Category: Junior Camp West

The Next Generation Chooses God

(Joshua 1:9)

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The Gilgal Gazette is published by Camp Gilgal campers for Camp Gilgal campers and their families and friends!

Tribes:

Tribe of Naphtali: Ellie M., Erica B., Claire C., Sarah M., Shalom M., Persaeus B., Acorn, Toto

Tribe of Benjamin: Lizzy N., Mekerah P., Monique L., Sarai M., Shannon O., Yael S., Sparkler, Galaxy

Tribe of Dan: Eithan S., Jonathan P., Sam C., Sasha S., Boaz B., Gilligan, Yamaha

Tribe of Asher: Carrie M., Elizabeth R., Maddie H., Noa B., Sophia M., Zoe N., Nike, T-Rex

Tribe of Levi: Corey W., Daniel P., Isaac H., Michael K., Sam F., J-Box, Stix

Tribe of Reuben: Dinah N., Emmalee S., Haneen R., LaTanya H., Rebekah V., Taliah S., Waffles, Willow

Tribe of Simeon: Daniel C., David R., Isaiah L., Nathan B., Nathan S., Java, Ewok

Out of cabin staff: Esquire, Moose, Poppins, Sauté, Sherbert, Snapple, Sonic, Streetlight

Fun Days

Sasha S., Age 9
Tribe of Dan

During camp I bought an insect catching set. The first bug I caught was a big red centipede. And the first animal I caught was a lizard. All the bugs and animals were a big beetle, a big red centipede, two moths, a stink bug and a lizard. And I have people that help me – Boaz, Sam and Jonathan. And they help me catch bugs and animals. Boaz loves helping me catch bugs and animals. We use nets, a small cage, a bug watch, tiny nets and a magnifying glass. I find bugs and animals at the big rock and up the hill, and the small rock and down the hill. I release all my bugs because it is fun to catch bugs and animals and release them. I love bug and animal hunting.

What is your favorite bug or animal?

Boaz said: “It was a skater.” Where is your favorite spot to catch bugs and animals? Boaz said: “In the bathroom.” When do you like to go bug and animal hunting? Boaz said: “After lunch.” What gear do we use? Boaz said: “Nets and tweezers and magnifying glass. Small nets work.”

Erica B., Age 9
Tribe of Naphtali

One of the top things to do during free time is go swimming. One of the games we do is whirlpool. We go around the pool really fast and try to form a current. Sophia loves to swim. She goes underwater and swims with all her might. She’s like a fish.

A lot of people think the water in the pool is cold. Some people don’t even like to get in the pool. Whenever Stix goes in the pool the campers attack him. One day it was raining and everybody was sad because we couldn’t go swimming but we made it fun.

Last night we went down to the pool for night swimming. We played all sorts of games like Rings and Marco Polo. For Marco Polo someone is chosen to close their eyes and say Marco and the people who are playing with the person must answer with Polo. I hope you enjoyed my article.

Emmalee S., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

Dodgeball is an optional game you can play at camp. I chose to play! The way you play is you split the players evenly on two sides. Then the whistle is blown and everyone runs to the balls set up in the middle of the court to bring them to their sides. Then you throw the dodge balls at other players on the other side. If you hit them they are out but if they catch it you are out and one of their players gets to come back in.

My strategy was to stay in the back when the whistle sounded and then let the balls be thrown to my side. Then I would grab a ball and collect all the balls on our side to throw at once. Usually, it worked and only one person got out. The most dangerous players are the staff like Java, J-Box, Sauté, Nike and Moose. Java’s favorite part was when Nathan S. was the last on his team and Java threw a ball thinking he would get him out. Then Nathan, eight years old, turned around and grabbed it with one hand to win the game for his team. Dodge ball was so fun. I recommend it.

Corey W., Age 11
Tribe of Levi

Carpetball is one of many fun games at camp. In carpetball you are supposed to hit down all the other players’ balls before they knock your balls down. If you knock all of theirs down they get one more shot, and if it gets to a tie then the two people put one out of five on the table. It progresses by one if you keep tie-ing. If you win you keep the one extra throwing ball and if you lose you can get back in line or go do something else and you can watch.

I asked J-Box about carpetball.

Q: What is your best winning streak?
A: About five or six games.

Q: What is your favorite thing about carpetball?
A: Having a good time with everyone.

Q: What’s your favorite strategy?
A: To put the balls I have close to me so they are hard to hit.

You can try to get two in one shot or as many as you want in one shot, but it is a hard game to play. There is one other way to play with ten balls but that’s just a made up game.

And that’s my article about carpetball.

Sophia M., Age 10
Tribe of Asher

Hi, I am Sophia M. and I will be telling you about workout with Esquire. To do the workout you will need shorts and closed-toed shoes. The first thing you do is a warm up lap around camp. Next you go to the Tabernacle area to do warm up. Here are some people that did workout with Esquire: Zoe, Carrie, Nike, Streetlight, Monique, Sarai, Lizzy and me. Some of the stretches we did were burpies, downward dog, sit ups, pushups, rock climbers and others.

My favorite part was the warm up lap, the downward dog, pull up and burpy. One reason why I liked all of these things are because they were easy.

I’ve asked Streetlight questions about her opinions on the workout:

Q: What was one of your favorite things about the work out?
A: I liked dead bugs.

Q: What stretch did you not like?
A: Planking.

Q: What was the hardest?
A: Burpies.

Q: Did you like the workout?
A: Yes.

Q: What was the easiest?
A: Sit ups.

Latanya H., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

Hungry at free time? Come to the Gilgal store. We have all kinds of candy, soda, and crackers. Is it a hot day? That’s okay, we have popsicles. They’re the perfect thing to eat when you’re hot. And guess what? We just got jewelry! You can send it to your loved ones at home. And here at Gilgal we like cheap, so we made our store affordable to our campers. Come on down.

