This is an unfinished post I found in the draft pile. Hope you enjoy it. I figure it's at least 3 years old.
So, let me explain what happened this past summer.
I work at this place called Kids Across America. At KAA (U KNOW), thousands of inner city kids come to Golden, MO (home of cow pastures and a handful of houses scattered over several hundred acres) to experience something truly unique. You see, Kids Across America is a sports kamp directed straight to the demographics that exist within inner cities around the nation. However, what separates us from other sports kamps is that our main focus, goal, drive, heartbeat, if you will, is Jesus Christ. Now, if you're not a Christian or religion is a bit of a turn off for you, i encourage you to continue reading. This isn't propaganda. It's something real that happens to these kids. For 8 days at a time, teenagers ranging from 9 to 18 are planted into an atmosphere unlike any other on this planet. This atmosphere is true for any person really, but your response may vary depending on where you're from and whether or not you enjoy Christian of rap (and LOTS of it at that). The energy is insane; a non-stop assault of pure adrenaline from the moment you wake up until the second you crash onto your bunk exhausted, depleted of all natural strength (and it's only day one!). Imagine days filled with games, sports, activities of various sorts, music, skits, dancing, speakers, and enough delicious food to make you a believer in southern cooking. It's way too much fun, and if you're employed there, it's also the single hardest thing you will ever do in your life next to having a teenager of your own flesh and blood in your house. There are counselors: two or three in each cabin, 12 cabins for boys, 12 for girls (or 10 if you work at KAA 3, the kamp that houses the oldest age group (KAA 1 gets 9-11, KAA 2 gets 12-15, 3 is 16-18)). Each cabin has 7-14 kids and Counselors are with kids 24/8 (because we operate on an 8 day schedule), going through every activity and every day with nearly every kid. Every counselor teaches some sport, other drive boats for tubing, others are lifeguards at the pool. It is a huge rotation that is a miracle to witness, and it is not uncommon to see a counselor tearing across the kamp grounds at a dead sprint in order to make it on time to the next class they are supposed to be teaching. This is your life from about 10 in the morning until 5 in the evening. They never let up, never slow down, and can never be caught off of their guard. This may be a bit of a stretch, but having been a counselor once, i can tell you that you cannot AFFORD to be any of the above. Doing so will get you into a hole so deep you'd have been better off punching a kid in the face and dealing with the consequences of that. Not that that particular situation has ever happened before. Your day is broken up to help you live. Meals are served on military precision, so don't be late or else you're doing push ups as a dude and crunches as a lady... or if you're someone just looking to get in shape. Evening activities are a variety of parties, K-Lifes (think youth group, but way louder and far more energetic. If you're Assemblies of God, trust me. It's way more intense). This is your week pretty much, leading up to day 5.
Day five is Cross-Talk day. This is a day that is saturated in prayer as the evening is marked by a very important occasion. First off, dinner is in total silence. Counselors serve the kids pizza (which is awesome and a highlight of the week for about 99% of the population) in silence as worship music is played over the speakers. After dinner, everyone heads to an arena in the woods (each kamp has their own arena) where a skit is performed. The skit is split into two parts: the first part is a story, usually involving characters any of the kids can relate to. Typical characters are dealing with abuse of any form, religious hypocrisy, doubt, fears, pride, gangs... the list goes on. The point is to bring about the worse of where most of these kids come from. In the middle of a beautiful paradise, the realities of many of the kids' homes is brutally confronted. At the proper moment, part two is started. This is a re-enactment of the crucuifixion of Jesus. When i say re-enactment, i'm not just talking about some fake hitting and he is tossed up on a cross. Actual blows are dealt, a whip of ropes and ties soaked in water are used during the whipping scenes. It's intense, disturbing, and LOUD. Lots of yelling and whatnot. Many kids come to Christ at this little production. For thousands, since 1974 at least, it has been the changing point of their life. Statistically, a kid that comes to kamp drastically improves their chances of graduating high school, college, not getting pregnant or incarcerated, and most end up becoming leaders in their community
