Category: Teen Camp East
By: Sarah O. | Age: 13
Tribe: Judah
Hey! My name is Sarah, but my camp friends call me Stacy, Pancake, Sarah and much more. We have so many inside jokes and we are extremely close. We have so much time apart during the year, when we don’t have camp, so we instantly click. We always pick up where we left off and rarely have awkward moments. Activities are so much fun with your friends. Archery was exciting because I got to be with my two closest camp friends. The week at camp goes by super quick because we have so much fun and relate to each other. We relate to each other because we have the same beliefs.
By: Mika B.| Age: 13
Tribe: Judah
This was my first year at teen camp and I guess I’d just describe it as chill. In Junior camp all the campers are more hype and have so much energy, you literally don’t know what to do with yourself. However, in teen camp people are more laid back and don’t care about little things as much. For example, people at junior camp are always trying to know the tribe leaders’ names but in teen camp people know most of their really names but don’t care too much. Junior camp is mad fun and always has great vibes and excitement, but teen camp is more relaxed and less uptight. You have more independence and trusted to do things more. Another example of how they’re different is the schedule. We have Tabernacle at night before dinner and instead of having a campfire lesson, we have a discussion and talk about our real-life problems and how to solve them according to the Bible. Teen camp doesn’t have tribe flags, Mission Impossible and decide what you want to do more. Both are super fun and you get to bond with all your friends in the process.
By: Lena K. | Age: 12
Tribe: Judah
Teen camp is a uniquely fun and bonding week where you can grow closer to your tribe and God. Every day you do different activities, each more fun and interesting than the last. These activities can create life-long friends and acquaintances that you will always remember. One thing that we do at camp is tribe time. Tribe time is a special part of the day where you have the opportunity to bond with the people in your tribe, in a deep and special way. The people in Camp Gilgal are like a faith-family, we are all connected through our belief in Messiah Yeshua. Like I said before teen camp can create lifelong bonds and is going to be the best summer ever!
By: Malka M. | Age: 13
Tribe: Judah
Hi! My name is Malka and this is my first year in Camp Gilgal and I’ll tell you something alright, it amazing here, everyone is so nice and I know a lot of people might say that, but it’s true, I promise you will not regret coming here. Okay, so today I’m going to be talking about Bible Topics in Camp Gilgal. Bible Topics are something we do so we can find more peace in the world and not only think bad about it. I chose to talk about this because it really helped me learn more about the Bible and what God thinks of us humans. I really enjoy Bible topics a lot because we get to know God more and that is really touching. I loved talking about Bible topics a lot today. I’m so happy I got to share my opinion on Bible topics.
By: Matthew S. | Age: 13
Tribe: Simeon
In teen camp we do something called Mench Day. Mench Day is a day where we help people out by doing community service. This year for Mench Day we helped Camp Herrlich clear out and weed a garden that was going to be growing vegetables and fruits for a fund-raising dinner. Additionally, we painted colorful signs to label the garden plants and we started to build a rock path out of flat rocks that we found in the nearby woods. This year we had three days of Mench Day. The first day we weeded the garden and pulled lots of run-away mint from in front of the garden. We also painted colorful back rounds for the signs. On the second day we finished painting the signs and started to build the stone path. I went into the woods with Hiccup to find suitable stones for the path over the course of multiple trips. We also started to plant seeds. We didn’t finish the path, so we decided to work on the path for a third day. We worked on the garden for a total of six hours (two on the first, two on the second, two on the third). After each day we were tired and sweaty, but we were happy that we were able to help other people. One of the people from Camp Herrlich, said that we made it look great and it looked better that previous three years. It was a great experience.
By: Elie W. | Age: 15
Tribe: Judah
Fun Swim Fun, Party Swim, or Fun Swim (there was always confusion on the appropriate title for this activity) is an activity that sounds just like its name, swimming in a lake and fun. Every day we get to swim in the lake here at Camp Herrlich. However, we do not get “swim Fun” every day, which includes a trampoline and blob in the middle of the lake that we use for our own advantage. The first time I was granted the opportunity to use this fun water device. As I climbed up the ladder, I imagined how I would execute my graceful jump from the trampoline. I stood up on the trampoline and started to jump. I jumped once, twice, three times and prepared myself for my lake landing. Suddenly I was in the fourth dimension. I was flying in slow motion. My legs flew behind me and arched over my head. My face then made contact with the surface of the water and SPLASH I was in the proper dimension once again. As I resurfaced, I heard roars of laughter, including my own. The lifeguard could barely breathe with laughter and he said my plummet had made his day. It was definitely the most amusing thing that had happened all day. Thus, concluding my Swim Fun adventure.
