Let Us Press On

(Hosea 6:3)

The Gilgal Gazette is published by Camp Gilgal campers for Camp Gilgal campers.

Tribes:

Tribe of Isaachar: Abbey M., Haneen R., Louisa G., Sarai M., Vika S., Sparkler, Yoshi

Tribe of Benjamin: Benjamin R., Isaac J., Isaac Y., Jacob B., Jacob S., Simba, Maverick

Out-of-Cabin Staff:

Guests:

Directors:

Interviews and Family

Interview Simba

Q: What is your favorite color?
A: Red

Q: Where do you live?
A: Fresyes (Fresno)

Snapple

Amanda R., Age 11
Tribe of Judah

Snapple is super cool and nice. I really like her personality. That’s why I chose to interview her.

Amanda: How long have you been going to camp?
Snapple: 12 years

Amanda: What is your favorite part of camp?
Snapple: Getting to know and spend time with the campers!

Amanda: Do you like being in or out of cabin staff?
Snapple: Both in different ways

Amanda: Where did you grow up?
Snapple: San Francisco

Amanda: What is your favorite memory of camp?
Snapple: When my tribe won tribe of the year and we spent $86 on Chinese food!

Amanda: What is your favorite color?
Snapple: Green

Amanda: What is the name of the very first tribe you were in?
Snapple: Zebulun!

Getting to Know Hershey

Q. How long have you been a tribe leader?
A. This is my second year.

Carpetball Tournament

Q: How does it feel to win the carpetball tournament?
A: It felt amazing to win. I was surprised.

Jet

Isaac Y., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

Jet is one of the out of cabin staff. Below I will interview him. Out of three years he’s done one year in cabin and the others out. He is cool! Interview below:

Q: Jet, when you were a small plane what did you do for fun?
A: I liked to go high as I could and visit my friends at different airports.

Q: Jet, did you go through all the camp?
A: Yes, and I’ve been on staff for three years.

Q: How has Camp Gilgal changed your life?
A: It told me about God and the personal experience about God. Camp Gilgal got me through the time where I was off the path and helped me get back on the right path.

Q: What is your favorite activity?
A: Basketball with friends

Q: Is camp your favorite time of the year?
A: Yes

Q: What is your favorite Bible verse?
A: Psalm 23, all of it

Q: What school do you go to?
A: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Streetlight

Q: How long have you been at camp?
A: Four years

Gonzo Interview

Q. Who was your favorite tribe leader?
A. My favorite tribe leaders were Jaws and Echo while I was at camp.

Bazooka-zooka Bubble Gum

Q: What was the first tribe you were in?
A: Zebulun

Spike

Interview Bandit

Q. How long have you been coming to camp?
A. Since I was nine, and my brother came and told me how fun and what a good time he had, so I wanted to go.

Phoenix

Sarah K., Age 12
Tribe of Naphtali

Q: Where do you live?
A: San Francisco, but moving to London

Q: Did you go to camp when you were little?
A: Went to a Jewish camp and was a Hebrew teacher at Camp Gilgal.

Q: How many languages do you speak and which ones?
A: Four languages: German, Russian, English and Hebrew

Q: How many kids do you have and what are their names?
A: Three kids: Noa, Boaz and Hati

Q: What are your favorite colors?
A: Purple and blue

Q: How did you know about Jews for Jesus?
A: Her husband, Big Foot, is a missionary with Jews for Jesus.

Q: How long did you live in Israel?
A: Lived in Israel for nine years, and that’s when she learned Hebrew.

Q: Do you like being a teacher?
A: Tries to make Hebrew fun in a short period of time as a Hebrew teacher.

Comments: Recommends a website diddl.co.uk to stay in touch with diddle and friends. Phoenix is a person who is a fun teacher and a nice person to talk to. It’s been great having her as my Hebrew teacher.

Maverick

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I like to play chess.

Moose

This is the interview of Moose. He started Camp Gilgal 19 years ago. So I’m interviewing him so I can learn more about him. When I asked him about his favorite part of camp, he said that he likes all the campers the best. I pressed on to ask him if there is any part of camp he ever misses and he responded by saying that it is the length of time between the end of camp and the beginning of next year’s camp.

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Tribes of Gilgal

Tribe of Gad

Robert G., Age 12
Tribe of Gad

Our tribe is called Gad. We have seven people in our tribe: Robert, Max, Ellis, Bandit, Gal, Austin and Gonzo. We are the oldest tribe this year. Our tribe symbol is a tent. Our degel (flag) is tan. It has a tent on it and the word tent written throughout the degel. Some things Max likes doing are swimming, playing catch and playing carpetball. Some things Ellis likes doing are FOB, devotions, sleeping. Gal likes to lie in his bunk and eat. Some things Austin likes to do are play soccer, swim and eat. Bandit enjoyed Capture the Degel, frisbee and water balloon volleyball. Gonzo likes to dance, get mail, and be an uncle. Robert likes to play sports, sleep and eat. Our cabin is called Buckeye Butte. We have to walk to super far up and down to our cabin every day. We always like to wrestle during FOB and make the tribe leaders mad. We have a GREAT tribe.

JJJJudah!

Mia C., Age 11
Tribe of Judah

The Judah tribe leaders are Bazooka and Hershey. The campers’ names are Kezia, Skye, Lindsay, Amanda and myself. I will tell you a little about everyone. Hershey is our morning alarm clock, meaning that if you don’t wake up, prepare to have your sleeping bag taken away! Bazooka usually sleeps during FOB and she comes up with really good ideas for any upcoming activities. Kezia is usually rather quiet but also does important actions to help our tribe. Skye is (as far as I know) the best duct tape bow, wallet and flower creator. “Everybody always asks for me to make them stuff,” says Skye. If you’re picky about the clothes you wear, you should talk to Amanda. One morning, she tried on at least 15 pieces of clothing before she was content with her clothing choice. This is Lindsay’s first year at Camp Gilgal. She has a twin sister, Abbey, who is in the tribe of Issachar. Lindsay’s favorite part of Camp Gilgal is Mission Impossible, because it was “very hard to get spotted and get the clues.” This is also my first year at Camp Gilgal, and I have learned so much about that it in these past two weeks. Our tribe has definitely become much closer than when camp started. I have to admit that there have been a few debates among our tribe, but no matter how intense the arguments are, we always settle them one way or another. Staying in Fiddletown with my fellow campers was an experience I won’t forget. I’ve had a great time at camp and I hope I can come back next year and meet new people.

