saturday night we (the kitchen staff and a couple of the jr high leaders) scared the grade 6 boys as the walked through the 'haunted woods' behind the chapel. I felt a little bit bad because a couple of the kids actually were really scared... Alli and Jenni were hiding in a different spot than I was and were running around the edge of the chapel to scare them all a second time, but they just ended up getting scared them selves (more-so Alli though, I think, than Jenni) as they ran into the boys as they turned the corner.
Here's the question(s) of the day: Who can tell me where this piece of paper can be seen on camp property (be specific folks!), and bonus points for you if you can tell me who wrote it:)!
[**note: this contest does not apply to Alli Churchill or Jenni Richards].

p.s. does anyone here know what song I'm talking about when I give you the lyrics : If I were a butterfly, I'd thank you God for giving me wings... ???