Yael S., Age 12
Tribe of Benjamin

Hi, my name is Yael. This is my first year at camp on the West Coast. To get to camp I had to take a very long drive from Oregon. It took me two days to get there. I was not alone in the car. In the car with me was my friend Noa, our brothers Boaz and Eithan, and our dads. We were all very excited. I asked Noa how she enjoyed the drive. She said it was quite relaxing. She also said that on a scale of 1 to 10 her excitement was up to 10.

Noa’s favorite part of camp is Mission Impossible (MI). We watched some movies while we were driving. We had to stop at a hotel. I was very tired when we got there because we were driving all day. How would you feel if you were driving for two days?

After we had breakfast we got in the car and drove for two hours until finally we were at camp. We were very, very, very excited. All the staff banged on our car. It was worth it to come to this camp.

Daniel C., Age 10
Tribe of Simeon

One of my favorite activities of Camp Gilgal is pool activities. My favorite pool activity is Launcher. It’s when some tribe leaders throw campers high up in the air and into the pool. I had a lot of fun when they do that to me. Another favorite pool activity is Whirlpool. It’s when everybody in the pool goes around the pool. It will cause a drift that will pull you around the pool. Then you go the other way around. It’s not as easy as it sounds because the whirlpool’s current will pull you back if you don’t do it hard enough.

I asked Java what was his favorite thing in the pool. He said that he and J-Box would go around splashing all of the people whose hair was dry. They splashed everyone by doing an enormous cannonball right next to them. Their favorite targets were camp staff.  They remembered many situations where multiple staff were splashed at one time. Other than those activities, there was one more that I enjoyed a lot. When male staff were distracted, my friends and I would jump on their backs. It’s so fun, but not for the staff!

Noa B., Age 11
Tribe of Asher 

Water is cold
Amazingly fun
The mats are blue
Excitingly fast
Rapidly the water runs

Slamming into the sides
Laughing all the way
I ride
Down the slide
Everything I love

Crazy Nights

Eithan S., Age 10
Tribe of Dan

You copy the cat and it was so much fun with Boaz, Sasha, Sam, Jonathan and me. Whoever wears the cat mask is the copycat. We take turns wearing the mask. It was good and I liked Copy Cat Night. Gilligan did a crazy dance and Sasha was yelling. I saw a girl wearing a cat mask. It was made out of a plastic plate with fuzzy pipe cleaners. People did crazy things and I didn’t get to eat a lot of my food. I really liked Copy Cat Night and I hope we can do it again. I am interviewing Yael S. “Did you have fun?” “Yes, I did.” “What did you do on Copy Cat Night?” “I did all kinds of crazy things.” “Who was the craziest copycat and why?” “I think Galaxy was the craziest.”

Michael K., Age 11
Tribe of Levi

Water balloon volleyball was a blast. My tribe got second place. We played at the volleyball court just down the road from camp. In water balloon volleyball our tribe had to launch a water balloon over a net with a tarp. Our tribe held the tarp by the sides, launching balloons and catching them. I helped on the side of the tarp keeping it tight so our tribe could launch it. To catch a water balloon, our tribe had to try to move the tarp wherever it was going. They made up something called the “23^rd Annual Glorious Double Elimination Bracket System Tourney” and this is how it goes: it is very complicated and when asked, Sonic declined to comment. During the night all the tribes cheered for each other. My tribe came up with the best cheers and dances, and it was so much fun cheering for other tribes. One of the cheers we did was, “Simeon sharp as a blade.” My favorite part was the championship game. We played Reuben and beat them the first time. Because the girls were undefeated we had to play against them twice. They won the second game which made them champions. We came so close. It was sad but I am happy that we got so close. Hopefully my tribe will win next year. We did a good job doing it. Thank you, staff, for putting it together. I can’t wait for next year’s game. I really liked it!

Interview with Corey:

Q: How did you like water balloon volleyball and why?
A: He liked it very much because we kept winning.

Q: What is your favorite part about water balloon volleyball?
A: His favorite part was playing the girls in the final championship.

Q: Why?
A: Because he had a lot of fun.

Zoe N., Age 10
Tribe of Asher

First, when Skit Night is here your tribe leader gets all the stuff that you need for your skit. Then you have to rehearse your skit so you can get lots of points to win Tribe of the Year.

Next, for Skit Night you should practice every day so you can nail it and get Tribe of the Year. Then you have to put a Bible verse in your skit.

Then, if you get 300 points from Skit Night then they add the points to what you have already. The way to earn 300 points is 100 for creativity, 100 for the Bible verse and finally another 100 for teamwork.

Shalom M., Age 8
Tribe of Naphtali 

Time Warp Tuesday is a theme night.

Backwards Night

Taliah S., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

Backwards Night is one of our many theme nights at Camp Gilgal. Backwards Night is when each tribe dresses up in something backwards for dinner.

Sarai M., Age 12
Tribe of Benjamin

Utensil Night is when a big container full of utensils is passed around, and without looking everyone picks a utensil and has to eat with that utensil. Sonic had the big container full of big spoons, strainers, whisks, huge ladles, funnels, spatulas and all kinds of kitchen utensils. I got a giant spoon with many holes. So did LaTanya. Toto got a spoon, Mekerah got a spatula, and Willow got a ladle. Sherbert’s favorite was trying to eat the meatballs with her whisk. She also really liked watching everyone else eat. From the big container Sonic was carrying, I picked a spoon with holes that was almost as big as my head. It was very hard to eat my spaghetti, meatballs and bread with my spoon with many holes in it. Moose’s favorite part was trying to eat spaghetti and meatballs with a paint brush because he had never done it before. My favorite parts were watching everyone else and trying to eat without making a big mess.

