A beautiful collaboration
This one is for the campers...
...for the campers at Camp Swamp in middle-of-nowhere-GA and for the campers who will attend Swamp Camps around the globe.
Taiwan, Mexico, Nepal, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Paraguay... those are just some of the places with churches who asked Swamp Corps via the Swamp Camp Mission Alliance to help them establish camps that would be safe havens where children would experience community, wonder, play, and belonging - which, if you ask me, is experiencing life - if just for a week- as God intended.
And during that week, campers get to engage with the Bible- in lessons taught by counselors and staff. Normally, these are small group discussion or "lecture" style lessons (for lack of a better, less academic word), but next year we are adding a visual component.
A powerful one.
One I'm so excited to be a part of!
I've been hard at work with some new and old friends planning 5 short films that we'll shoot in just 10 days this October. (Not ambitious at all...*wink*)
These 2-5 minute films will be shown prior to Bible studies that will be taught at Swamp Camp locations around the globe.
And the content? Oh...so good.
They are about waiting. The painful, confusing, heartbreaking, infuriating, yet often- transformational- waiting seasons that all of us go through. The waiting seasons that often define who we chose to be, how we look at ourselves and God, and even how we treat others. Our short films will look at a handful of biblical characters' struggles and victories in waiting, drawn from material in Elizabeth Thompson's When God Says Wait.*
Perhaps you might think, "These youngsters don't know anything about what it means to wait yet." However...think back.
What were you waiting for in fifth grade or middle school or high school?
Waiting to grow up, to not look awkward (definitely me), for that person to notice you, to make the team, to find a best friend (yup), for things to be better at home?
Regardless of the length of wait, the ache is real. I wish I could have heard these lessons when I was young and asking big questions about God. Because of my own experience, I have no doubt that this material will truly be impactful for those who get to see it.
Want to know more?
I made a video all about the project and how you can help.
We are still searching for the rest of our funding for this project, so if you watch the video and the mission of this project compels you, then please consider partnering with us through donation and/or prayer. We deeply deeply appreciate it.
What else is new?
Well, we're still settling into our new house. House project after house project- some more fun than others.
Afternoon day care with my son and nephew is OH SO FUN (and of course exhausting, but in a great way), and we are continuing to slowly connect here in South Carolina. I got to travel back to Nash for a Scarpetta Season 2 shoot- and had a blast with a very dramatic scene that will air sometime next year.
And I've grown a deeper appreciation for Finding Nemo and Moana, which we've been watching over and over and OVER again.
A cool thing before you go...
I just learned this week that there's a company, Ridwell, you can send your single use plastics to (like chip bags, for instance), and they'll recycle them into useful things like concrete alternatives. We plan to do it. Check it out!
All the best til next time!
-Katie
*used by permission from Barbour Publishing, Inc
Comments