Tribe of Benjamin

Ben R., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

Hello, readers of the Gilgal Gazette!! My name is Ben, and I’m going to tell you about the tribe of Benjamin. Our tribe is a pretty cool tribe, but most of us are really jumpy and full of energy. Our tribe leader is Maverick. He’s a nice guy, but he comes up with the craziest ideas. Our ATL (assistant tribe leader) is Simba. He’s a good singer and guitar player. He tries to sleep a lot at FOB, but my tribe never lets him. I feel kind of sorry for him about that. I’m not going to get into that subject though. I could go on for hours. My tribe mates are really cool, but they have really different personalities. One is funny and loves to read. (That’s Isaac Y.) One is crazy and funny. (That’s Jacob S.) One is quiet and laid back, (that’s Isaac J.), and one is funny and very, very, very, very random (that’s Jacob B. We call him J. B.). If you noticed, we have two Jacobs and two Isaacs. I’m the odd one out. Our tribe is always thinking up crazy ideas. When we’re at a meal, we always try to say weird things and think up crazy things to say to get in line. Streetlight’s opinion of that is, “I love it. It keeps me thoroughly entertained!” Jet’s opinion is, “I first find it entertaining, than annoying, then I just hope they get called.” We’re sorry, Jet, but we won’t stop. I got some other tribes’ opinions on it. The tribe of Issachar said, “Ben-jamin!” The tribe of Gad said, “Overall, we’re a big fan.” The tribe of Naphtali said, “The tribe of Benjamin comes up with weird things to say at mealtime. They’re very entertaining.” The tribe of Zebulun said, “They’re competitive and witty (because of Maverick!). As you can see, we’re a cool tribe.

Tribe Articles

Matthew L., Age 12
Tribe of Dan

Who was in the best tribe of Camp Gilgal ’10?

This year in the tribe of Dan there were seven people: Malachai, Evan, Ben, Josh, Onyx, Barracuda and myself. We found that we were perfect for each other.

Onyx was our tribe leader and Barracuda was our ATL (assistant tribe leader). Onyx is very fun and funny. He let us play card games during FOB and is a responsible leader. Barracuda is more serious but still just as much fun as Onyx.

There were four campers in our tribe besides myself. Malachai is very humble and has a strong relationship with God. I think we could all learn a thing or two from him.

Evan I think is the person that pretty much makes up the center piece of our tribe. His personality is reflected through his fun loving and caring attitude that brings people together.

Ben lived in Uzbekistan for a year or two. He is a very strong willed and independent person who is always looking out for other people.

Josh is a very funny, light-hearted person who can always bring a smile to one’s face.

Our cabin had a lot of great people in it. I thank all the people that made Camp Gilgal ’10 possible.

Tribe of Issachar

Abbey M. and Sarai M., Ages 11 and 9
Tribe of Issachar

Hi, our names are Abbey and Sarai. We are in the tribe of Issachar which means “sun.” Also in our cabin are Haneen, Vika and Louisa. Our tribe leaders are Yoshi and Sparkler. We do a lot of things as a tribe. We think of ideas together, dress up for skit nights, eat meals together, go to Tabernacle together and other stuff. Now we will take some time to interview the people in our tribe.

Abbey Q: What is your favorite color?
Vika A: Purple

Abbey Q: What was your favorite thing we did as a tribe?
Vika A: I liked preparing for theme nights.

Abbey Q: What for you was the best part of camp?
Vika A: Wells Fargo and M.I.

Sarai Q: What is your favorite color?
Haneen A: Green

Sarai Q: What is your favorite thing we did as a tribe?
Haneen A: MI

Abbey&Sarai Q: What is your favorite color?
Louisa A: White

Abbey&Sarai Q: What is your favorite thing we did as a tribe?
Louise A: I enjoy FOB

Abbey&Sarai Q: What for you was the best part of camp?
Louisa A: M.I.

Abbey&Sarai Q: Did you grow up in a family that already believed in Jesus?
Yoshi A: Yes

Sarai&Abbey Q: How old were you when you started going to Camp Gilgal?
Yoshi A: Nine years old

Sarai&Abbey Q: What was your favorite thing you did as a camper?
Yoshi A: I definitely looked forward to the gutter of ice cream every year.

Abbey&Sarai Q: What is your favorite color?
Yoshi A: Cobalt

Abbey&Sarai Q: What was your favorite thing you did as a camper?
Sparkler: A: Hanging out with friends and playing Wells Fargo.

Abbey&Sarai Q: Did you grow up in a family that already believes in Jesus?
Sparkler: A: Yes

Abbey&Sarai Q: How old were you when you started coming to Camp Gilgal?
Sparkler: A: I was seven years old.

Abbey&Sarai Q: What is your favorite color?
Sparkler: A: Purple

Abbey: Q: What is your favorite color?
Sarai: A: Blue

Abbey: Q: What are your favorite things we did as a tribe?
Sarai: A: M.I.

Abbey: Q: What for you was the best part of camp?
Sarai: A: The games

Sarai Q: What is your favorite color?
Abbey: A: Turquoise

Sarai: Q: What is your favorite thing we did as a tribe?
Abbey: A: M.I.

Sarai: Q: What for you was the best part of camp?
Abbey: A: The games

Tribe of Naphtali

Leia B., Age 11
Tribe of Naphtali

“Julia, stop poking me,” I said. We were just about to arrive at camp and I was so anxious to see who was in my tribe and the tribe leaders I was going to have. We finally got up the hill and I figured out that I was in a tribe with Sarah, Julia, Katie, and Rachel. Also, our tribe leaders were Hoops and Acorn. We were all in the oldest tribe, which means we were in the bigger cabin called Grizzly Flat.