Dinah N., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

Wells Fargo is a night game we play at Camp Gilgal. We start this game during the evening and end when it’s dark. How you play is all the staff members are the faithful and loyal Wells Fargo agents and they spread out outside on the hill hiding bags of gold. The campers are the outlaws who try to steal the bags of gold. The Wells Fargo agents are trying to guard the gold. The outlaws have to steal and bring it back on their side. There are three rounds. “Wells Fargo is really exciting to play when you get into it and the staff are hilarious,” says Latanya (age 12). “This is my favorite year at Wells Fargo since I tried to play and it’s really fun,” says Haneen, one of the campers (age 12). There are about 15 bags of gold and the outlaws have to steal as much as possible. Emmalee, one of the campers tells us one of her strategies: “You have to be stealthy and pretend to be one of the Wells Fargo agents.” Wells Fargo is a really fun game and it gets you to exercise. 

Madison H., Age 11
Tribe of Asher 

Animal Night is a really fun night. There are so many different animals. My tribe, Asher, dressed up as pandas. First, we looked for black pants, next we put on white shirts and Nike did our hair like panda ears. Then Nike and T-Rex put black makeup on our eyes and noses. After that we heard the whistle and we ran down the hill and we got in line. Snapple picked us and we said, “Kung Fu Pandas Heya!!”

After that we got to see all of the animals that there were. Party animals, sea water fish, jelly fish, animal fries, zebras, bandit birds of Levi, and us the pandas. My favorite one was the zebras. They wore black clothes and white duct tape. The out of cabin staff dressed up as monkeys. I thought it was funny because they had a paper plate on their faces with a monkey picture on it.  All of them had a banana as a telephone and Streetlight had a blow up tree with coconuts. She was hugging it so it looked like she would never let go.

Animal Night is a really fun, awesome, yet amazing  night but that is not the only theme night.  Yes, there are more theme nights like Utensil Night, Be Nice to Your Fellow Camper Night, and Feed a Friend Night. But don’t worry there are more theme nights. So that was Animal Night. It is awesome.

Emmalee S., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

Capture the Degel is one of the games we play at camp. How you start the game is the leader blows a whistle and the two sides of male staff and camper ladies against lady staff and male campers charge each other’s sides to find the degel while the other side hides. The safest way I think you can play is by having a lot of defenders who are people who guard the Degel. My strategy was have people go scream on the other side to get caught and then find the jail and degel. Then they say they have to go to the bathroom and tell our team where to go. Then I went with Java and Ewok to get it. We were almost about to catch it, and they sacrificed me to get caught. Then Java fake jumped in the jail and we all started running and J-Box got the degel. In all the chaos Ewok jumped in jail to set us free to go. So our plan worked after all.

Dinah from my tribe liked defending because it was funny watching campers getting tagged. Moose liked chasing little campers. To win the game you have to bring the degel back to your side. Then the whistle blows three times and you know it’s over. Afterwards we tell war stories in the dining hall.

Haneen R., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

A few nights ago we played Counselor Hunt. The point of the game was to find and get the leaders down to the dining hall. The hard part is that each leader is a different animal or thing. So, say because Waffles and Acorn were frogs you had to do something to lure them to the dining hall. It was really fun. T-Rex was a t-rex, J-Box was an athlete, Java was a penguin, Sauté was a fainting goat, Snapple was a jelly fish, Willow was a llama, Ewok was a nerd, Sparkler was Doug from UP, Toto was Toto, Sonic was Sonilla Ice, Stix was a mocking bird, Gilligan was a whale, Yamaha was a koala, Sherbert was a cat, Esquire was a dog, and Streetlight was Minerva. Altogether, Counselor Hunt was so much fun and we got all the leaders. I hope we continue playing in the future. I asked my cabin and they really enjoyed playing it too. 

Maddie H., Age 11
Tribe of Asher

My name is Maddie and my tribe dressed up as everyday heroes. Nike and T-Rex, my tribe leaders, told us what we were going to be. Sophia was a teacher, Carrie was an army ranger, Zoe was a lifeguard, Elizabeth was a nurse, Noa was an underwater finder, and I was a veterinarian.

Only at Camp Gilgal

Daniel P., Age 11
Tribe of Levi

Well, camp life is great. You wake up at 8am. If you come you’ll do things like crafts, Hebrew, FOB, free play, swimming and games!!

So in my cabin FOB is great. Oh, by the way FOB stands for “Flat on Bunks.” At camp the food is great and of course carpetball bum dumb bum!! Yes, my great friend Corey’s best streak is winning 20 in a row. Camp is great.

Oh, games… Wells Fargo and MI (Mission Impossible). So Wells Fargo is a game of running to grab bags of gold. It takes strategy too. So that’s the…..oops!!

I didn’t tell you I am in the tribe of Levi. My tribe mates are Isaac, Sam, Corey, and Michael. The leaders are J-Box and Stix. The leaders of camp are Moose and Streetlight. Then there’s Chuck, not Chuck Norris, but close.

So there’s cuppage which is bomb! Bam bam! Cuppage is banging cups on the table – fun, right! Yeah, I know, and cookie butter!!! Yaaaa! The top secret black market item from Trader Joes is the unusual spread of Awesome!!! Thank you, thank you, I know.

So I hope you enjoyed my article. Just remember you have not tasted awesome until you’ve tasted cookie butter. So to end my story article, 

I just want to say
Stay classy, Camp Gilgal.

