Legacy’s 7th and 8th grade students embarked on a new experience for our school: Camp Shamineau just a few hours before the snow hit the Twin Cities the first week in January, and Camp Shamineau did not disappoint!
With the whole camp to themselves, students had the opportunity to participate in a wealth of memorable experiences:
- Tubing
- Rock Climbing
- Crate Stacking
- Nine Square
- Volleyball
- Basketball
- Floor Hockey
- Foosball
- Table Tennis
- Gaga Ball
- Broomball
- Crafting at the Leather Shop
In addition to all of the activities, students were divided up into teams for the week. Students were rewarded team points for outdoing one another in love. From holding doors to throwing extra trash away, students fully immersed themselves in the competitive nature of earning and losing points throughout the week.
However, of all of these opportunities, one of the primary highlights of the week for students was Camp Shamineau’s speaker, Joy Reist. Her theme verse for the week was Galatians 2:20:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
She spoke on who you are in Christ and why being rooted and established in Christ matters. Mrs. Manion, the Middle School Principal, reflected on the spiritual growth of the 7th and 8th grade students, even in just one week. She said, “Students walked away with a greater sense of why they need to be in God’s word and why they need to be active participants in their faith. A couple of students, of their own accord, approached the speaker to thank her for sharing stories that impacted them personally.”
Students also had the unique opportunity to ask honest questions in a separate, Guy/Girl panel with the Legacy staff. They asked really great questions about faith, relationships, and specific verses and topics, questions like “How do I pursue a relationship?”, “What do I do if I like somebody?”, and “How do I have a relationship with God?” The time was invaluable for our young people as they are learning, growing, and navigating this world around them.
In between all of the spiritual growth, the LCA staff mixed in a few hilarious moments too, like Josh Smith’s The Price is Right Game where students guessed how many autographed baseballs Mr. Bauman has, an absurd game of Tip the Cup, and an earnest performance of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, with all of 7th and 8th grade linked arm in arm and swaying to the music.
We praise God for these unique memories that will last a lifetime for our students.