Life in the tribe of Naphtali is awesome. We all get along and have had so much fun the past two weeks. Living together here at camp with all my best buddies has been a great experience. We have so many funny memories together, like how I am writing this article and we are laughing so hard and having a lot of fun.

Tribe of Reuben

Noa B., Age 8
Tribe of Reuben

My name is Noa and the members of the tribe of Reuben are Maddie, Shannon, Zemeira, Rebekah, Waffles and Pixie. The name of our cabin is Hermit Valley. Almost all of us are eight, except Rebekah. Zemeira likes to play doctor and Rebekah likes to play Mission Impossible. Shannon likes Wells Fargo, Maddie likes carpetball and swimming. As for myself, I loved Skit Night. Pixie loves Wells Fargo and water balloon volleyball, and Waffles loves dinner at the creek and horseback riding. FOB is interesting in our cabin because we all stay quiet and rest on our bunk. On Super Hero Night our cabin dressed up as “Super Sweet” and gave everyone candy. We had a lot of fun as a tribe giving to others. I love our tribe because we are all first time campers!

Tribe of Levi

Caleb M., Age 11
Tribe of Levi

Hello, my name is Caleb and I am going to talk about stuff! Now let’s begin! Muah ha ha haha! Levi is a fun tribe where people loving nailing stuff!!! And all of us like Indiana Jones! We made a skit called Indiana Spike and the Lost Bible (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). It was an okay thing. Oh! And if you are thinking of coming here I recommend it. I have two tribe leaders called Amp and Iceman. (I tried to get their real names. Sorry.) Not to mention our campers! David, Nathan, Caleb (me), Jacob and Jaden. I usually get along with Jacob since we live together. Me, Gal and Jacob go to the same congregation. I usually shoot him with my tommy gun. He shoots me with his recon gun. Gal and me usually try to secretly start up the electric guitar.

Tribe of Simeon

Isaac H., Age 9
Tribe of Simeon

My name is Isaac, and I’m in the tribe of Simeon. On the first night of camp, lots of cabins wanted the name Simeon, but we won. There are six people in my tribe (two tribe leaders and four campers): Cucamonga, Professor, Sam, Corey, Daniel, and me. During FOB and ‘tribe time,’ we memorized Bible verses and made our own beat box number. Sometimes I sit in bed and read comics or draw. Our flag (or “degel”) shows two swords crossing behind a shield, with our tribe’s name in gold at the top. Our cabin has a great fan and is closest to the bathroom. Our tribe also has quarrels over dumb things like places in line and bathroom stalls. Yet we stay united, stick together, and keep pushing forward. We’re also good at one night game, Mission Impossible, in which we got third place. This is the tribe of Simeon for 2010.

Tribe of Zebulun

Elias B., Age 10
Tribe of Zebulun

This is the Tribe of Zebulun. We live in the cabin called “Peddler Point.” My tribe leaders are Shoe and Diesel. Starting out with Shoe, he lives in the Bay Area. His two favorite activities in camp are horseback riding and Wells Fargo. Shoe first came to camp when he was eight and has been on staff since 2008. In the case of Diesel, his favorite part of camp is the fellowship between campers and staff. He lives in Yuba City and he started camp when he was eight as well. He has been on staff since 2008.

We had five campers in our cabin, including me. The first is Emmanuel: he is a first time camper from Sacramento and is 10 years old. His favorite part of camp is all the games. The next camper in our tribe is Elliot: he is a veteran camper who is from Los Angeles. Elliot’s favorite part of camp is the game Mission Impossible. Josh is another veteran camper from Magnolia who started going to camp when he was eight. He really enjoyed Wells Fargo. Reuben, a first timer from Oak Park, really favored M.I. Lastly, myself, my name is Elias. I’m from Santa Rosa and I am a veteran camper. My favorite part of camp was Wells Fargo. And this is the tribe of Zebulun 2010.

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Fun Days, Crazy Nights!

Van Ride from LA

Evan S., Age 12
Tribe of Dan

On the van ride to camp from LA, I woke up and got in my car and drove to LA, which is one hour from my house. I stop in Mission Viejo to pick up Jacob S. When we (Ellis, Jacob and I) got to the Bad News Bears baseball field, we waited one hour then the vans arrived. We got in. I sat shotgun. Professor and Maverick’s dad was driving. Mr. Koenig taught me more in six hours than my teachers do in a week. Some examples of the things he taught me are how colors are vibrations moving at different speeds and how Einstein thought there was no absolute time. How time just matters on how fast the clock itself is moving. He also taught me about lawyer stuff. Mr. K also told me how he taught Professor and Maverick booger math. Booger math is a way to do math in your head. An example is if you produce 30 boogers a day how many boogers will you produce in a week? We finally arrived at camp and also found out which cabin we were to stay for two weeks. My tribe leader was Onyx and my assistant tribe leader was Barracuda.

Fourth of July Parade

Madison H., Age 8
Tribe of Reuben

Fireworks are loud, but nothing compares to Columbia’s Fourth of July cannon. It was really loud and it hurt my ears and made me skip a heartbeat. When the cannon was fired it shook the ground. Streamers and smoke shot out of the hole – that was cool.

When the sun hit the cannon it looked very sparkly and pretty. It looked like it just got a fancy make-over of black paint. It looked new but I have never seen one before so it must be really old. Poppins guessed it was from the 1800s or 1900s.

This was special to see because it was on the Fourth of July at Camp Gilgal and I would love to come back again. Camp is awesome!!!