Emmalee S., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

I chose Hebrew because I am interested in learning another language. Poppins and Esquire lead Hebrew. When you walk into Hebrew class you can sit anywhere you want. Once you sit, there are two cups, one with colored pencils and one with markers. There are five staff who hand out Hebrew packets, and in them are a bunch of English words that are translated into Hebrew. Then you have to draw a picture and write the Hebrew characters and translation five times. Once that is done you have a leader check it and give you a sticker. Then you write the word in English and Hebrew. you put it on your back and have all five staff sign your sticker once you say your word in English and Hebrew. After all five signatures you go to Poppins for your pick out of the prize box. I got these small frogs that pop when you suction them to the table. Sarai from the tribe of Benjamin likes that people get to draw on your back and the prizes in the prize box. Nathan B. from the tribe of Simeon likes prizes and learning Hebrew. I like Hebrew because Poppins and Esquire are the best teachers. They make learning fun.

Latanya H., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

Everyone at Camp Gilgal knows what FOB is but for those of you who don’t know, FOB means Flat on Bunk. The whole tribe will chill on their bed for 45 minutes to an hour. Some campers sleep, write home, eat candy and so much more on their beds. However, the campers have to be quiet because the tribe leaders like to sleep.

Sarai, age 12, says, “I like FOB because you can sleep.” On the other hand, Michael, age 11, says “I don’t like FOB because it’s super long.” As you can see, the campers all feel differently about FOB. Haneen, age 12, feels like FOB is a nap during the day. I personally agree with that because I didn’t participate in nap time in kindergarten. So FOB is a great way to make up for that. Furthermore, FOB is basically free time in the comfort of your bed.

Latanya H., Age 12   
Tribe of Reuben 

Mail Call is a time right after dinner when campers and staff receive mail. Junior camp is a two week sleep away camp with no electronics, so the way families communicate is through mail. Anyone can send a letter or package to someone at camp. Anyway, Mail Call is a fun time at camp because who doesn’t want to receive mail? Campers love it when they get mail because there is usually candy and it means someone cares for them.

Dinah (age 12) says, “I like Mail Call because it is exciting and I like to receive mail.” Haneen (age 12) says, “When I receive mail it makes me feel loved.” Awww.

As you can see, campers love Mail Call. 

Mail Call has two rounds. The first one is just letters, but the second is more than that.  We call it The Bonus Round!! The bonus round is when campers receive packages. The best package is the package that contains candy. During both rounds we have a spinner. A camper gets picked to spin and show off their jazz hand skills when a staff member receives mail.

In conclusion, Mail Call is a time we receive mail and have fun.

Monique L., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin 

You know what we do right after breakfast? Cabin clean up. You might think that it is a long and monotonous task, but it’s really quite fun. You not only learn to keep your room clean, but also you learn to get along with your tribe mates.

So first you should check under your mattress for “schmutz,” which are things like crumbs, dirt or dust combined. Then you should neatly tuck in your bed and straighten your sheets or sleeping bags. Then make sure your suitcase is properly stored and zipped and no straps are sticking out.

Next sweep, check the vanity, do litter patrol. Morty and Minerva, an elderly couple that live in the shack next door, check your cabin and walkway for infractions. They are very thorough and will find the slightest little thing wrong with your cabin so make sure you are very neat and continually check your cabin. You can leave notes and treats for Morty and Minerva. They enjoy surprises.

Cabin inspection is a lot of fun and you learn good cleaning techniques. I asked Sarai and she said it’s a good thing we have it. Otherwise we would never clean our cabin.

Zoe N., Age 10          
Tribe of Asher

Dear Reader:

What we do during Tabernacle is first we worship. We usually sing three songs. After we sing the songs then we do the Sh’ma. Next, we do memory verses with Waffles and Gilligan. The verses are Joshua 1:7-9 and it says: “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be successful wherever you go. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous; Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1: 7-9. We do it four times.

Finally, after we do the verses Moose comes up with his Bible and teaches us from the book of Joshua.

I love Tabernacle because Moose tells us about what happened when Joshua sent out two spies.

I asked Carrie questions about Tabernacle. Carrie likes Tabernacle a lot. Carrie’s favorite worship song is “The Happy Song.” Carrie’s favorite part of Tabernacle is to worship. Carrie’s favorite lesson so far about Joshua is when Rahab helped the spies.

Elizabeth R., Age 9    
Tribe of Asher 

I got to sing with the Shabbat worship team this week. I asked Nike some questions because Sauté and Nike are leading it. I asked Nike why she chose the song, “Psalm 23,” and she said, “It is a fun song to sing and easy to learn.” I asked her why she likes worship and she said she loves music and praising Y’shua.

The reason why I want to do Shabbat worship is because Nike wanted me to and because I love the song Psalm 23. I really like this song because I like the tune and I really like the words. The people that were in Shabbat worship were Sophia, Carrie, Sarah, Noa, Yamaha, Nike, Maddie, Zoe, Erica, Shalom, Mekerah, Sauté and Shannon.

Maddie played the fiddle and Yamaha helped Carrie and Sarah play the piano. Nike and Sauté played the guitar, and Stix helped Sophia and Zoe with the drums and everybody else sang. I stood next to Nike and sang with her.

I had so much fun doing Shabbat worship. I hope to do it again next year. I really had a great time this year and am looking forward to learning a new song the next time we do it.

Taliah S., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

Campfire is a very fun and uplifting part of Camp Gilgal. One of my favorite parts of campfire is camp songs. This is when we sing silly camp songs about God or about camp. I grew up in Camp Gilgal East and we do a lot of camp songs there, so sometimes Streetlight invites me up to help her with the camp songs. Another thing that we do during campfire is worship songs. Usually Streetlight, Nike and Stix (two other tribe leaders) would come up with a guitar and a drum. Then Streetlight and Nike would sing some worship songs. After we sing some worship songs usually a female tribe leader and a male tribe leader come up and share their testimony with all of us. They talk about their childhood and give all the campers advice. They also add a verse or two in there as well. The last thing that we do is probably my favorite part of the campfire. It is when all the staff come up to the front and the campers can come up and grab one of them then go out somewhere and talk and pray with them. I interviewed four campers and asked them all two questions:  

1. What is your favorite part of campfire?
2. What have you learned from the testimonies given this year?

One of them said to the first question, camp songs, one of them said worship. One of them said testimonies, and last but not least, they said praying. Then to the second question, two of them said there will be hardships in life but God will help you through it. One of them said he loves seeing the works God has done in their lives, and the last one said that she is thankful that her parents have a great relationship.

