My Second Trip to South Dakota

I'm not trying to make South Dakota a weekly event. In fact, I hadn't even planned going there this weekend, but it just worked out that way. But before I tell about the weekend events, I should probably tell you what went on this week at Camp Rivercrest. After all, I'm not just working for the weekend.

-Projects: Each intern was assigned to come up with an outreach sort of project that was primarily to reach out to people and secondarily promoting Rivercrest's off-season. I'm planning a family movie night with a raffle. Tyndale Publishers already agreed to donate five books to the raffle. I'll probably be busy planning the logistics of the movie night and securing donations in the weeks to come.

-Power Tools: I used a saw for a little bit and pretty much became a pro at using the cordless drill. I used it to unscrew the screws from the bottoms of broken tables (so we can burn the wood and sell the scrap metal) and to drill holes in the dumpsters so I could attach signs that said things like "Trash Only- No Cardboard" and "Cardboard Only- Break Down Boxes". I also drove the ATV- not really a power tool but still fun.

-Cleaning: One day I cleaned the poolhouse, a bath house, and some cabins. I don't really have anything "fun" to say about this, except that towards the end of the day I got to jump in the pool and attempt to clean that too. Notice I said "attempt"- it's kinda hard to clean the floor under twelve feet of water.

-Low Ropes: I REALLY want to learn more about the low ropes. They're such cool activities, and they play really well into my interest in Communications- it's all about communicating! There's a bunch of low rope activities, and I know how to lead about eight of them.

-Student Ministries: Relevant Community Church's student ministry started with the fall kickoff on Wednesday. We met the youth leader the Sunday before so he explained how things will happen. The back to school bash was a lot of fun and I think I'm really going to like it. I will start off as a coleader and substitute for the girls' leaders at the weekly meetings, and then if more girls start coming I will start my own group. The last week of each month is a "Reach" that is pretty much a big get-together for any students who want to come.

Well, that's enough of what I did this week! Now let me tell you about the weekend.

Everyone had plans for this weekend. Most had plans to go to the LifeLight Festival near Sioux Falls. Not every Rivercrest employee was going, but I was the only person who lived on-campus that would be home for the weekend. That sounded extremely boring and lonely. On Friday evening, Kristjun and Erin were already gone, so Adam invited Brandon and me to his house for dinner. While there, Adam suggested I call the Solmens to see if I could hitch a ride with them. So that's what I did, and it turned out that I would be on my way to South Dakota in less than twelve hours! All I had to do was pack (and text Erin to see if I could borrow her sleeping bag).

Here are the LifeLight pictures:

Building 429:

Britt Nicole (This was the first female Christian artist concert I had ever been to):

Sanctus Real:

Francis Chan speaking (we're going to read his book Crazy Love as part of our internship):

A small sampling of about 100,000 people waiting for Tenth Avenue North:

Tenth Avenue North (I wish I could have stayed longer, but it was getting cold and I was getting tired, but fortunately they played all their popular songs first so I didn't feel like I missed out):

• Building 429 at KLOVE's Q and A on Sunday:

Sixteen Cities:

Some people are just so creative. On Saturday there were these guys who, instead of doing normal things like throwing beachballs or tossing frisbees or doing the wave or getting into a "We Love Jesus" cheer competition or eating out of a giant bag of M&Ms and passing it on to the person next to you (all of which I participated in), they held up zucchinis. Yes, zucchinis; how random is that? I wanted to get a pic with them after the Britt Nicole concert, but then they disappeared. Then on Sunday there were these girls below. I had to take my picture with SOMEONE weird! (Later I noticed several guys that also did the same thing, but it was kinda creepy.)

A Christian American Indian group performed. (Remember, this IS South Dakota!) It was an interesting change of pace. They had this one song where some of their dancers went into the crowd to lead everyone in a dance. It felt more like that "Snake" game that was the only game on every cell phone ten years ago.

Sidewalk Prophets:

I left the Sidewalk Prophets concert after only three songs because I REALLY wanted to go to the KLOVE station for Q and A with Jeremy Camp. I got there late but Jeremy still wasn't there yet, so Scott and Kelli from the KLOVE Scott and Kelli show were there playing a game with the audience. I remember playing a game like this as a kid at Applegate. They would ask for a unique item, such as a fanny pack, and the first person to show them one would win a prize. Scott asked for a kernel of corn. After a quick scan of the ground, people just stood there because obviously no one had any corn. Then Scott said "there's a corn field RIGHT OVER THERE". Of course there was a corn field right next to the festival; it's eastern South Dakota! A couple of boys raced each other to see who could get the corn first. While they were gone, Kelli asked for a driver's license from the furthest place. I thought for sure that someone would be from Alaska or Hawaii or overseas, but then when I heard people shouting "Kansas" and "Missouri", I decided that I might have a chance. I handed my wallet to Scott, which indeed had an Oregon driver's license inside! (Also, for the point of this story, note that I was also wearing a Quack Attack shirt.) There were several challengers from California, but only one from Huntington Beach could provide a driver's license. Kelli issued the SmartPhone holders a challenge to see if Central Point or Huntington Beach was further away. But they decided to make it a tie because they "didn't want Oregon to lose twice in one weekend". My prize was a Louie Giglio DVD. Finally, the reason I came to the KLOVE station happened: Jeremy Camp!

Speaking of radio stations, Air1 was taking free souvenir photos:

I missed most of the Sk8 demo because of the Q and A, but I did get to see a few minute's worth:

Stephanie Smith:

Sunday evening, I was trying to decide if I wanted to see John Reuben or Jeremy Camp. I hadn't seen John Reuben before (in fact, JC was the only performer at LifeLight that I had actually seen before), but I like Jeremy's music better. I ended up going with Jeremy Camp. After all, it's been several years since I last saw him and he was a little sick during that concert, so I'd better go see him again. I'm glad I did, because there was this interesting "Heaven and Hell" program going on before, with Vota playing between the speakers. It was nice to see that while eating my Pizza Ranch pizza (apparently I can't go to South Dakota without having at least a slice!). Here's Vota:

Waiting for the Jeremy Camp concert to start. I had to stand a long time for the evening concerts just to get a good spot. And I got that LifeLight pin on my hat from a "Spin to Win" wheel. I actually got a bunch of stuff from the concert (stickers, bracelet, DVD, pin, etc) and I spent less than $10, which was all on food and donations. (Did I mention that LifeLight is America's largest FREE Christian music festival?)

JC:

These are all taillights at the end of the day. I think getting out of the parking lot was, like, half of the ride home. (I actually got back around 2:30am.)