Sambica: Training

Sambica. This is the first summer camp I have ever worked at. I’ve worked at my church’s camps and retreats for years, but this is totally different. Let me give you some back ground. I started working with youth when I was in sixth grade. Chris was the junior high pastor and he always talked about ‘potential’. He worked it into almost every sermon, I’m sure. It was great. I started working downstairs with 3-5 year, specifically in the Frog room (3 year olds?). A few months later God directed me onto P3, a brand new worship team for 3year olds to 5th graders. God spoke to me a lot through that ministry, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t served there, but God eventually had me move on to work in 1/3, the junior high Christmas choir. I was a sophomore, only 15 at the time, which was below the age limit to work with junior highers (more divine intervention, and pastor Pen with an eye for potential). God called me away from P3 to junior high ministry, where I worked for years. After a trip to Nicaragua the summer before that served as a spark for my passion, God told me, nearly audibly, during quiet time at summer camp 2007 to become a youth pastor, between my sophomore and junior year in high school. It’s been four years since then and I have been pursuing that calling ever since. This past year I switched churches and have been out of youth ministry for awhile, but still serving in SOS. That’s where I’m coming on a Macro scale in my life.

On a micro scale I am coming from two years of SOS, a ministry that becomes your family. There is nearly a semester of training and countless hours of Mock Rock, skit practice, and other things that go into this family. Best friends are made, and life long relationships come out of the staff. And yet it’s focused towards the incoming students. Even there relationships are deep, supportive, and nurturing.

So here I am, a shy introvert, coming into this new ministry at a place I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met. I don’t remember the last time I was that nervous, maybe the first time I spoke in my school, but those nerves went away fast, these did not. My parents drove me out there (PTL) as my nerves built up. When I got there the leadership staff was friendly, but I felt like the other staff members knew each other, and I felt shy and timid. It turns out that although people knew one or two people, most of the people were new and didn’t know each other. They were just all friendly.

That first day I was thinking “what did I get myself into?” I came from Biola where it was hard for me to walk somewhere without seeing someone I had a really good relationship with to a place where I knew no one. Now, this may sound bad or traumatizing, like Sambica should do something, but no. Sambica did exactly what they were supposed to do. They hired a friendly staff who quickly brought me in and accepted me. And beyond that they had made a facebook group so people could meet before hand (now my FBpage was weird and even my friends couldn’t invite me to the group, but that’s FB). The experience was a humbling one. I started from no where and the Sambica staff brought me in, both the leadership staff and the rest of staff. This is Sambica’s strength.

The first day was a welcome day: camp tours, orientation, staff naming (I can’t say mine in case my students look me up online), and a talk from the CEO of Sambica. It was all good, but it was only the beginning.

Day two marked the real beginning of me settling into the staff. Of course I had made friends the day before, and I value them very much, but my relationships with them and the other staff began to grow throughout the week. On Monday (day 2) and Tuesday (day 3) I met a lot of the staff. I wish I could put up their names, but I can’t really do that. Sambica gives us nicknames at camp that we go by all summer, never revealing our true names while we are on duty. I don’t want to make any connections to people’s real names, so I’m not going to say anything, but I can say that I value all of them.

On day 4 we went to a Mariners game. This is where the rest of my shell broke off. I already had some really good friends on staff from things like mock Bible study to skit practices, but here is where I let loose: dance parties the whole time, home runs, a wave that WE started that went around the stadium 6 times, and so much more. And to top it all off we won the game!

The next day we learned first aid and CPR, and I showed off my seizure act thanks to the guys of GUS (check out the video on the bottom of the page). Through out the entire experience I grew closer and closer to this group of people, and loved them more than I thought I would. It was like SOS in summer. They became my family.

This is a big deal. Family is not a term to be thrown around lightly. As Christians we are all family. Biologically I have a family of 5. My Torrey group forms a family that has made it through innumerable tough times. My SOS family has been with me all the time. Family is weighty, and that’s what this staff is. On day 5 I had a time to reflect on this in a time called Ignatia. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever been through. I want to keep it a secret, but I will be stealing it for some time in the future.

On day 6 we did a lot of the final preparations for the camp, and later that night I came back home. The week was tough (lots of training, work, etc). There were times when I thought “It’s only Monday? How am I going to make it through this?” But by the end I saw how God used each of these staffers to make me appreciate friendship more. Not only do I love these staffers, but I also love my friends at school even more than I did before. I could see a little bit of my friends at school in some of the Sambica people, and it made me love them both more. I realized that I have a lot of great friends, and I just made a lot more (have you seen my facebook page?). I love Sambica. Anyways, enough of the sappy stuff.

Paul Rood: Biola's 3rd president and the founder of Sambica

Sambica is nearing 100 years old, and it has been through a lot. As I walked into the upper forum I saw the picture on the right above the mantle. I recognized him as Paul Rood, the guy Rood hall is named after. I remember seeing his picture around McNally, but I couldn’t recall what he did at Biola. Again, I saw the dining hall was named “Paul W. Rood Dining Hall”. I asked around but no one knew who he was, but I knew he had to be connected to Biola. Eventually I got on my phone and looked up “Paul Rood Sambica”. Nothing came up. I tried “Paul Rood Biola” and I got this link. If you look for Paul Rood you will read that he “founded the Lake Sammamish Bible Conference and Camp” which is Sambica. Sambica is only 11 years younger than Biola. Of course anything I do would be related to Biola. The male councilor adviser went to Biola for a year and worked at Forest Home (where Devon works over the summer). One of the guys that works with me goes to my grandma’s church. He’s an MK and my grandma has been supporting his family since they went on the field. Crazy small world, but PTL!