Emmalee S., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

In Tabernacle we were learning about Joshua picking one person from each tribe of Israel to carry twelve stones, one per person across the Jordan River. The water stopped so all could cross. Moose taught the lesson and he loves rocks so he wanted us to make a memorial of twelve stones. He took us up in between the men’s and ladies sides to the place where we made it. Then each of our seven tribes helped find our main rock and pulled it with ropes. Then every tribe found a rock for our memorial. Afterward we read out of Joshua to see how they made a memorial. Moose liked that we as campers worked as a team and made something to remember God’s promise.

Samuel C., Age 9
Tribe of Dan

First we pick a color of the degel. Second, we pick the tribe and its symbol. Third, we have to do the best drawing. Fourth, we write our names and draw the symbol and write the tribe name. We use green, purple, red, orange gold and yellow. We use it during tribe line up. Sometimes we forget the degel. Sometimes we use it when we go places like when we go to the creek or to Tabernacle. If we forget the degel after a meal, we have to get it because DPS takes it away. DPS stands for the Degel Protective Services. They protect the flags and protect the area. The person with the degel stands at the front of the line when we line up for meals. During the meals, we put the degel on the wall. The other degels are yellow, blue, green, orange, red and black. We are going to use it when we march in the Fourth of July parade in Columbia. When we are in line for meals and it is raining, we put our degel inside to protect it. Degels are important and we love ours.

Noa B., Age 11
Tribe of Asher

The Gilgal store is really cool. When you arrive at camp you give staff your spending money so that when you want to buy something you go to Bank Gilgal.

After FOB the Gilgal store is open. You get your money from the bank. There is a folder with your name in it. It says how much money you brought and every time you take money out to spend they subtract the amount you spent.     

There are two parts to the Gilgal store. The first one is food and the second one is toys, jewelry, swimming pool things and journals, oh and stickers.

The food there are mostly sweets like Airheads, gummy bears, gummy worms and more. There are drinks too, like Crush, Pepsi, Squirt, Dr. Pepper, grape, Coca Cola, water, and 7 Up. Also, there’s popcorn, cheese puffs, and fish crackers.

Some campers told me what they thought about the store: awesome, fun, useful and amazing. I definitely agree with useful because I wanted to write a letter to my family but I had no envelope or card. But in the store I found some.

Tribes of Gilgal

Persaeus B., Age 8
Tribe of Naphtali

Our tribe is Naphtali. Our tribe members are Toto, Acorn, Erica, Ellie, Claire, Sarah, Shalom and me Persaeus. All of us like carpetball, and Acorn is the 2010 champion. Sarah’s nickname is Cookie and everyone on her street calls her that. Everyone likes the pool. All of Naphtali likes the waterslide more than carpetball. Ellie, Claire, and Erica like Wells Fargo because Ellie thinks it’s fun to sneak up and Claire said it’s fun to get the gold. Erica said it’s fun to run everywhere. All of us think we did well in the parade in Columbia and Ellie thinks we did a good job at drums and singing. Everyone loves FOB. Claire is the FOB queen.

Shannon O., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

So, I bet you’re all wondering… who is the tribe of Benjamin, what does Benjamin mean, who are you, what do you guys do all day… do you like Waff- well, before the questions inflate, I’d like to say I am glad you “asked,” because that’s just what I’m going to talk about. So listen up! J

Now, I will be taking three exclusive interviews from Monique, Lizzy and Mekerah. But first I will inform you what Benjamin really means. It is “wolf” in Hebrew, which also happens to be one of Yael’s favorite animals. (Yael is one of my cabin mates.)

Jonathan P., Age 8
Tribe of Dan

My name is Jonathan P. I am going to write about the tribe of Dan. Our names are Jonathan, Eithan, Sasha, Sam and Boaz. We are in the Chili Bar cabin. We are in the youngest men’s cabin. We like to play during FOB with Sam’s beach ball. We like free time, too. Boaz and Sasha like to go bug catching. I always sleep during FOB. I usually sleep but it’s hard to when a beach ball’s hitting your face every twenty seconds! We love being at camp. I usually play racquetball with Yamaha. We go swimming, catch lizards, play carpetball and other fun stuff.

During free time we buy stuff at the store. I like to buy food and collect the Camp Gilgal T-shirts. We liked Men’s Day. This is a great first year of Camp Gilgal. I really enjoyed learning Hebrew and getting closer to God. I think that camp is a good experience for everyone to enjoy.

I asked Boaz, “How old are you?” He said, “Nine.” Then I asked him, “What’s your favorite part of camp so far?” He said, “Water sliding.” I asked him what his favorite sport was and he said it was tennis. I then asked him, “How mad can you get?” and he said not much.

He lives in England and later would like to live in Australia. His favorite color is blue. His favorite place is Australia and his favorite food is chicken taco salad.

Carrie M., Age 9
Tribe of Asher 

Hello, my name is Carrie, and my tribe is Asher. There are five other campers in my tribe. They are Sophia, Zoe, Elizabeth, Noa, and Maddie. We sleep in a little cabin called Fiddle Town. Its neighbor is Hermit Valley. We sleep in twin-sized beds which are pretty comfortable. I sleep on the bunk near the door. Noa sleeps on top of my bunk. T-Rex, our assistant tribe leader, sleeps across from me, and Maddie is on top of T-Rex. Across from T-Rex and Maddie’s bunk is Nike and Sophia. Across from that is Elizabeth and Zoe. 