By: Emma R. | Age: 13
Tribe: Judah
I have been to junior camp Midwest and East, but this is my first year at teen camp. All of the Camp Gilgal campsites have many things in common. One of these things are memory verses. Every year at camp, there are some verses we try to memorize. If everyone in your tribe memorizes the verses, does a Gilgal Gazette article, and get as average of 85% on cabin clean up your tribe gets to go to the end of camp party. This year’s memory verses are 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. The theme of this memory verse is reconciliation. Being reconciled basically means being forgiven. The verses teach that God reconciled us to himself through Messiah. I feel that since God forgave us that we should forgive other people. This memory verse is helping me understand what God and Jesus did for us. I love knowing that I have God’s Word in my heart.
By: Halie F. | Age: 12
Tribe: Judah
Our cabin is a very nice cabin. We have 12 people in our cabin, including staff. Our cabin is so full, all the beds are full. Our staff in our cabin are Squid and Shark-bait. Our campers are Mika, Sarah, me, Netanya, Elie W., Elly A., Emma, Malka, Dinah, and Lena. We all got closer this year than ever before. We all love to talk to each otherwhile doing each other’s hair. We also like to swim all together. At teen camp you are basically camping because the walls are really big windows.
By: Aaron R. | Age: 15
Tribe: Simeon
Camp out, though it was not far from our cabin, it was for the tribe of Cinnamon (Simeon). We camped out in a slightly wooded area between an archery range and a mini auditorium. We started out the night with a chess game between Verde and Tchotchke with the campers as pieces. Later, while the fire grew, Verde used a powerful laser to point out constellations. Once the fire was ready, we roasted marshmallows. Sadly, we were rationed only two (sad violin music). One of my favorite moments was picking wild raspberries. We got to pick enough to bring to breakfast the next day to share with the camp. I got to learn a lot at camp out, and it was a good time to bond.
By: Levi W.| Age: 12
Tribe: Simeon
I, Levi, expert climber was ready to make the climb of my life. Proficiently buckling my harness began speedily pulling myself from rock to rock with strength and agility. “He makes my feet like those of a deer and makes me stand on heights (Psalm 18:34-35).” The rock wall is located past the volleyball nets and it casts a looming shadow enveloping all of camp. There are three walls of varying difficulty. At the top is a zipline. This was my first time to have done rock wall. Rock wall is my favorite part of camp.
By: Netanya W. | Age: 15
Tribe: Judah
Squid was my tribe leader this year at teen camp. Squid was also my tribe leader her first ever year as staff, 2015. Squid was born in Maryland and raised in Bel Air, Maryland. She is still currently living there. Squid’s fav color is pink. Squid has been going to Camp Gilgal since she was eight years old. When Squid was a camper her fav thing about camp was seeing her friends, “some of her best lifelong friends,” and playing Nukem (a very fun game, kinda like volleyball). Squid’s fav thing about being a tribe leader is being in the loop, knowing all surprises and serving. Squid’s fav verse is Psalm 51 verses 10-12, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” This is Squid’s fav verse because it’s something she needs to strive for and it’s one of her fav campfire songs we sing. Squid was so fun to have as a tribe leader and a best friend all in all. I hope to someday be a tribe leader just like Squid.
By: Dinah G. | Age: 15
Tribe: Judah
This year the teen campers had an entirely different experience than all years prior: camp did not take place at Camp Pinnacle. All of our experiences were new and because of the change in location many of our traditions were uprooted. Normally the teen campers go camping and then white-water rafting, but this year we could not… but the staff thought of a solution: Camp Out Night! The tribe of Judah packed up their sleeping bags and camped out on the Camp Herrlich grounds. We set up and slept in tents that are normally used for adventure camp. Watson an out of cabin staff worked with us to build a fire and roast marshmallows to make s’mores. The campers helped too though, though we scoured the woods looking for kindling for the fire, we brought it back to Watson and she used it for building up the fire. We then looked for sticks to roast our marshmallows and got to roasting! After we ate s’mores, we sang some campfire songs. We spent some time talking and looking at the stars before doing our devotions and heading to bed. The next morning, we packed up our tents and Camp Out Night was officially over.
By: Elly A. | Age: 15
Tribe: Judah
Don’t like dinner? Feel like your insides haven’t moved all week? Try the salad bar. At every camp location there’s a salad bar!! Luscious tomatoes, crisp lettuce and spinach, olives, cucumbers, chickpeas, mandarin oranges, artichoke hearts, black beans for all of your resident vegans and vegetarians. Oh, I forgot there’s carrots and croutons too. Your pick of dressings is varied: Italian, ranch, or just olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Everyone takes a trip to the salad bar at some point cause you gotta eat your veggies. Sometimes there’s different things like quinoa salad, hummus and parmesan cheese. The salad bar is one of my favorite things about camp. I recommend it. Come to camp.