Posted in Musings
One of my favorite places in the world to go to is our Baptist Camp on the beach at Manglaralto. Being on the beach never fails to relax me and draw me closer to God. There are no phones (okay, now people have cell phones but the service out there isn't always that good and it's still like there are no phones), no TVs (ok, so there is now a TV in the bar but it's rarely turned on), and no loud music (thank God for MP3 players that keep the music in the ears of the one listening to it). There's just the sound of the ocean and worship with friends.A couple of weekends ago Guy, Anna, and I went to the beach for a National Prayer Congress. These things always have such official sounding titles when it really just means that a bunch of people from around the country got together to pray! Our good friend and co-worker, Julieta, was the one who put it all together.
There is a difference in the camps that are planned and run by the American missionary and the ones that are run by our national brothers. The missionary camps are planned with short attention spans in mind. We never sit for more than one and a half hours at any given time, always planning break times that include food (we Baptists are known for eating!). We plan a nice long time for beach activity in the afternoon, games, plenty of time for bathing and dressing, eating meals, and early bedtimes. Being on the beach relaxes me and I find it hard to be very active. Personally, I could spend my whole day just lying in a hammock reading and doing nothing else (well, I would get out to eat)!
Our schedule this weekend included two hours of devotions BEFORE breakfast at 8:00 am (I managed one hour, sloth that I am). Our morning session was scheduled from 9 am to 1pm, with a 5 minute "stand up and stretch" break. We went over time and didn't lunch until 2. We had a scant 2 hours "free time" for beach and other games and such in the afternoon before another session, which of course, ran overtime. After supper, it was evening services which also ran overtime (have you figured out that time isn't all that important here?). On the second day we had the traditional bonfire after services so it was nearly midnight before we got to bed. I was exhausted!
But I have to say this- it was one of the best and most spirit-filled camps I have ever been to. We had speakers who spoke (and spoke well), but we also spent a LOT of time just praying. During our first initial session we were all given pads to kneel on so we wouldn't hurt our knees on the hard cement floor. That was my first clue that this was not going to be an ordinary camp. There is something about being on your knees in a prostrate position that humbles you as you pray. It certainly puts you in the right frame of mind to go before God. It's hard to put into words all that I felt and experienced during these prayer times. All I can say is that God was there and to spend close quality time with Him defies description.
I took lots of pictures so I'll post a few here. Enjoy!
I love looking at the sea.
The beach in front of our camp
It's no wonder that blue and light tan is one of my favorite color schemes.
Praise and worship
Praise and worship
Praying
meeting outside in one of our sessions
Geovanny, our team leader, was one of the speakers.
]This is Andres, Geovanny's son. The children had a presentation to give on the last night of camp. Andres was suppose to say one line during the program. When it came his turn he was nowhere to be found. His mother found him hiding in their dorm room in fear of speaking before everyone. She brought him to the service (yes, the program stopped until he was found) where he said not only his one line, the name of the country we were going to pray for, but all kinds of other information- how many christians in that country, what the culture was like, etc.- as well. His words flowed like a seasoned speaker! It was amazing and delightful.
Daughter Anna enjoyed all the activities they had for the kids/youth. 
The sea can be very distracting during a session that isn't as interesting as others. I always sit on the end of the row so that I have something beautiful to look at during those times!
What can I say- they love their carbs at camp! That's a piece of chicken on top of the rice and potatoes.
They have a tradition for washing dishes at camp- each one does his own.
The Hammock- an essential part of life on the beach!
I love bouganvillae and this is my favorite color!
On the last morning of our camp a group of fishermen came and fished right in front of our camp. Usually they fish a few miles down the beach. It was really interesting to watch them all work together pulling in their nets. They do it in such a way the nets don't get all tangled up. They didn't pull in much that morning but entertained us all (yes, I was naughty and played hookey to go watch them!)
One of the fishermen
Their catch, such as it was, included a lot of these small stingrays. One of the fishermen pulled out the barb in the tail so we could hold it safely.
Where there are fishermen, there are birds competing for the fish. It was fun to watch the pelicans. Many of the fish were too small so the fishermen would throw the fish high into the air and the birds would swoop down and catch them. 
There's nothing more beautiful than a sunset on the beach.
It is traditional in our camps to have a bonfire on the last night where we sing, pray, and share what God has done in our lives during our time there. We used to just sit on logs around the fire, but they are getting fancy these days and brought out benches for us to sit on. 
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