Men’s Day

Austin R., Age 12
Tribe of Gad

Men’s Day was wonderful. It was the one day of camp that the men get to have one day to themselves to do all sorts of fun things. This year Men’s Day’s theme was cavemen. The first thing we did was eat lunch and after that we started on our activities. The first thing we had to do was paint a picture representing the caveman tribes we were put into. It would seem very easy except for the fact that we had to paint it without the use of our feet and hands and we were using chocolate, strawberry and caramel syrup. The next thing we did was invent something for hunting. My tribe created a duck decoy that would lure animals to us so we can kill them. The other tribes made a bomb and a killer toilet. After that we had to use some materials to dress up our tribe leaders who would then model their outfit on some tables like a model runway. So we dressed up Onyx and he had something closely related to a dress. After that was the best and last activity, raft wars. We got into the pool in those small inflatable rafts and used noodles to try to push, pull and hit the other two people off of their rafts. Men’s Day was a lot of fun. It was one of the best days at camp. And one more thing about Men’s Day, we got to go shirtless all day during Men’s Day.

Carpetball

Jacob C., Age 11
Tribe of Levi

This year I played carpetball everyday. These are the rules of carpetball. You can’t throw the ball. You can’t bounce the ball. You can’t set up your five balls past the third nail. If you throw or bounce the ball out you would be disqualified.

The different methods are to lightly toss the ball, and the other way is to flick the ball. The final way is to roll the ball. The area that you play on is a table with four walls around it and a gutter on each side. The table is about 15 feet long and two feet wide.

There is a kid named Boaz. He is hard to beat. There is also a kid named Nathan who is hard to beat. My favorite technique is to flick the ball off the wall. We even had a tournament but I lost.

Columbia

Davis S., Age 11
Tribe of Levi

On the Fourth of July, we went to Columbia. Columbia used to be a gold mining town. There are many activities on Independence Day, such as grease pole climbing, the egg toss, watermelon eating contests and pie eating contests. Some tribes went to the mining shops or the blacksmith. Next to the mining shop there are some rocks where we climbed around. Many campers and staff buy sarsaparilla, which is a drink that is a little like root beer, but has a slightly different taste. It is also a Camp Gilgal tradition to buy jawbreakers. The best part was in the parade, in which we marched up and down the streets singing “Joshua 1:9” and other songs. Going to Columbia was a memorable experience.

Archery

Ben R., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

Hello, reader of the Gilgal Gazette. I’m here to tell you about Camp Gilgal’s archery. Archery is fun to do at camp, but the targets have been really cheap. This year, they got new targets that are real good. For archery, there are two bows. One is smaller and weaker. It’s made for beginners. The second bow is bigger and stronger, but it’s harder to pull back. Your strength determines which bow you use. First, they let the new campers fire first, then the veteran campers fire and finally the staff fire. It’s a very fun activity. If you didn’t go to archery this year you should consider going with people the next year. I guarantee you will have fun. Unfortunately, you never know when archery is going to take place. It’s kinda frustrating but it’s still fun.

Men’s Campfire

David S., Age 11
Tribe of Levi

On Wednesday, July 7^th, we had the men’s campfire. First, we sang a few songs, including “Hosanna” and “How Great is Our God.” Then Diesel shared his testimony. Diesel talked about his background and how his mom had cancer and surgery, and then got better. He also talked about his spiritual maturing and growth during those hard times. After singing a few songs, Onyx shared his testimony. He talked about his dad and mom accepting Yeshua. Onyx also talked about his growing up and going to Israel. Then all the tribe leaders went in front and campers got to pick tribe leaders to pray and talk with. When that was over the campers gathered in a circle and the tribe leaders circled the circle of campers. Some campers and tribe leaders prayed. Soon, we were dismissed to our cabins. The men’s campfire was a wonderful chance to pray and draw closer to the Lord.

Backwards Night

Jaden W., Age 10
Tribe of Levi

Backwards Night is really fun. You get to walk backwards and you can sit backwards too. You get to do everything backwards. You get to wear your clothes backwards and sometimes you can wear your shoes backwards, too. You get to talk backwards, too. And two kids pretended to be Spike and Streetlight and the kids announced everything.

Crazy Hair Night

Nathan P., Age 10
Tribe of Levi

Crazy Hair Night was a fun night. Jacob S. and I used face paint for our hair. I used white face paint for a beard. Amp greased his hair back. Jaden used balloons on a rope for Crazy Hair Night. David spiked his hair and put blue face paint on his face. Jacob C. spiked his and made a wave in his hair. Boaz put spikes down his hair. Caleb had spikes on his hair like flames. Diesel made his hair like Edward Cullen from “Twilight.” That is only a few people. Never use face paint for spray paint because it crumbles in your hair and is hard to get out. Streetlight and Poppins and Snapple tied their hair together. It was funny when the tribe of Benjamin said that “Streetlight, Poppins and Snapple looked like the three-headed guard dogs.” After that everyone went back to their cabins and mostly everyone took a shower.

Creek Hike Night

Nathan P., Age 10
Tribe of Levi

This year we went to the creek. It was fun. Most people who went in the creek jumped off a rock into the creek. Some girls went in the creek but mostly boys went in. Some of the boys wrestled in the creek on a rock. Streetlight and some other people were singing camp songs, too. I hit a rock with my knee. We had chips, sandwiches, granola bars and cheese for dinner. Jacob S. and I had fun trying to pull ourselves out of the creek and slip back in. Some people were riding on Jacob’s dolphin. The creek was pretty clean this year. The water was a little cold. The rocks felt really hot. Jacob S. and I found a really soft rock in the creek. Jacob and I were pushing each other off because there was no room for both of us. Then we went back to our cabins, took cold showers and we felt so good!

Skit Night

Madison H., Age 8
Tribe of Reuben

Skit Night is the best!!! Skit Night is when all the Camp Gigal tribes perform a small act. Tribes were judged on creativity, team work and spiritual message. My tribe, Reuben, decided to do a skit about not listening. It started with me and Zemeira pretending to fight over a toy. Next, Noa asked Pixie my tribe leader, for candy, but it was FOB time. Then Noa goes over to the mirror and says I did something bad. I liked Skit Night! Skit Night was really fun!

