Growing the Voices of Out Future
The Westside Gazette Newspaper is honored to feature these editorial contributions made by local students.
By Samara Rawls
As spring break has recently passed, I would like to share the incredible experiences that I had while attending Camp Sunshine. Camp Sunshine was a one-week camp during my spring break located in Melrose, Florida, sponsored through Girls in Christ. In the camp, we stayed in a cabin and met with each other daily for a variety of activities. Today, I will break down the emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of what I gained from this camp.
To begin, I grew emotionally on this trip by connecting stronger with current friends and forming bonds with new ones. Before going on this trip, I knew most of the older girls prior from other Girls in Christ activities such as Zoom devotions and community activities. While going on the trip, I was able to bond with these girls since we were with each other all day long, and I was able to connect with some older girls I did not know that well. Additionally, I was able to meet girls of all ages by cracking jokes with them and having a memorable time. During mealtimes, the older girls in my cabin would have discussions, and we were vulnerable with each other, learning more about each other. This allowed me to gain insight into more people and their situations, and how I could help my fellow friends with whatever they were going through.
Now, many of you may be wondering, how could you possibly learn on a physical level during this trip. Well, let me tell you! Every day on this trip, we were submerged in a variety of physical games and activities, such as swimming, hiking, and one of my favorite activities, kickball. In many of these activities, the cabins had to learn how to work together in order to win the game, allowing us to build stronger bonds. Although winning was fun, my body made sure to remind me of all the physical activity that I had done! After a couple of days in camp, my body was exceedingly sore, but it was worth all the fun and memories.
Lastly, and most importantly, I grew spiritually while at Camp Sunshine. Every morning, all the girls would start off with a devotion. During this time, we would learn about the different aspects of being a Christian, which include worship, prayer, and reading your Bible. One of the main devotions that stood out to me was when we focused on worship. I learned that people could share their different gifts to worship God the way they were designed. For instance, if one is an artist, they could draw whatever the Holy Spirit tells them, and that would be their offering of worship. Worship is not only singing and dancing, but there are also many other ways we can express our love and thankfulness to God!
In essence, I am so blessed I had the opportunity to attend the outstanding Camp Sunshine. God placed all the girls and mentors on my trip for a reason and allowed me to learn through them. Next year I will be even more excited, and I will let you all know about Camp Sunshine 2024! To get more information about Girls in Christ, including ways to donate you can visit their website: https://www.girlsinchrist.org/ Or follow them on Instagram@girlsi
