Once a part of the Camp Gilgal family, always a part of the Camp Gilgal family.

Category: Junior Camp East

Interview with Levia

Aylo L. age 9

Tribe of Gad

 

Today, I am going to interview one of the campers, Levia. Levia is actually from France! It’s her first year at junior camp, too. I asked her a few questions. I asked her what her favorite activity at camp was and she told me that it was drama games. The next question I asked her was a little freaky. I said that if a clown snuck in her house at night, what would be her first reaction be in the morning? She said she would FREAK OUT! It seems like Levia is just like me! I also asked her if she was Santa Claus for a day if she would like it and she said yes because then she would get to make a bunch of people happy! I asked her if she was liking camp so far and she said, “Yes of course, it’s such a great place to be!” So far, I’m thinking that Levia is very interesting and fun. She must be having a blast at camp! The last question I asked her was more serious. I asked her what parts of camp made her feel closer to God and she said the worship during tabernacle because the team is so good and she loves to praise God. That wraps up my interview with Levia!

Horseback Riding

Chloe S. age 10

Tribe of Manasseh

 

The day of horseback riding was so much fun. The first horse I rode on was Frank. He was very dark brown and he liked to trot when I was on his back. On the day of horseback riding the sky was blue, it was warm and I was so excited to ride the horses. The whole experience was so fun and I am so glad God gave us such a beautiful day. We got to ride in an enclosed arena and when we went into the stable we got to see a goat! My friend Lilya was riding a horse who kept stopping for a snack of hay! I hope you like the horses as much as I do. It was probably my favorite day of camp so far! It was especially fun since I haven’t done horseback riding in a long time!

Interview with Verde

Greenlee K. age 11

Tribe of Manasseh

 

Hi! I am going to tell you all about Verde. His favorite Pokémon is Weepingbell. He loves Pokémon. Verde’s favorite book of the Bible is Revelation because it is intriguing. His favorite verse of the Bible is Galatians 5:22. Verde’s favorite color is blue. Weird, right? Verde is Spanish for green, but he likes blue. He is currently six feet tall. He was 8 years old when he started coming to camp. Verde heard about camp from his older sisters. He likes being tribe leader better than being a camper. He likes it because he enjoys being a good example for the kids. He also thinks that it is a good experience. His siblings are Ruski, Watson, and Tanya. That is all I am going to tell you about Verde.

Interview Watson

By Halie F. age 10

Tribe of Manasseh

 

Hi. I interviewed Watson and here are some questions I asked her. Watson’s two favorite colors are green and teal. Watson has a favorite Pokémon named Glaceon. Watson does not have a favorite food but right now, she wants mint chocolate chip ice cream with marshmallows and potato chips on the side. Watson likes the verse Hebrews 12:1-2. She said it reminds her to focus on Jesus when everything is chaotic. Watson wanted to be a counselor because she wanted to be a role model. Watson has a beta fish. Also, Watson has three siblings whose names are Verde, Ruski, and Tanya. Watson has eaten something very weird before; hash browns with some hummus, Israeli salad and Cheetos. Watson’s favorite number is 73. Watson has a favorite planet- Pluto. Even though people say this planet is a star, Watson thinks otherwise. The last question I asked her was what her favorite movie was and she said “Everything sci-fi.” That is all I have to tell you about Watson.

Interview with Sitruce

By Greenlee K. age 11

Tribe of Manasseh

 

Hello! My name is Greenlee. Today I am going to tell you about the tribe leader Sitruce. Her favorite color is blue. Her dad is a missionary with Jews for Jesus and that’s how she learned about Camp Gilgal. Sitruce’s favorite book of the Bible is Numbers. She likes it because she really likes the stories of Moses. She thinks that he is a great leader. Her favorite verse of the Bible is Joshua 1:9, which is the camp theme verse! She was ten years old when she started being a camper. I asked Sitruce if she liked being a camper or a staff better, and she said that she couldn’t choose because they were very different. Being a camper, you get to enjoy the fun of camp and not have to worry about anything. Being a staff member, you get to hang out with campers and watch them grow throughout the years and share Jesus with them. That is all I will tell you about the marvelous, fantastic, amazing, outstanding, and awesome Sitruce.

