In this year’s two-week Teen Program at Saint Andrew's Camp, the teens participated in many fun and uplifting activities, with the loving leadership of Fr. Martin and Matushka Denise Kraus. They got to learn about many saints, including their own patron saints, in daily Religious Education classes. There were regular chapel and prayer services held, and on August 6th a beautiful Divine Liturgy, with Archbishop Michael presiding, was served, as well as blessing of fruit, to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Over the duration of the two weeks, teens helped to complete new Kayak rack for the camp, which should be very useful for years to come. They also did some weeding and gardening around one of the icon kiosks made during last year’s Teen Program. Both weeks the teens also did service projects outside of camp. During Teen Week 1, they went to the Crouse Community Center nursing home, where they worked hard weeding the gardens, and then played bingo with the residents, handed out cookies, had meaningful conversations, and performed two songs. In Teen Week 2, the teens volunteered at the Samaritan Center, where they helped with many of the tasks needed for the feeding program there. This included setting up, signing people in, serving food and beverages, washing dishes, and cleaning up everything when done. Both of these service projects were wonderful opportunities for the teens to participate in the hands-on ministry of helping and serving those in need.
In addition to service projects, teen campers had a lot of fun! They had field trips, swimming, sports, kayaking, archery, campfires, team builders in the woods, indoor and outdoor games, and other exciting activities like “Chopped” (a cooking competition), and SAC Olympics. The final evening of each week featured a themed dance. The theme of the Teen Week 1 dance was Fiesta, and for Teen Week 2, it was Medieval Faire. The teens had fun dressing up and participating in the festivities at both events.