S’mores

Joshua R., Age 8
Tribe of Dan

After Gonzo shared his testimony about how he came to Y’shua, Moose told us we would have s’mores.S’mores is a favorite among the campers. A s’more is a toasted marshmallow between two chocolate pieces and two graham cracker pieces covering it. In my personal experience a s’more is crunchy, sweet and sticky (because they can be very messy). Some campers say that “s’mores burn your mouth and that little campers stick flaming marshmallows in their faces.” I didn’t see that, but I am pretty sure that’s true. Other campers say that s’mores are delicious and fun to make. I think that is obvious.

As I said before, Moose said, “We are going to have s’mores.” A cheer rang out from the campers as Spike and Streetlight came out with chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows. They also came out with sticks to roast our marshmallows with. All the campers went down and got a stick to cook their marshmallows. The campers then cooked their marshmallows and put the marshmallow between the chocolate pieces. They put graham cracker pieces on top of the chocolate so they could eat them. Making s’mores was the best part of camp.

Ladies Day

Julia K., Age 11
Tribe of Naphtali

Our guessing was correct. On Tuesday everybody was whispering rumors about it being Ladies Day. Thoughsome disagreed… “It’s not Ladies Day!” “Yes, it is!” “If it isn’t, then why did they park the van on the hill…” Then it came; we were at first confused because Streetlight started to do the sayings we do at meals. When they usually announce Ladies Day we don’t do the sayings. Snapple also tricked us the day before by saying, “You know what day it is?… Monday!” It was a lot of fun running into the dining hall while we watched the men run up to their cabin and get ready for horseback riding. After lunch we went up to FOB But we didn’t have FOB, we invited a bunch of other campers to straighten and crimp our hair like a hippie and eat snacks and made bows and hung out. Then the rest of the tribe leaders came up and led us down the hill to dye our own t-shirts. It was so much fun squirting the paint crazily onto a white shirt. After, that we had an all-girls swim. I was way different without the boys. When we finished, we went back up to our cabins and changed and hung out some more. Then, when they were ready, the tribe leaders brought us to the dining hall to have punch with scoops of sherbet ice cream in it and our own mix of granola. Streetlight also then turned up some music and we had a dance party until the boys came back. We got our tie dyed shirts the next day and marveled at how they looked. All in all, Ladies Day was probably the best day of all camp.

Swimming

Rebekah V., Age 9
Tribe of Reuben

Swimming is so fun because you get to do cannonballs and it is so cool because you can spend time with your friends. Tribe leaders help you swim and you can jump in the pool and do sodaball! You can also go under water and touch the bottom or you can float on the water and relax on the water floating in the big purple raft. You can race with the purple raft and relax in the purple raft. Swimming is so fun and cool and they do nice things. They let you borrow goggles. My friends are Noa, Zemeira, Maddie, and Shannon. And the day of swimming was fun.

Utensil Night

Rachel A., Age 12
Tribe of Naphtali

I’d never imagined I would ever sit in front of a plate of spaghetti holding a rubber spatula ready to eat, yet there I was and I bet you’re wondering why. Well, I was too. A few moments earlier an eager Gilgal staff had announced that it was “Utensil” Night. I put “utensil” in quotations because it is at least in this context a very loose term. Then it was explained that “Utensil” Night meant that campers and staff alike would pull from anoversized pot a “utensil” of one form or another, and eat with the same. Upon hearing this, all the veterans let out a Howard Dean like shriek as the newbies plugged their ears. Spike held up the pot and for demonstration Streetlight reached in producing a potato masher. Please keep in mind that up until this point I was convinced that whatever was in that pot couldn’t be that hard to eat with – a butter knife at worst. When I saw that masher, I realized just how challenging it could be to do something as simple as eating dinner. Those of us with inhalers used them. The first thing that popped into my head was, “WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS?!”After that, it was all a blur. Out of cabin staff members wove through a sea of tables, their pots at their sides, as the general camper chatter expressed exactly how I felt: nuts. Before I could organize my thoughts the infamous pot had come around to me. That was when I reluctantly pulled out my rubber spatula. Then I was overtaken with the same kind of nervous laughter I get just before taking a blood test. I looked around: a funnel here, a sauce brush there. I would like to dedicate this article to my fingers, because I couldn’t have finished dinner without them. In short, I will never look at a fork the same way again.

Campfire

Jacob S., Age 10
Tribe of Benjamin

Campfires are awesome!! The first time we did a campfire we got s’mores. When Camp Gilgal does campfires it’s always about God. Also, tribe leaders like Amp, Gonzo and Bazooka tell about their lives and how they came to know God. Streetlight sings and sometimes Bandit and Gonzo, too. My first time I went to a Camp Gilgal campfire was in 2009. When the time came to go to a campfire I got so excited. I would rush my tribe leaders to go so our tribe would get the front row seats. I loved singing in campfire songs because they made me feel happy inside and calm. We would also sing praise to God. Praying was a big part of campfires. I would always pray for my friends at camp and home. When Shabbat comes tribe leaders and campers would sing Jewish songs in Hebrew. I love campfires!

20 Foot Sundae

Katie S., Age 12
Tribe of Naphtali

On July 2^nd, we were woken up from a somewhat relaxing FOB and led down to the volleyball court.The previous evening we had played water balloon volleyball which had left a ton of balloon pieces on the ground. It had been too dark to pick it all up then, so we now had to clean it up. Once we were done, they led us back up to the basketball court. Then something was smelling fishy, because music was playing in the dining hall, we were being led in that direction and we were soon instructed to do the best dance we could. We walked into the dining hall and a 20 foot ice cream sundae sat right in front of our eyes. Scoops of chocolate and vanilla topped with whipped cream, cherries, sprinkles and more filled a big white gutter set on tables in the front of the dining hall. As the music played, we all grabbed a bowl and a spoon and proceeded to scoop out all the best parts before they were all gone. Before long, our bowls were full and we sat around tables partly talking but mostly eating our ice cream. At one point, Streetlight started coming around the room and squirting more whipped cream into various campers’ bowls to the beat of the music. Soon all the staff were singing or dancing until they took a break to eat. Sadly, even mega sized sundaes must end. After even the best parts had melted away, we had to all say goodbye to the 20 foot sundae. It was a delicious experience that I am sure everybody would like to do again.