Field Trip

By Illyana C. age: 8

Tribe of Gad

 

It was a hot summer day and we went in a yellow school bus. The drive was long and hot. Finally, we were at the museum! The first thing I was in there was a meteorite. There was also a hurricane simulator. We also saw Google sand map and got to play with it (Google sand map is a projector with an image of the world over sand). It was very interactive. My favorite part was when the hurricane simulator went berserk and blew all over us. My second favorite part was when we played with the Google sand map and my third was when we looked inside the human body. We also saw a cool planetarium show about the stars and it reminded me how cool God’s creation is!

Camp Out Chaos

By Michelle B. age 11

Tribe of Manasseh

 

Here at Gilgal, we have one night/morning dedicated to camping out. This year camp out for my tribe is what I call “special,” or “interesting.” At first all was well. We went up to Sunset and found a spot to put up our tents. Since we don’t have any 8 person tents our tribe had to be separated into 2 groups. The other group was doing a swell job at setting up the tent, meanwhile my group was having a real struggle. Believe me, we all know how to set up a tent, but this tent was just weird. We asked a couple people to help us out to make sure that we weren’t the problem, but even they couldn’t help us! It was time to go make s’mores and eat dinner so we set up the tent as best as we could and went to go wait. For dinner, we had either hotdogs or burger (our choice) with carrots and for dessert we made s’mores. After playing some games and having some fun, we went back to our tents to get whatever we needed for the washrooms. We thought everything was fine until Mochi noticed that we didn’t put up or even have ANY stakes (for our tents)! Being lazy we shrugged it off and went to perform our nightly rituals. The time came for lights our and we all fell sound asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night to head the sound of pouring rain. Since I was on the edge of the tent I began to notice water leaking in from the side. I (again) payed it no mind and fell back asleep. Morning arrived and I am drenched! I am 100% soaked and funny thing is, I’m the ONLY ONE who is wet in my tent. I became very cross and try to continue my day without being a total grumpus. I also find out that the stakes were under the tent and am simply upset and over it. Moral of the story: don’t sleep on the edge of tents (and make sure you set up your tents properly).

P.S. The camp out was still okay.

Timon and Worship

By Ephraim L. age 12

Tribe of Judah

 

Timon was an inspiration to me because during worship, he is always one with God. He is there to be with God and not worry about anyone else. Also, he makes me want to a have a better relationship with God. I love that when people look at him praising the Lord and laugh, he would keep on going and not get embarrassed, he would just continue having a good time in worship. I asked Timon his favorite part of worship and he said “getting to do worship and glorify God with other believers.” Timon also said that he liked too many worship songs to choose a favorite. In worship, we first sing two or three songs and then we sing the Shema. After that, we talk about a certain part of the Bible for an hour each day. Tabernacle is a great way to start my morning.

What Camp Would Be Like if I was a Duck

By Meaghan S. age 10

Tribe of Manasseh

 

If I was a duck in camp, I would bother people for bread crumbs and if they did not give it to me, I would follow them and quack. I would also live at the pond and sit on the lily pads and peck at frogs. If I was a duck hiking at camp, I would make someone carry me or I would find somewhere wet. But maybe I would go and beg for bread crumbs. If I was a duck in campfire, I would probably trip and fall down the mountain and have a very sad death, but who knows, maybe I will be roasted for dinner for the campers to eat while listening to the campfire talk and singing songs, or maybe they will let me live and set me free. If I was a duck in tabernacle, I would grab my lily-pad Bible and quack to read it. Don’t get me started on singing because to humans, I’m just quacking so it would be awkward and just weird, but if I got the tune of the song I would sing “bread crumbs please!” And this what camp would be like if I was a duck. I guess camp is meant for people and not for ducks after all, so I’m glad I’m a person who can go to Camp Gilgal!