I’ll tell you a little more about them, starting with me, Carrie. I’m clean and neat and not messy because I hate messiness. Just saying. Sophia is messy but she cleans up her mess afterward. I am glad she does, because usually people don’t. Maddie is neat and sometimes messy. Elizabeth is neat. Me and Nike are the same, neat. We do almost everything together. During FOB we play Pass the Duck and we draw or sleep or read. FOB stands for “Flat on Bunk,” if you are wondering. Pass the Duck is when you pass the duck to anyone you like to without dropping it. If you do you’re out. Whoever is the last one in wins and gets a piece of candy from someone. 

I love FOB and Camp Gilgal.

Isaac H., Age 12
Tribe of Levi 

Camp is simply a great place to spend 14 days of your summer. You have all your activities set up for you, you’re surrounded by campers and the food is probably the best I’ve tasted, camp wise. But this place would be nothing if there were no cabin mates to enjoy the greatness with you. At the beginning of camp, everybody is split into tribes of about four to six campers, with two staff. I was put into J-Box and Stix’s tribe with four other campers: Daniel, Michael, Sam and Corey. Our tribe chose the name of Levi, whose symbol is a breast plate and composed a degel of awesomeness. I already knew most of my fellow tribe mates well, but since our first day of being a tribe any ice remaining has been broken. Now we’re officially camp chums.

For this article, I have interviewed my tribe mates on these topics:  

Which year is this for you at camp?
Daniel said second year.
Corey said fourth year.
Sam said fourth year.
Michael said third year.

 How do you think our tribe is doing?
“I don’t think we’re doing well,” said Daniel.
“Very good,” said Corey.
“Good,” said Sam
“Okay,” said Michael. 

What are your favorite camp events?
“Wells Fargo,” said Daniel.
“Capture the Degel and MI,” said Corey.
“Night games,” said Sam.
“Capture the Degel,” Michael.

How do you like the camp experience so far?
“I like it,” said Daniel.
Corey and Michael liked it also.
“I love it!” said Sam.

Our tribe works well most of the time, but we do have our bad moments. Nobody’s perfect. We have our ways of communicating during FOB with paper airplanes. So we still have our good points. Being the oldest cabin the tribe of Levi is a great experience day and night.

Haneen R., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

We are the tribe of Reuben. We all get along really well. There are eight of us: Waffles, Willow, Taliah, Dinah, Rebekah, Emmalee, LaTanya and of course me, Haneen. We are the oldest tribe. This year because of our age we are acting as leaders and serving as much as we can. Today is only the fourth day. We have had a lot of fun so far. Yesterday we won the championship game of water balloon volleyball and it was really fun, except for poor Taliah who fell down twice and got soaked. So far we have not nailed it in the cabin inspection, but today we did better than previous days. Taliah’s favorite camp activity is campfires, LaTanya’s favorite is MI, Emmalee’s is also MI, Rebekah’s is, too. So is Dinah’s and mine. Wow, I guess everyone loves MI.

I think this year will be very fun because we love camp and everyone in it. I love my tribe and I am sure everyone else does, too. I can’t wait for the rest of camp and am already looking forward to next year.

David R., Age 11
Tribe of Simeon

I really like the tribe of Simeon. I will now describe each person and how they act.

Nathan S.: He is nice and kind. He loves playing fantasy football. Nathan is very smart, and he knows a lot about sports and does what he’s told to do.

Nathan B: Nathan is nice once you get to know him. Nathan is ticklish and is very creative.

Isaiah: Isaiah is my best friend in the tribe. Isaiah cares about others, is very, very smart and knows a lot about everything. Also, he likes to kid around.

Java: Java is great with ideas, understands what we’re talking about and is great at cleaning.

Ewok: Ewok is great with ideas also. Also, Ewok is straight to the point and on task.

Daniel: Daniel is a friend.

I asked Isaiah what he thinks of our tribe and he answered, “We’re a good team.”

Interviews and Family

Ellie M., Age 7
Tribe of Naphtali

I interviewed my tribe leader Toto. I got to ask her many questions and really got to know her.  The first question I asked her was what her favorite activity at camp is. She said, “There are so many it’s hard to choose. But my favorite might be carpetball. It’s super fun.”  I also asked her what camp was like when she was a camper. It was really interesting to hear about camp back in the day. She told me that it was pretty similar to camp now but she had more theme nights. She also said that when free time came everyone was in the pool. Wow. That sounds like camp this year! 

Q: What is your favorite food?
A: All food of course! I eat more fruits and vegetables than regular people, but I like almost all food.

Q: What’s your favorite movie?
A: I love Disney movies! I think they are so fun. Another favorite is the Wizard of Oz.

Q: How long have you been on staff?
A: This is my first year on staff.

Q: What’s your favorite part about being on staff?
A: I love spending time with campers and talking with them. I also like watching the campers grow in their faith in Y’shua.

After a lot of questions I finished my interview with Toto by asking what her favorite part of the Bible is. She loves the book of Ruth. She said that she likes how God was there for Ruth even when He didn’t seem like it. It was really fun getting to know my tribe leader better.

Sam F., Age 11
Tribe of Levi

I did my interview with Sonic. The first question I asked him was how he was when he started camp. He said he was nine. The second question I asked him was who were his tribe leaders his first year at camp? Sonic said they were Jaws and Waldo. The third question I asked him was what his favorite activity is during camp. He said Capture the Degel. The fourth question I asked him was what makes him want to come back to camp every year. He said it has a big effect on his life and he likes seeing us every year.

Claire C., Age 8
Tribe of Naphtali

Willow is a first year assistant tribe leader here. She is having a lot of fun being on staff. She likes camp a lot.

Willow mostly wanted to come to camp because she wanted a closer relationship with the Lord and she wanted to meet new people. Willow loves all the campers in her tribe very much. Willow has not gone in the pool yet.