Water Balloon Volleyball

Vika S., Age 11
Tribe of Issachar

As soon as we started walking down the hill we all knew what we were playing, water balloon volleyball! After everyone takes their seats and chooses what team to root for we begin the game. We must toss the water balloon back and forth without letting it pop in the sand, on the net, or on your tarp. The object of the game is to defeat all of your opponents. Overall the tribe of Zebulun won the competition. Then they decided to let the staff play one game of girls vs. boys. Unfortunately the boys won. Questions:

Q: Did you enjoy water volleyball?
A: I liked playing it. (camper) I liked cheering for other teams rather than playing. (staff) It was fun and confusing. (camper)

Q: What was the best part?
A: Cheering for other teams as they played. (staff) The relief of catching the balloon. (camper) When you watch the balloon fly through the air. (camper) Getting wet. (camper)

Q: What do you think is the hardest part?
A: Catching it. (camper) Getting it to go as far as you want it to go. (camper) Getting it over the net to the right spot. (staff) Then Streetlight made two chants for the last remaining teams Zebulun, “They’re on a boat.” Gad’s was “They’re in tents.” Once in a while Diesel and Amp would go to the side and start dancing and cheering. Everyone had fun playing and I’m glad it’s a camp tradition.

Animal Night

Haneen R., Age 9
Tribe of Issachar

One of the theme nights this year at camp was “Animal Night,” where all the campers and tribe leaderschoose an animal they want to be and dress up like them. My leaders are Yoshi and Sparkler, so for Animal Night the campers in my tribe were Yoshi eggs, and Yoshi was the green Yoshi and Sparkler was the pink one. It was really fun because people normally do a normal animal, but we did dinosaurs. The youngest tribe, the tribe of Reuben, was cute because they were lady bugs. Gad was very different and dressed up as hunters with only a jaguar as the animal they were hunting. In the tribe of Judah there were two corn snakes, three blue jays, and two tigers. For Animal Night, the tribe of Benjamin was a big caterpillar with pink spots. It was very interesting to see how each tribe approached Animal Night very differently. It made it a really crazy and fun night.

Gilgal Store

Daniel C., Age 8
Tribe of Simeon

The Gilgal store is a place where they sell toys, pens, pencils, and snacks. I bought a rubber duck, a bottle of bubble soap, swimming goggles, rainbow chocolate rice crispies, a canteen, and a bunch of other things. I really like the Gilgal store because the stuff they sell is cool and new. Streetlight and Snapple sold the items to the campers while Spike managed the Gilgal bank. The Gilgal store is a great place to buy items. In my opinion, it is one of the best parts of the Camp Gilgal.

Horseback Riding

Skit Night

Skit Night rocked! My tribe got the highest score for theboy side. The tribe of Benjamin was about a robot who gets everything taken away but still believes in God. It was an awesome play. My favorite play was the tribe of Zebulun. Their play was about how a gardener lost his son and got revenge on them, but they should have let God take care of them. After the fourth play it was half time. Half time is where the Camp Gilgal store was open and people could buy snacks, such as soda, candy and popsicles. It was YUMMY! All of the plays involved God and how He works in our lives. In the middle of the play I got a bloody nose. Poppins and Maverick helped me and it stopped. Esquire controlled all of the music and electronics. I love Skit Night!

Night Swim

Reuben R., Age 10
Tribe of Zebulun

Night swim was fun because we went down to a bigger campsite and used their huge pool (and I’ve never been to the other pool before). The pool had a good temperature. There also was a basketball hoop right next to the pool as well as pool noodles made of foam. I kept on riding Emmanuel’s back even though he kept flinging me off his back. I made a few shots in the basketball hoop, but I also missed a lot of shots too. I also chased Emmanuel around the pool. We also played Frisbee in the pool and we threw three balls around in the pool, too. Skye got hit in the head with a Frisbee. When we were throwing the ball around the pool I got it once. We all enjoyed the pool and then the whistle blew. We lined up and left the pool. Anyway the pool was fun, cool, and warm too. I’m happy I reminded myself and Josh to get goggles and bring them into the pool. The place was called “Far Far Away.” Finally we left the pool after a fun evening of swimming. My favorite part was when I chased Emmanuel. The pool was super fun!

Horseback Riding

Horseback riding was so much fun! I had a horse named Bubbles who was a big bay. First I ate lunch with Hershey and she told Julia, Leia and me riddles. Then we got in a group and got on our horses. We started off pretty good then we got to know the horses. As Sparkler said, “He was the slowest horse on the hike!” Sparkler and her horse were in the way back. Hoops was in our group and her horse Cheyenne kept going off the trail. “I rode a mustang! “said Hoops! Bubbles was pretty good except she went pretty fast up the steep parts. Bob, Hershey’s horse, kept trying to cut me off. The trail we went on was really pretty. First it was flat then we went up a cliff and we got to see everything. We also got to go through a stream. In some places there was snow we played with. When we came back we played in this really pretty stream. We also went in the water with our shoes on. Poppins was doing everyone’s hair in really cute styles. Everybody loved horseback riding and we all had a great time. Then it was time to go back to camp.

Fourth of July Parade

The Fourth of July parade is at Columbia. The kind of cars I saw looked like they were from the 60s. When we walked down the street waiting for the parade to start the cannon went off. Most of us covered our ears, but it was still loud! We then walked down to the parking lot and practiced the songs. After practicing for a while, we went down the street and waited for our turn. We were number 24. We marched for about 15 minutes and then had lunch. We took out money (except me, who borrowed from Maverick) and went to the stores. I got a small fake cat and a big blue lollypop. They got ice cream and bought sarsaparilla, which is mostly sugar, and Ben got two jawbreakers, all sugar, and then we went to the rocks. I went straight up a hole and then me and Simba went onto a pile of small rocks with a huge boulder on top, literally seven times bigger than me. We watched people try the grease pole (and fail) and then most of us (not me) went to the egg toss, which turned out pretty even with the other side barely winning, and got our picture taken on the rocks. We got back home, and most of all I’m glad we were able to witness to people who don’t believe in Y’shua.

