CAT Experience

Well, I survived CAT!! As many of you know all the summer staff at Riverwoods had to participate in CAT (community awarness training) from Friday until Monday at noon. It was a great experience for me. It really taught me a lot. We split the group into two. So we had about 25 people in each group. Then the groups went to the community that they would be staying in. We stayed in the basement of a church that was 5 blocks from our community that we would be working with. We had $94 for food, soap, toilet paper, and toothpaste for the whole group. This was very challenging and eye opening as well. We could only bring 2 pairs of short and 2 t-shirts. Along with one pair of socks, a tooth brush, and one pair of shoes. For sleeping we were allowed to bring one blanket and a sheet. All of these items had to fit in a pillow case.

Friday - We arrived in our communities in the afternoon. Then we had to make the menu for the whole weekend so that we could send some people the the store. With 25 people this was very difficult. After that we had a chance to plan some more actitivites for the weekend that we would have our communities participate in. We ate our first meal that night and then had time to debrief as a group. All of us were very frustrated and our group didnt get along so I was super worried how the rest of the weekend would go.

Saturday - We woke up early to rain. We had to wait all morning until about 11 to go out to the communities. We were inviting kids to our Fun Day in The Park. :) It was a lot of fun meeting some of the kids and their families. After we had lunch we went to the park to play games with all of the kids. They were so adorable. Also we had to do a service project with them so we picked up trash. We played it as a games so the kids would be engaged in it. That night was rough for me. I was feeling very alone away from family and friends and not having my cell phone to connect with them. God really taught me a lot about how I don't make enough time to be silent with him. I felt God in new ways that night, such an incredible feeling.

Sunday - Thank God for an encouraging day. I needed it after Friday and Saturday. God is so good. We planned skits for sunday school and sang songs with the kids. They were so much fun. We had an amazing service at church as well. It was great to all worship together. After church we made lunch for the kids. Then we had to do another service project with them so we had them write letters to the nearest nursing home. The kids did a great job writing cards and drawing pictures. On the way home we stopped by the nursing home so that the kids could drop all the letters off. They really enjoyed this and I know the residence will enjoy recieving the letters as well. After we dropped the kids off we went back to have our lunch. After lunch we went back to the community to hang out with the kids for the remainder of the night. It was a lot of fun forming relationships with them. I can't wait until these kids come to camp in the middle of July.

Monday - We had to do our last service project so we cleanned the whole church we were staying in. After that we had to wait until the Riverwoods buses arrived so that we could head back to Riverwoods. We arrived back around noon. It was a great feeling to be finished and to experience what we did.

God taught me so much through this experience. It is amazing when you are stripped of everything how God can really speak to you. It taught me to have quiet time with God. He wants an intimate relationship with us and so we need to make sure that we make time for him because he is always waiting for us! Also it taught me how to rely on God. God is always there and never leaves us. I really felt God's love and support everyday that I was at CAT. His presence was so amazing and it was a great reminder of how he will never leave us.

Training continues the rest of this week and then next week we start the first week of camp with the kids. I am so excited to see how God will continue to work in me this summer and I can't wait to share God's love with these amazing kids.

Thanks for all the prayers they mean a lot.