Camp Invention

In the summers of 2018 and 2019, I served as a Leadership Intern for Camp Invention, a week-long summer camp where kids were encouraged to be creative and make inventions. During each session, I was assigned a group of kids, and I would supervise them as they went about their day at camp. This typically involved assisting the different instructors who were hosting the various stations, as well as supervising lunchtime and ensuring that drop-off and pick-up happened securely and smoothly.

In this role, I learned how to be a responsible leader, since it was important that the kids stay safe during their time at camp. At the same time, I was able to strike a balance between the need for supervision and rules and the need to make sure the campers were having a good time.

Bible Hour

The church I grew up in had a program called Bible Hour, which was a time during Sunday evening services where the kids (3-5 y.o.) would have their own service/class of sorts. They would sing Christian children's songs, learn a Bible story, and have an application lesson. My dad was involved in the ministry when I was in elementary school, and once I reached middle school, I decided to volunteer as well. I taught Bible Hour for six school years (2013 - 2020), and it was a joy to get to know these kids and watch them grow up.

Similar to Camp Invention, being in this role was about striking the right balance between teaching and responsible fun with the kids. I had to learn to be a leader and make sure the kids were doing what they needed to be doing, while also being someone they could hopefully look up to and have fun with.

Mission Trips

In addition to Bible Hour, I went on three mission trips with my youth group: one to Las Vegas, NM and the others to Natchitoches, LA. On these trips, our main project was putting on a Vacation Bible School for the children at the local churches, where we would learn lessons about various Bible stories and topics. For me, this typically involved supervising a certain age group and leading them through the lessons. One year, I also acted as Daniel in our daily skits.

In addition to the Vacation Bible School, we would also help out in various capacities throughout the community. In Natchitoches, the largest of these community projects was cleaning and painting the town's high school.

Central Texas Children's Home

Multiple times throughout high school and college, I have traveled to south Austin to help out the administrators of Central Texas Children's Home, a temporary home and safe haven for abused and neglected children. It's a small ministry with a lot of children to look out for, and they can use all the help they can get. This typically involved manual labor, including trimming trees, moving railroad ties and appliances, and repainting the houses. Once this was done, we would often get a chance to play with and get to know the kids. They always enjoyed having some other people to play with, and it was a joy to get to be a part of their lives.