Tribe Time

By Levia T. age 9

Tribe of Gad

 

Tribe time is really fun! We all went to the park and we went to look-out and played the telephone game together. Each time somebody would change the word and it was funny! We saw the beautiful sunset and we saw the camp horses! At the park, there was a merry go round, swings, and a slide. The swings were my favorite part! At tribe time you hang out with your tribe and I did other fun games like newcomb, and we memorized our verses as well. In my tribe there was Ava, Aylo, Halie, Mia, Illyana, Melody, Squid, and me. They make me feel really happy and great and I love spending time with them! I hope you have a good time at tribe time!

The Game Room

By Matthew S. age 11

Tribe of Judah

 

People usually go for a swim during pool time, but if you want to do other activities, you could play in the game room. The game room has two ping pong tables, two foosball tables, an air hockey table, and a pool table.

Normally the game room isn’t cool enough for me to stay outside the swimming pool. However, with the new addition of the pool table, I did not want to get out of the game room. Even on the hottest day the pool table was cooler than the swimming pool. It was such a big hit that everyone wanted a chance to play on the pool table. It was so awesome, I was able to play one on one and I had the chance to play on teams.

My favorite thing is that the rules were so easy to learn and because of that it was easy to win. Ezra was one of the luckiest players I played against. Another reason why I liked pool is because if you accidentally mess up you can still win. All of the boys liked the pool table. Some went swimming after playing, but I stayed at the table. So if you come to camp, there is a pool and a pool table, and I am awesome at both.

Movie Night

By Ava G. age 9

Tribe of Gad

 

I love movie night because it is so much fun. This year’s movie was the Lego Batman Movie and it was awesome. Also, the food and snacks we get to eat on movie night are so so yummy. There were cookies, chips, kitkats, lollipops, drinks and so much more. My favorite snack that we ate were doritos. Before movie night, we were having the Shabbat service and I was starting to get a little tired. But, my energy and excitement came right back when they announced it was movie night! I was so surprised because it was late at night. We were dismissed to go to our cabins to get our pillows, sleeping bags and blankets. We also got to wear our pajamas! It was so comfortable. We all piled into the mishkan, snuggled into our sleeping bags, and started to watch the movie. Me and my friends were about to fall asleep, but we made it through the whole movie. There were so many parts of the movie that were so funny. My favorite part is when Batman said he had a nine pack. He was the best character. It was so much fun to watch a movie at camp. I love movie night!

Pool Time

By Mia G. age 9

Tribe of Gad

 

It was a blindingly hot day. The pool water was a light blue color and it was sparkly. I wanted to jump in right away and have fun in the sun – but I had to change first in the pool bathroom, which is located in the game room. Also in the game room is a pool table, soccer tables, a ping pong table, a hockey table, three couches, and a coffee table. So cool and fun!

Anyways, back to the pool. Indiana Jones lets us climb onto his back – also known as the “Indy train.” He swims really fast and is so strong that he can carry four kids at a time. Pool time is so fun and it makes me happy!

Interview with Melody

By Halye G. age 9

Tribe of Gad

 

I am going to interview my counselor Melody! My first question is: what is your favorite part of camp? Melody answered that her favorite part of camp is worship because she likes music and using it to praise God. I then asked her what activities she was in and what they were like. She was in basketball and Hebrew and she especially liked basketball because it is her favorite sport. I then asked her what her favorite meals at camp were and if she thought the food was yummy. She loves the make your own sandwich lunch at camp and she thinks all the food is delicious!

My last fun question was: “If you were on a deserted island and it flipped over and turned into another island, what would it look like and what would you bring?” Melody answered: “I would bring all my friends and my island would be carefree.”

That’s all for today folks!

Mission Impossible

By Levi W. age 11

Tribe of Judah

 

Mission Impossible or M.I for short is a scavenger hunt game that we play during the night and it is my favorite part of camp. At about 10:00 pm you hear the theme song for M.I. There are spotters, which are the counselors with flashlights that walk around their route and if they spot you your whole tribe has to go back and touch your porch. The spotters also sing songs like nursery rhymes so that you can tell when they are coming. Every year they have a different theme, and this year it was Finding Dory. Sitruce was Dory and Hiccup was Destiny’s brother Fate. The point of the game is to gather all the clues and get to the mishkan before everyone else. My tribe was the first to find all the clues. When we first got to the mishkan, we thought that we had won, however the tribe of Gad came in and gave us our last clue that we had dropped. My favorite part of the game is sneaking around in the dark. M.I was my favorite part of Camp Gilgal and I can’t wait to play it again next year.