Willow was a camper here at junior camp for one year.

She also likes the food here. Her favorite colors are purple, blue and black. She loves all of the staff equally. When Willow first got here she had a really fun time, she saw a lot of old friends and she had a really fun time worshipping.

This article has talked all about Willow’s very fun life at Camp Gilgal and all of her favorite things to do at Camp Gilgal.

Isaiah L., Age 10
Tribe of Simeon

Today I interviewed Ewok. I asked Ewok how long he has been going to camp. He said that he has been going to camp for seven years. I asked him how long he has been a tribe leader. He said that he has been a tribe leader for three years. I asked him how he found Camp Gilgal. He said that he went to some going away party. At that party there were campers who encouraged him to go to camp. I asked him how he got his camp name. He said that at teen camp a lot of his friends started to call him Ewok. He wasn’t sure at first if he liked the name but he liked it the more he was called it, and the name Ewok stuck. I asked Ewok what are some of his favorite things to do at camp. He said that he enjoyed buying things from the Gilgal store and he also liked night games such as Mission Impossible, Capture the Degel, and Wells Fargo. I asked him if any friends from when he was a camper are tribe leaders. He said that Garfield, Professor, Acorn, Yamaha, Stix, and Sparkler were campers when he was. I asked him who was a tribe leader when he was a camper. He said that Jet, Nova, Diesel, Gonzo, Cucamonga, and Bandit were. I asked him who was his tribe leader his first year? He said, “Gonzo was my first tribe leader.” I asked him what things weren’t here when he was a camper. He said that the campfire area wasn’t there. Ewok is a great tribe leader.

Dinah N., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

My name is Dinah N. and I interviewed a tribe leader named Waffles. Waffles is the tribe leader for the tribe of Reuben. I asked her some questions and got some funny answers, like what her favorite animal was. She said anything small and furry.

Waffles started coming to Camp Gilgal when she was eight for winter camp and ten for summer camp. Her parents named her Waffles because of her golden brown hair that was the same color as Waffles. Her birthday is October 11^th and her favorite colors are sea foam green and peach. Her hobbies include photography, cooking, baking, and running. She came to accept Jesus when she was three and her brother prayed with her. Later, she made the commitment for herself when she came to Camp Gilgal.

When Waffles comes to camp she looks forward to spending time with the people in her cabin and campfires. Her favorite activity at camp is horseback riding because of the beautiful meadow and it’s relaxing. Lastly, a characteristic of God that has been the most prominent in her life is faithfulness.

Nathan S., Age 9
Tribe of Simeon 

Intro
Honestly, I was going to do J-Box but I lost the battle against Isaiah and Nathan B. Now I had to choose, and I chose Yamaha. 

Interviewing
So here it is, First I went with the simple question of “What’s your name?” He answered, “Yamaha.” Now I was curious about his name. “How did you get your name?” He answered, “I like playing the piano and Yamaha is a good piano company.” So, it’s based on the company. I was wondering how he got to know the Lord. I asked him, “When did you accept the Lord, and how?” “I accepted the Lord in kindergarten. My teacher prayed with me and I accepted Him.” Now on to camp questions. I started with this, “How many years have you gone to camp?” Yamaha answered, “This is my ninth year.” Now I was wondering, “Were you a camper?” “Yes, and I still am, I go to adventure camp.” Now I was wondering what his favorite thing to do was. I asked, “What is your favorite thing to do at camp?” Yamaha answered, “I like going to Columbia.” Now there was another average question. It was about his age when he came to camp. He answered, “When I was eight.” So I asked him, “What is your favorite part about being a leader?” He answered, “Sharing the Lord with campers.” Now I was seeing what made him want to go to camp. “What made you want to go to camp?” “It’s the best time you can have in the summer.” Before I conclude this interview, “is there anything you would like to say to conclude this article?” He said, “I hope you enjoyed interviewing me.” Conclusion, “Well, that was fun.”

Haneen R., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben 

Poppins is the most amazing camp mom. She even helps clean and fold our laundry. She is the Best!!! Everyone loves her and she is super funny! She always makes sure everyone gets their medicine and is feeling well. She is literally everyone’s second mom. That’s why I chose to interview her. Today we had Time Warp Tuesday, and Poppins and Esquire played Morty and Minerva twenty years ago, and they were hilarious. Poppins pretended to be a singer, and it was sooo funny. She loves camp and has been coming since 2007. Her favorite part of camp is the campers. Her favorite game is water balloon volleyball because it has the least injuries. She was a lifeguard when she was sixteen and is now a high school teacher, and also plays a huge part of camp and is soooo needed here. Camp would literally fall apart without Poppins.

Sam F., Age 11
Tribe of Levi 

I did my interview on Stix. My first question I asked him was, “How old were you when you started camp?” He said, “Nine.” My second question I asked him was, “Do you like FOB?” He said, “When I’m tired I like it.” My third question I asked him was, “Who were your tribe leaders your first year at camp?” He said, “Sonic and Gonzo.” The fourth question I asked him was, “What’s your favorite activity at camp?” He said, “Oylimpics.” My fifth question I asked him was, “What’s the worst injury you got at camp?” He said he got sick. The sixth question I asked him was, “Is it fun to be an assistant tribe leader?” He said yes, because it’s fun to be around us. My seventh question I asked him was, “How did you discover camp?” He said it was through older siblings. The eighth question I asked him was, “What’s your favorite candy?” He said Red Vines. My ninth question I asked him was, “How long do you practice drumsticks daily?” He said two hours or more. The tenth and final question I asked him was, “What would you say to motivate a future tribe leader who looks up to you?” He said, “It’s a great experience doing it and learning your faith and being living examples of Y’shua.”