Feed Your Friend Night

Feed Your Friend Night is a night where you have to feed your friend and they have to feed you. For dinnerwe had chicken and mashed potatoes. It was really hard because it took a long time to eat and because sometimes your friend would put too much food in your mouth at one time. My friend Mia put the whole piece of bread in my mouth. The mashed potatoes were hard to eat because they would fall off your fork and onto your friend’s lap. I didn’t really like Feed Your Friend Night because I was really hungry but it was fun to see the faces your friends made. My friend Mia really liked it because it was challenging. Skye didn’t like it because Amanda put a whole spoon full of mashed potatoes in her mouth. Vika’s favorite thing was taking advantage of her friend by stuffing too much food in her mouth. It was a lot different than feeding yourself because you felt as helpless as a baby. I am glad it is not every night because it is very challenging, but it is fun to do once in a while.

Ladies Campfire

The ladies campfire was great. All the ladies tribes met at the picnic area. We had worship, Waffles and Streetlight shared their testimonies, and after you could go off and pray with one of the tribe leaders. Streetlight normally leads worship but this time Yoshi did! Yoshi sang and played the guitar. Then Waffles shared her testimony. She told us that sometimes we put things before God but we should always put God first. After that Streetlight told us sometimes God takes things away from us but in the end everything works out. Finally, you could go up with a tribe leader and pray with them. I talked with Acorn and Sparkler. I had a lot of fun during ladies campfire and I can’t wait until next year.

Crafts

Zemeira W., Age 8
Tribe of Reuben

Only at Camp Gilgal

Mission Impossible

Shannon O., Age 8
Tribe of Reuben

Capture the Degel

FOB Appreciation Day

Isaac Y., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

FOB Appreciation Day happened this year. It was the first time ever!!!! It was double the FOB time and you could get twenty five points per person in (don’t worry if each person got 25 points, because the most you could get was hundred twenty five points). The way you could get twenty five points is be quiet and go to sleep or read and be quiet. My tribe mostly tried to be quiet so we read and went to sleep or ate candy. I think most of the tribes got full points. Maybe twenty five points off. It felt good to rest instead of normal FOB or Flat On Your Bunk. It was pretty fun. The first time ever – it was the out of cabin staff’s idea. I think the out of cabin staff had the best time. We had so much time that there was no pool and choir was like ten minutes. And that was F.OB. Appreciation Day.

Hebrew

“Hebrew… Hebrew was fun. I learned lots of new things in Hebrew. It was easy because I was really looking forward to it and I was listening.” I thought that it was encouraging to learn a third language then I could go to Israel and know what people are saying. My Hebrew teacher, Phoenix, is actually from Israel with her husband Bigfoot. First, she started teaching us by having us start by saying the Hebrew alphabet. Then we learned new words, what they meant, and how to write them. For example, I learned how to say “I want candy” which is “Ani Rotzeh Mantakim.” Hebrew was also a real surprise to me, because I thought that we would just be doing extra arts and crafts. This is what Josh L. thinks of Hebrew. “It’s fun because we get to learn a new language.” I agree with Josh. Now I will tell my tribe leader, Diesel, that I really enjoyed Hebrew because it helps me see deeper into my Jewish roots. I never thought of Hebrew that way. Hebrew is inspiring to me and to others. Hebrew… Hebrew is fun!

Tabernacle

Wells Fargo

One of the games that we do every year that everyonereally enjoys is Wells Fargo. The rules are that the campers (outlaws) need to run up the hill and grab the bags of gold from the staff who are the faithful and loyal Wells Fargo agents. Then the campers need to run back down the hill to their hideout. Wells Fargo is fun because I get to run up and down the hill past the staff. Our strategy was to send everybody at once to get as many bags as we could. Ben C. helped me get a lot of bags because he tossed bags to me and I caught them and ran to our hideout without getting tagged. We won a total of two games out of three. The score for the outlaws (us) was 12, then 3, and then 15. We smoked the tribe leaders even after their comeback in the second round.

Havdalah

FOB

When I asked what people did during FOB, the answers I got were common: sleep, write letters, and read. The next obvious question I asked was whether someone liked FOB or not. For the most part, people said yes (especially the staff). Some were not thrilled about it though. This year we did something new with FOB; we had a “FOB Appreciation Day.” From all the interviews I had gathered, everybody loved it and some even wished it could have been longer even though they took full advantage of it.

Nationball

During nationball, the object of the same was to hit the opposing team with a rubber ball. However, this wasnot like traditional dodge ball because if you hit the other player they then go behind your team and get you out. If you catch the ball the player who threw it at you is out and goes behind your team. So it started out with everyone in on team one, and in a matter of seconds only five people were left. Moose and Simba got people out very quickly until a historic catch got a valuable member of our team back in. As that happened more catches were made and Moose got out. Our team was almost winning when all tribe leaders on our team were hit in a matter of seconds (like 60). Our team went from on top to bottom. Only seven people remained and minutes of throwing went by till only one member of our team remained. They dodged balls left, right, over, and under until Moose behind our team threw the ball and caused the remaining number of people to move to the right straight into balls coming from the other side, too. We lost but it was fun.

Cabin Inspection

Cabin Inspection is an event that happens after lunch and the “Gilgal Initiative” (the ones who do the inspecting: Streetlight and Jet) tell all of the tribes how well they kept their cabin clean. They report to us the scores of how clean our cabins were on a point system. Each infraction takes off 5, 10, or 25 points. Infractions are things that were missed in the clean-up time: ex. misaligned shoes, improper sweeping techniques, etc. If you didn’t get any infractions, Jet would yell out “You Nailed It!” and you’d get 100 points for the day. By the end of camp, the cabin with the most points would win Tribe of the Year! Cabin Inspection is a great thing because otherwise our cabins would remain a mess.

