Hello everyone,
Christian here, running on a minimum amount of sleep, as usual.
I'm back (finally connected myself to some half-decent wifi), but to be honest, not sure if I'm the same person I was a week ago.
I just sat down on my couch, and as I let out a huge sigh of relief, I feel like something inside of me has changed. I feel like throughout this week, I've been exposed to people that have helped me not only humble myself and grow in my faith but also helped me to realize I am just one tiny human in a sea of billions of people; I've never seen such a diverse and an incredible group in my life.
If you're wondering where all this enlightenment has come from, let me fill you in. For the past week, I've been an arachnort (leader/counselor) at the famous Camp KCHAG in the mountains right outside of Beirut. This year the badaniats hamakoumar (13-17 years old) had 78 kids and over 15 arachnortner. This past week spent with the leaders and campers has been filled with countless laughs, mispronounced words in multiple languages, and an amazing time of fellowship with people I’ve come to truly love.
I wanted to write a few recap blogs to really express my feelings about the week and give you a little insight into what went on and why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Each part of my KCHAG recap blog will focus on a different aspect of the camp. For this first part, I want the focus to be on all the wonderful people that I met while serving as a leader.
It was a weird feeling being the only person that really stood out from the rest of the camp because I’m from America. Everyone that attends KCHAG is used to having leaders that know the same languages as them, live in the same city and country as them, and possibly even attend the same church as them.
But when I came, I flipped that all upside down.
I don’t know the languages (Armenian and Arabic) that well, and I am certainly not from anywhere close by, nor do I attend the same churches as them. They had literally never seen me before, and suddenly I was among them, making conversation in broken sentences and laughing and learning the whole way.
What blew me away was that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was so incredibly kind and caring in accepting me as one of their own.
One of my biggest fears going into this week was that I would be viewed as an outsider, a pariah, and wouldn’t be able to connect with either the campers or the leaders. My grasp of Armenian has always been a source of frustration and embarrassment for me, and now suddenly I’m thrown into the lion’s den with a group of people whose main language I can only speak semi-well. It was an extremely humbling experience to speak and continually be corrected by kids far younger than me or by leaders with far more experience than me. But the funny thing is, they each did it in a loving way, in a way where they WANTED to see you benefit and succeed from listening to their wisdom and advice. By the end of the week, I was speaking with more confidence and connecting with so many of the kids and leaders on a deep, meaningful level. Everyone treated me as if I did speak the same languages as them well, as if I did come from the same city and country as them, and as if I did go to the same church as them.
Second, the questions.
Oh man, they did not stop.
From the time my feet hit the ground and the kids arrived at camp, I was bombarded with question after question about America, Los Angeles, soccer, girls, my Armenian language skills, and A MILLION OTHER THINGS. I think I got to now myself better after answering all these questions about myself. Even if at times I thought the questions were annoying, I answered and enjoyed it because I loved seeing the curiosity and sense of adventure sparkle in the kids’ eyes when I opened their eyes to a whole world outside of the one they have ever experienced. There is something so cool about trading experiences with kids thousands of miles away from you, only to find out that you are all so SIMILAR. You both cried when a soccer team you loved didn’t win a big game. You both loved the same movies. You both had a desire to travel and see the world. It was just incredible to experience that. Having a cabin full of curious, intellectual guys that were teaching me new words in Arabic and comparing stories about about their life here in Beirut and mine in LA was something I won’t forget.
I enjoyed it even more so with each of the leaders.
I love every one of them uniquely. Each one has something special about him or her; they are beautiful, hilarious, caring, creative, intelligent, well-spoken, and most importantly, followers of Jesus Christ. Having long conversations with some of them about our biggest fears and losses we suffered and the changes and life decisions we make made me appreciate that type of intimate conversation SO much more. It is a very satisfying feeling to trade answers back and forth on the differences between Lebanon and California, to compare and contrast and criticize or compliment and to just sit and laugh with each other about life. I had barely met these people a week before, and by the end of the week we were talking and hugging and laughing like we had known each other forever. That is the power of fellowship in Christ.
This whole camp experience was particularly memorable and emotional for me because I don’t know when I will see any one of them again. Leaving camp at the end of a long week is always a bittersweet feeling, but this feeling of emptiness and loss and the uncertainty of our next meeting has really hit me hard now that I’m back home, in my room, just sitting alone. It is a completely foreign feeling being in such a crowded, vibrant, busy city and yet feeling so lost and lonely. It is so hard to establish a “home” here and leave your heart with the people here only to have to go back home and rebuild again.
If you’re reading this, I’m thinking and praying for all of you, and I hope its only a VERY short time before I see you again. There are so many relationships still to be built, so many jokes to be told, so many stories to be shared, and so much coffee to be drank at 7:30 AM leader devotionals.
Read on, my friends.
Love, Christian
P.S.-I want to include some pictures of the people I met during this week. Hopefully the moments and emotions I’ve captured help you understand why I fell in love with KCHAG and will dearly miss everyone from there. Part 2 will be coming soon.
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