Interview with Nacho

By Greenlee K. age 11

Tribe of Manasseh

 

Today I am going to tell you all about Nacho. Nacho’s favorite book of the Bible is Psalms. I asked her to choose her favorite color, but she couldn’t decide, so she just chose blue. The weirdest thing that Nacho has ever done is stare at people while they were sleeping. She has been staff for one year and she was a camper for one year. Her siblings names are: Hiccup, Scrabble, Gita, and Ravi. Isn’t Nacho a very interesting person? I asked her for her favorite Bible verse and she said Proverbs 3:1-2. Nacho’s favorite chapter of the Bible is Psalms 145. Her favorite phrase is “It’s your day to shine!” Nacho likes being a staff more than a camper because she gets to be a part of changing campers lives. It is easy for her to be staff because she knows how to put everything into God’s hands. That is all I am going to tell you about the wonderful and amazing Nacho.

Food

By Yoav S. age 9

Tribe of Benjamin

 

The camp chef makes the best food. The turkey bacon is just the best! I love the food so much. I always want to get breakfast first. Breakfast is my favorite meal and camp breakfast is extra delicious. My favorite non-breakfast meal is tacos because I love the bowl of cheese. Mmmm, the chef is awesome at making food! I got very hungry now just thinking about it! Even on the sleepout when Hiccup and Indiana Jones made the burgers and hot dogs the food was tasty! I ate two hamburgers and three hot dogs and a s’more. I was so full that at breakfast I could only eat one small bowl of cereal!

My favorite vegetable at camp (you have to eat vegetables at every lunch and every dinner) is cucumbers. I love them! I love food all the time! At home, my favorite thing to eat is turkey bacon and eggs, so I love those meals at camp too!

Also, before the meals, one of the campers volunteers to lead the Hebrew blessings over the food and drink and then they pray in English. After lunch, we do a prayer called the birkat hamazon where we get to bang on the table and sing and thank God for the food!

Get excited, if you come to Camp Gilgal you can eat chef’s food too!

Field Sports

By Ezra L. age 10

Tribe of Benjamin

 

In field sports, you play newcomb, soccer, volleyball, and kickball. I like newcomb the best. The rules are that you cannot let the ball touch the ground. Also, if two people touch the ball and it hits the ground they are both out. If you throw the ball out of bounds you are out. When someone on your team catches the ball with one hand and someone was out, they come back into the game. I love newcomb, and I’m even pretty good too. My signature move is diving for the ball and catching it. I do it at least once a game. I normally throw the ball with one hand. I played a game of newcomb where I was one team and my tribe was the other team. Sometimes it can be hard to get to the ball in time, but in this game, I got it every time and won all by myself. If you are going to play newcomb against me you better be skilled and very fast. Game on!

Craft

By Halie F. age 10

Tribe of Manasseh

 

For this years craft, we made a belt. My belt has stars and my name, Halie, on it. Jalapeno is the leader of craft, and she is great! Here are the steps to make the belt: sizing the belt was the first step. The second step is picking a buckle. The third step is stamping designs. The forth step is punching the holes. The fifth is staining and the color I chose is medium brown, which you have to put two coats of. Then, I used super shine on the belt and loop. Once you assemble the whole belt, Jalapeno will take a picture of you with your creation! I love that the crafts we make last a really long time and are a really good memory of camp. Craft taught me to never give up and to be creative!

The Girls and Gary

Dedicated to Gary, a gentle yet scary soul.