Poem

Shabbat

As Jews, every Friday we celebrate Shabbat. During Shabbat we eat and do blessings and pray and worship.Here at Camp Gilgal we keep that tradition. Every Friday for dinner here at Camp Gilgal we dress up and come to dinner. We eat then we go have a Shabbat service. We go through the liturgy and do some worship. We had steak on Shabbat night and it was very good and we got to sit outside. Moose invited his former pastor who was 92 years old and it was his birthday that Shabbat night. He also invited his former pastor’s daughter and husband. Several campers helped with blessings and worship. That’s what we did for Shabbat.

Mail Call

Max C., Age 12
Tribe of Gad

When mail call starts we pound on the tables until the tribe leader swings their hand down and we stop, then they choose a spinner who has to do a 360 degree spin and twirl their hand down slowly. The camper only spins if a tribe leader gets a letter or a package. After the letters we go down to the bonus round where we have to pound on the tables again until the tribe leader swings their hand down. When you get the bonus round it’s always a surprise because you don’t know what you’re going to get. So unwrap or unbox the surprise!! Some days we have to do special things like sing and dance for our mail. When Moose gets mail he goes crazy!! He picks up a camper and runs with them around the outside of the cafeteria. When Streetlight gets mail she sings “Don’t stop believing.” So come here and get your mail!!

Classified Ad

Isaac Y., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

FOB

Camp Gilgal Jews for Jesus is a very fun camp where there are a lot of very fun things to do. Yet when you run out of energy you need more energy so that you can do more fun stuff. To get more energy you have to rest so that your body can recover from all the fun things that are done here at camp. Yet the sleep you get a night is no match for all the fun stuff that happens here at camp. So there is a small period 30 minute – 1 hour period to nap called FOB (flat on your bunk) because the staff really cares about the campers who attend camp. If you are not tired, FOB isn’t boring. You can play card games, talk eat candy, etc. If I had to say two comments about Camp Gilgal I would say “I love FOB” and “Camp Gilgal is the most fun I’ve had in my whole life.” I have decided to interview the first time camper, Mia.

Degels

Degels were made by the twelve tribes of Israel to show who they were. But now the degels have been adopted by Camp Gilgal to show who’s in what cabin. The only thing that changed is the making and the artwork of the degels. The first step of making the degels is to go around the tribe table and pick the best ideas. The second thing to do is to sketch the drawing onto the colored flag that your tribe picked. The third thing is to add some color, or as I like to say, pizzazz. The last thing to do is wait a day and boom baddy ding done, a nice looking degel. It’s a truly an awesome experience, just ask some of the tribes. The tribe of Reuben thought it was exciting and the tribe of Dan thought it was a fun activity, doing it as a tribe. To think about it, it all started in Tabernacle with big huddles, raising of hands, and fight battle? about who gets to be what tribe. To me it sounded like an awesome time.

1st Time Campers

Last year was my first year of camp. It is exciting because you don’t know what’s going on. I really liked my first year of camp. Here is what other first time campers thought…

Amanda: How did you find out about camp?
Lindsay: I do not know

Today, Tomorrow, Forever a Princess

For Judah’s cabin decoration, our tribe decided to do the princesses of God for our theme. We had a poster that said “Today, Tomorrow, Forever a Princess,” and then we added “Of God” to the poster so it would match with our theme. Our tribe put streamers on the walls and some Bible verses on some of the bunks. Hershey drew a blue castle on pink paper, and Bazooka drew a welcome sign which said, “WELCOME TO THE KINDOM OF GOD, WHERE ALL HIS DAUGHTERS ARE PRINCESSES.” To make our cabin look like a hallway of a castle, we put yellow paper on our floor leading to a jewelry box full of fake gold and silver coins. We also put a renaissance princess dress on Bazooka’s bunk, with another box of fake jewels and coins to show how rich and wealthy a princess is. Kezia also made a canopy over her pillow which was made of streamers. Bazooka also put colorful streamers on the fan. We had to decorate our cabin really quickly because we were very behind. That morning after Hershey woke us up, we cleaned the cabin, then had to wait until after breakfast to start decorating, so we were in a big hurry, but it still turned out nice. I personally really liked our cabin and I can’t wait until next year’s Cabin Decoration Day.

Choir

Ben R., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

Hello, readers of the Gilgal Gazette. I’m here to tell you a little about the Camp Gilgal choir. The choir is made up of many girl singers and three boy singers. It is also made up of two piano players, a bass guitar, Pixie, Onyx, and a guitar player (Simba). The choir practices almost every day. We are only going to sing one song called “Every Move I Make.” We are going to sing it on the Friday night Shabbat service. Every day before choir, Onyx and Simba come out with a guitar and sing a song called “Choir Time.” I’m sure that you’ve all heard them sing it around that time. It’s very catchy, though they’ve been singing that song for a while. I hope you like/liked us on Friday. We worked very hard on it and it took a lot of practice. Though one of the boys lost their voice. Enjoy the song!

Rock, Big Tuna, Sonic

On Saturday Rocko, Sonic and Big Tuna visited. Rocko, Sonic, and big Tuna are all Camp Gilgal veterans, and Sonic and Rocko were Camp Gilgal tribe leaders and are all great friends. Here are some adjectives to describe Rocko: nice, funny, understanding, independent and smart. Rocko attended junior, teen and adventure camp. Rocko was a tribe leader for three years and spent more time on Massah for two years. I think she has done a good job and will continue to. I hope she stays well and safe. Now here are some adjectives to describe Sonic: he is a good musician, he went on Massah with Rocko, and went to India to witness to Israeli backpackers. He is good friends with Gonzo and Brickhouse, and is in a band with them. He also attended junior, teen and adventure camp. He was a tribe leader for three years and went on Massah for two years. The night they came we had Super Hero Night, the Havdalah service, and the band played for us. Big Tuna is tall, nice, strong, and big. He went to junior, teen and adventure camp. He was never a tribe leader. God bless them all.

Benjamin Degel

I’m Benjamin Degel but you can call me Deg for short. This is my story.

Camp Haiku

Camp Art

David S.

Louisa G.

Max C.

Robert G.

Skye R.