Day 7: All good things . . .

April 02, 2018

Day 7: All good things . . .

. . . has to come to an end.
For greater things are yet to come!

- - -

Today, is our last day at camp.

It saddened me in many ways.

I've just started to get acclimated to life at camp — daily routines, the activities and such. And it's already time to leave. Going back to my daily day-to-day live. I wish we can have 2-week camp instead of one.

But also, — not just we get to say goodbye to our new friends — knowing that we might not be back to this location.

It’s definitely a bittersweet moment, seeing them doing such a great job — a "mission accomplished" kind of feeling — and yet, at the same time knowing that we might never see our new friends again.
I personally hoped that we’ll be back for one more time.

- - -

So, unlike our usual schedule, Friday is a little different.

We were no longer blue.
We were given a maroon Shiprock t-shirt, the same t-shirt given to all of the local volunteers. We all then took a team picture together.

No matter where we came from — California, Shiprock, Farmington, or any other communities — we're all one team.

Lunch is also served in high school instead of the middle school next door.

And we only had a couple of the morning sessions today.

After lunch, they gather all the kids on the soccer field, and the local Fire Department hosed all the kids. Team California is packed up, said our final goodbyes and ready to roll by the time they hosed the kids.

Highlight of the day was definitely the distribution of more than a hundred balls to the kids.

I lost count, but there’s at least 80 soccer balls, 40 footballs, and I lost count how many basketballs donated for this camp. And at the end of camp, our camp leader decided not to keep any for next year’s camp or beyond.

"Why would we keep them in storage? And we don't even have storage space for all those!" she said while chuckling at the same time.

"Let the kids play with them! Next year, God will provide just like He always do!" she added with a huge grin on her face.

It’s definitely such a great idea, because otherwise those balls will just sit in the storage and pretty much useless for the whole year. Instead, the kids got early Christmas gifts (some might never get one, as they might’ve never celebrate Christmas before), and they got not just "something to play with" but also a "tool" to stay active. Such a simple gesture, but that’s the kind of decision that’ll have a huge impact the kids’ life. We’re not just telling them to do exercise and stay active, but actually give them the tool to do it. Now they can play at home, with their friends, and such, and invite them to next year camp. Any marketing experts would agree that word of mouth and personal invite are the best marketing. Man, didn't they nailed it at Shiprock?!

If we remember that one of the giant we’re fighting here in Native America mission are hopelessness, and physical sickness — especially diabetes, caused mainly by obesity. Sports are fun activities that will help the kids overcoming depression, cultivate dreams, and brings hope for a higher education (college scholarships, etc.), travels and such. Of course, by staying active they’re less likely to be obese and suffer from diabetes.

It takes and army of selfless people, with huge hearts and daring faith to combat these giants.

I’m so honored I had the opportunity to work with such people here in Shiprock.

- - -

We rolled out of Shiprock High parking lot, with mixed feelings and mixed emotions, it was also a farewell for a couple of our teammates continuing their journey east.

For the majority of us, next stop is Winslow, Arizona, en route to Flagstaff where we'll spend the night before heading home the next day.

Some decided to stop by Window Rock — Capital of the Navajo Nation, or Meteor Crater.

Me and my roommate/travel buddy decided to went straight to our destination.

A restaurant in Winslow, AZ in a historic train station, where we'll have our team dinner, final debrief and celebration of our trip.

Winslow, AZ is also the "base camp" for our sister team serving a mission in Dilkon, AZ.

After dinner, we also said goodbye to a couple team members heading off to family vacation. As for the rest of us, we drove west for another 45 minutes to Flagstaff to spend the night.

There isn't really any picture I can share from this day, so I'll just share some pictures I haven't post in the previous entries to reflect such a wonderful time we had in Shiprock.