By Michelle B. age 11

Tribe of Manasseh

 

It was a peaceful morning back on the girl’s side of camp. A loud flutter made my ears perk up and as soon as I turned around, I saw it. The beautiful monstrosity. The 6 by 6 inch moth gracefully landed on a window net. It was as beautiful as a butterfly, but its colors made it able to camouflage into a leaf. It was amazing and I knew that it had to be God’s creation. Some were in awe; but all were terrified. Instead of the leaf-like insect freaking us out . . . people were freaking it out. They named the moth Gary and started treating it like a pet. They were doing something they called “petting it” but deep inside we ALL knew that they were just poking it. Days went by and Gary was still putting up with this animal abuse. Some claimed that the sizeable moth liked the attention; but there was one thing I was sure of. Gary was hurt and almost paralyzed from fear. He was “pet” way too much, and all of this “likeable attention” damaged his wings. The next day I was the only one on the porch and I saw the monstrosity attempt to fly off. He (or she I really don’t know the gender) simply fell and took a hard fall so I laid him on a step. A couple of hours later I found him… splat! On the grass. This murder mystery is yet to be solved; however, I suspect that there is a traitor among us! This is yet another mystery…

Closing off,

Michelle

Boating

By Stuart S. age 9

Tribe of Benjamin

 

Boating is fun, fun, fun! I got to run a tiny bit to the pond. When I got there, I saw four boats by the side of the dock. As I was on the dock I saw three fish! Before we went in the boat, Sneezy and Verde showed us how to put on life jackets, hold onto the oar, and assigned us seats by experience. I got to sit in the front for my first time boating at camp. Finally, we got into the green water and started rowing around. While rowing around, we saw lots of fish and we even saw a tiny baby turtle! The turtle was so cute and the fish looked normal- wet, scaly and slimy. It is amazing that God makes different creatures that we can see in the pond! All in all, boating was very fun! Although it was a hot day, in the end, it was a very nice day!

Basketball

By Halie F. age 10

Tribe of Manasseh

 

This year at camp, basketball was outside. I like it better inside, because it is too hot outside. But, basketball is my spirit sport. I love basketball! At home, I am on a basketball team so I could use my skills at camp. Whenever we would be finished playing hoops, our activity group would go play on the playground. Melody and Indiana Jones led the activity this year. They made it so much fun for us, and on the last day of the basketball activity, Indiana Jones said everyone would play against him! It was so hard to beat him because he’s so good! We always split the teams equally, so it’s fair.

Before we left for each activity, we had to make sure we had everything we needed. For basketball this included: a t-shirt, sunscreen, sneakers, a water bottle, a hat, sunglasses, and bug spray.

Basketball makes me feel so happy because I love it so much! I’m so glad it’s something I get to do at Camp Gilgal. That is everything I will tell you about basketball and Camp Gilgal 2017!

Camp Gilgal East Junior Camp (July 2–15, 2017)

Choose the Way of Life

“Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20

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

Tribe of Benjamin: Stuart S., Yoav S., Ezra L., Gator, Timon

Tribe of Judah: Ephraim L., Matthew S., Isaac G., Levi W., Indiana Jones, Verde

Tribe of Manasseh: Michelle B., Chloe S., Halie F., Greenlee K., Lilya T., Meaghan S., Sneezy, Mochi

Tribe of Gad: Illyana C., Aylo L., Levia T., Mia G., Ava G., Halye G., Squid, Melody

Out of Cabin Staff:  RedSox, Beardo, Sitruce, Hiccup, Jalepeno, Spitzy Pluto, Wallaby

Interview with Michelle

By Lilya T. age 11

Tribe of Manasseh

Today I am here with camper Michelle, so, let’s get started! Michelle’s favorite thing to do here at camp is play Mission Impossible, which is a scavenger hunt that happens at night. She also really likes camping out because it is a good time to bond with your tribe. This is her second year at camp and she loves it! She decided to come to this camp because she wanted to go to a super fun camp! And she has grown to adore camp. In terms of food, she especially loves waffle day, but can’t pass up mac and cheese with goldfish on top. She talked about food for a while… in her words “it’s delish!”