Stix is a very interesting guy to talk to. Stix is very funny and smart. He really likes music and he and I talk about it a lot. Stix is very good at drumsticks. He even takes very good care of them. When we did Time Warp Tuesday, he took the sticks and held them until we needed them for line up. Anyways, Stix is awesome.

Mekerah P., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

For my article for the Gilgal Gazette I interviewed my tribe leader, Galaxy. She was very obstinate and usually wouldn’t answer the questions I wanted her to properly.

Our conversation was like this:

“So Galaxy, what’s your real name?” I asked. She answered, “That is an excellent question, Mekerah.”

I groan and ask again, “Ok, Galaxy, what is your name? And no saying, ‘That is an excellent question’ or anything like that!”

Galaxy smiles and says, “Galaxy.” I glare at her and say, “Fine. We’ll talk about this later. So what’s your actual age? No saying ‘Good question’ or anything.”

Galaxy answers, “My age is timeless.” I groan and say I give up.

“What do you think about Wells Fargo?”

Galaxy replies, “Playing Wells Fargo is very fun. You get to chase campers and watch them scream and laugh at the same time while guarding your bag of gold.”

So than I said, “Are we playing Wells Fargo tomorrow?”

Then Galaxy said, “I am glad you have such an inquisitive mind.”

I groan again and say, “You actually have to answer the question.”

Galaxy said, “You will know when it happens.” So I said, “Fine. Why did you become a tribe leader?”

Galaxy said, “I became a tribe leader because after going to camp as a camper and getting to know God better I realized I wanted to invest in future campers both spiritually and by being there to have fun and encourage them.”

Then we ran out of time and had stop.

Nathan B., Age 11
Tribe of Simeon

I asked J-Box what his experience was with basketball and he told me that he had been playing for six years, four years in high school and two in middle school. Then I asked, “What’s your strategy in carpetball?” and he responded, “It’s to get all the balls in.”

Then I asked, “Do you like soccer?” And he said he almost played in it high school. He also enjoyed football. He likes camp.

I asked him how he got so awesome? And he told me he had no idea.

He likes being a tribe leader.

I think J-Box is really cool and nice.

I love having him at camp and playing basketball with him.

I like when he throws me in the pool. 

He is my favorite tribe leader.

Lizzy N., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin

Sparkler is my tribe leader so I wanted to know more about her. Here are some questions I asked her. “What made you want your name to be Sparkler?” She answered, “I was born on July 4^th and I don’t like loud noises, and a sparkler is a loudless firework.”

Then I asked, “How old were you when you first went to camp?” Sparkler answered, “I was seven, and I turned eight during it.”

“What made you want to be a tribe leader?”

She answered, “It seemed really fun and I wanted to influence campers the way my tribe leaders influenced me.”

“What are some of your friends from camp?”

“Acorn, Smalls, Bologna, Professor and Ewok.”

Then I asked, “What were some of your favorite camp activities?”

Sparkler answered, “Wells Fargo, MI, swimming and FOB.”

“What are some of your favorite camp memories?”

“Just doing everything with Acorn and Smalls,” she answered.

“What are some of your favorite dares with Acorn and Smalls?” She answered, “The time at WWW when Acorn dared Smalls to wake up the oldest cabin at two in the morning and tell them it was breakfast and they were late.”

I hope you had as much fun as I did learning more about Sparkler.

Boaz B., Age 9
Tribe of Dan 

I interviewed the staff member Java. The question I asked him was first, “How did you get your camp name?” He answered, “I drank coffee all the time.” Next I asked, “What is your favorite color?” to which he answered, “My favorite color is red.” Then I asked what his favorite food is and Java replied spicy rare steak. He also likes red soda. His favorite sport is karate, and he has an orange belt.  He has been doing karate for three years. Java is a really cool tribe leader.

Lizzy N., Age 11
Tribe of Benjamin 

I interviewed Acorn and here are some of her answers. “What are some of your best camp memories?” I asked. She answered, “When I was a camper I liked Ladies Day because we always sang, ‘Hit the Road Jack’ and had creative themes. Right now I like being in the same cabins I was a camper in and being able to be an influence to ladies now.”

I also asked what she liked to do during FOB when she was a camper. Acorn answered, “I loved to pass notes and throw the notes across the room trying not to wake up the tribe leaders.” I wanted to know who some of her friends were when she was a camper. So I did. Acorn answered, “Waffles, Sparkler, Bazooka, Snapple, Hershey, Smalls and Bologna.”

“Why did you pick your name to be Acorn?”  I asked. I knew the staff pick their own camp names. Acorn answered instantly, “I love squirrels,” and then at teen camp Zildjian called her Acorn and then everybody started to call her that and it stuck.

“What are some of your favorite games and theme nights?” I asked.

She answered, “My favorite game is Wells Fargo because it’s staff versus campers and everyone gets to have fun. My favorite theme night is Super Hero Night.”

I asked, “What is your favorite cabin?” Acorn answered, “Hard Rock Mine, second to the oldest cabin because I was in there for all of my favorite years of camp.”

“How many years have you been a camper?” I asked.  Acorn answered, “I was at junior camp for four years.” I learned a lot about Acorn interviewing her. I hope someday I can be as kind as her.

Haneen R., Age 12
Tribe of Reuben

Sherbert is super fun and exciting. She helps make camp possible. She does most activities but her specialty is Dental Inspection. She comes every night even when it’s late and she tries to inspect everyone’s teeth. Her favorite camp activity is Capture the Degel. Her favorite hobby outside of camp is going exploring. She joined Camp Gilgal in 2012. Everyone loves Sherbert because she brings lots of energy and is super fun. This year she is in charge of crafts. She is named Sherbert because her grandma’s name is also Sherbert. Sherbert is very excited this year and had a lot of fun playing Capture the Degel and can’t wait for Wells Fargo. We are all happy to have Sherbert. She helps hold camp together and is super awesome and fun at camp.