Then I asked her a weird question, which was “if you could do ANYTHING for four hours, what would it be?” She said that she would play basketball because it’s her spirit sport, but would also want to fly to heaven because that would be rad!

Her favorite book of the Bible is Revelations because she thinks it is cool and interesting.

Michelle is one of my really good friends, and I’m so glad to have met her!

Interview with Haile

By Greenlee K. age: 11

Tribe of Manasseh

 

Hello! My name is Greenlee. I am interviewing my fellow bunk mate, Halie. She has been a camper for four years. She has two siblings and their names are Trent and Cory. Her favorite book of the Bible is Esther. Her favorite story in the Bible is the story of Moses. She found out about Camp Gilgal because her aunt, Nature Valley, works at Camp Gilgal. She’s a camper because she read one of the gazette articles and liked how camp sounded, so she decided to try it out. Her favorite tribe leader’s name is Mochi. Her favorite chapter of the Bible is Esther 8 and her favorite verse is Psalm 105:2. Halie’s favorite thing to do at camp is playing Mission Impossible. That is all I will tell you about my great friend and fellow camper, Halie.

Staff Cabin After Lights Out

By Greenlee K. age 11

Tribe of Manasseh

 

After we are done doing our devotions as a tribe and reading the Bible, it’s time for the campers to go to sleep. Then the staff go to the staff cabin for an hour or so, but what do they do? It’s a mystery that has yet to be solved. But, I have a few guesses. They probably eat lots and lots of candy. Maybe they are figuring out fun things to do with the kids or having secret meetings. Maybe they tell jokes or just read the Bible. The world may never know what mysterious things go on in the staff cabin at night.

Talking with Hiccup

By Isaac G. age 11

Tribe of Judah

 

Hiccup grew up in a believing home and his favorite thing to do when he was bored was gymnastics. Hiccup went to junior camp for one year and he has been a tribe leader for four years. He ran into Twister at a conference and soon after Hiccup became a tribe leader. Twister knew Hiccup’s parents and that is how he came to Camp Gilgal.

Hiccup thought his name was random like how he came to camp. Today, Hiccup is an out of cabin leader. He was a great tribe leader in 2015. Hiccup’s favorite album is Joshua Aaron’s “Every Tribe” because it is a fun way to praise God and it shows our need for God. Hiccup has been reading Mark recently because it is the topic of teen camp. His favorite part of camp is when he can do random crazy things and he has a lot of fun planning and setting up Mission Impossible. I decided to write about Hiccup because he was an out of cabin leader and spent a lot of time with my tribe.

Camp Out Night!

By Greenlee K. age 11

Tribe of Manasseh

 

One night each year at camp, the camp leaders surprise us with a camping trip! For the girls side of camp, we hiked up to the sunset, which is where we do our campfires on top of the mountain. My tribe slept in the woods, and the younger girls tribe slept at the campfire. For dinner we had hot dogs, hamburgers, and carrots, and for dessert we had s’mores. We played a bunch of games together until it was time for us to go to sleep. Since our whole tribe couldn’t fit into one tent, we had to split our tribe into two tents. For our devotions, our tribe leader, Sneezy, read us Psalm 118:1-9. It was about how we should put all of our trust in God. After that we went to sleep, and I slept so well! I had such a good experience camping out with my friends.

Interview with Beardo

Halie F. age 10

Tribe of Manasseh

 

Hi! My name is Halie and I interviewed Beardo. Beardo’s favorite colors are red and blue. His favorite Bible verse is Hebrews 13:5 because it reminds him that no matter what he does God will always be with him. Beardo’s favorite Pokémon is Charmander. He likes all Indian food. Beardo and I both like oranges. Beardo’s favorite books of the Bible are Ephesians and Isaiah. Beardo decided to be a tribe leader because of his wife RedSox. Beardo was 22 when he met RedSox. Beardo likes being staff because he likes to get to know the kids. Beardo said he wants to work with Barnabus from the Bible if he had the choice. Beardo has one brother and his name is Onyx. The last question I asked Beardo was if he had pets and he said no. That’s all the information about Beardo and I think that he is a great leader and Hebrew teacher.

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