West Camp 2024

Bible Story Night

Norah
12
Asher 

This year for the Gilgal Gazette I will be talking about my experience of Bible Story night at Camp Gilgal! After free time that day, we all lined up on the grass outside of the pool. Then the staff announced that the night’s theme would be Bible story night! We all went back to our cabins to get ready. Bible Story night is where we dress up as Bible story characters and each tribe acts out a Bible story, or something from the Bible.

My tribe leaders, Bubbles and Sparkler, had a really fun idea! We would act out the part of the Bible when Jesus wept. We decided that Bubbles would be Jesus because she is really good at fake crying. Then me, Sparkler, and my other cabin mates: Hannah, Elorah, Naomi, and Tali would dress up as tears. Since Bubbles was Jesus, she drew brown facial hair on her face and wore a white robe/tablecloth. Since the rest of us were tears, we wore blue clothes and put on a lot of blue makeup. Then we tied blue tablecloths around our heads to make us look like we had blue hair.

We took some pictures, then we headed down to dinner. When all of the other tribes were in our lines, we all acted out our parts for the night. They were all so funny! For example, the tribe of Judah, who are the other girls cabin, did the story of Jonah! Some of the girls dressed up as a giant fish, while one girl was Jonah. Their skit was one of my favorites! When it was time for us to act out our part, Bubbles (as Jesus) started crying, and the rest of us (as the tears) all fell to the ground. I think everyone loved ours.

Bible Story night was one of my favorite theme nights and I hope we do it again next year!

Fun at the Pool

Dragons, Fairies & Scaries Night

Naomi
14 
Asher 

On the second theme night at camp, our tribe dressed up as Shrek characters. It was so fun because we improvised and used most of our own things for costumes. Bubbles painted her face green to be Shrek, Hannah was Lord Farquad and I was Fiona. We used brown paper to make pants for Norah as the gingerbread man. Elorah was a blind mouse with black whiskers, and Sparkler was the fairy godmother.

The other tribes had great costumes too! The tribe of Judah were fairies and elves. The tribe of Benjamin played Ghostbusters with pool-noodle guns. Reuben did cabin inspection with Floyd and Llllllllllllllllloyd, including their special dance moves!

I enjoy theme nights because we get to be creative, and each tribe does something different. I hope we get to do it again next year!

Wells Fargo

Mission VERY Possible

Rhyder
11
Reuben 

Hi, my name is Rhyder and today I’m going to be telling you my experience on Mission Impossible (MI). The whistle blew an earbleeding screech, then the game was on. We figured out that the first clue led us to the dining hall. We began to sprint but not before Hershey caught me, yes me, sorry Spot! Sadly, we had to run back to the cabin to touch the door and only then we could go to the dining hall.

Soon after, we made it past Hershey, we encountered our next spotter, S’mores. When we spotted her, she was listening to Justin Bieber at full blast and was closing in fast. Quickly, after she turned around, we would spring until three minutes later, we were spotted. I could go on and on but to summarize, we ended up in the history books for winning. Overall, I loved MI. 

Tabernacle

Jonah
9 
Benjamin 

We always start tabernacle with worship. Tabernacle is a place we worship God and learn about Him. My favorite worship song is “Every Move I Make”. After we do worship songs, we practice our memory verse. The memory verse is Hebrews 11:13-16. We do fun hand motions to help us remember the verse. During the tabernacle services, after songs and memory verses, Marshy (S’mores) would teach us about Joshua and how he brought down the walls of Jericho and how he was strong and courageous when the Israelites were going to Canaan. Also, how God parted the Jordan River.

On Wednesday, there were the Gilgal players. They acted out the scene of Joshua and Jericho. It was really funny and I loved it. I am going to miss going to Tabernacle because we all get to meet up and not be far away. I also love whenever Floyd and Llllllllllllllllloyd come around. They are really funny. 

Fun Things About Water Balloon Volleyball

Wells Fargo

Mandy
12 
Judah  

Wells Fargo is a game like cops and robbers. It is exciting and chaotic. The loyal and faithful Wells Fargo agents chase the outlaws who run around and yell and try to steal the agents’ bags of gold. I wasn’t playing, but I watched and everybody was having lots of fun. They played three games. The outlaws always win!

I really enjoyed Wells Fargo last year, and I wish I could have done it this time, it was cool to watch it though!

The RISE of Reuben

Judah
12 
Reuben 

Hi, my name is Judah and I will be sharing my thoughts on the degel-making here at Camp Gilgal. S’mores, one of the staff, got all the counselors and campers together in the Mishkan (aka Tabernacle). She had us draw an outline for what we wanted on our degel.

S’mores told us that all the twelve tribes had symbols and the symbol would be the things you could put on the degel. We decided to be the tribe of Reuben, which is a flower. Spot had told us that there had never been a boy tribe with the name Reuben in Camp Gilgal history, so that got all of us hyped!

We still had to make the flag and design it. We wanted the sky blue flag but the tribe of Asher wanted it too! S’mores explained that if two tribes wanted the same color, then the two tribes would rock-paper-scissors it out. My friend, Gabe went up to the stage and played for our tribe against Tali, but we won and got a sick degel! 

Campfire Fun

Skit Night S’moses 

Owen
9 
Benjamin 

Hi, my name is Owen and I’m writing about skit night. First of all, there was a hat with papers ranging between 1-4. The tribe leaders would nominate a camper in the tribe to pick a random number from the hat and we got number one. That means we went first.

Our skit was a parody of Pharaoh and Moses (Snaroah and S’moses). I was the bad guy, Snaraoh and my friend Rocco was S’moses, the good guy. It started off with our counselor (Nacho) the narrator saying his lines and then me and S’moses were arguing and the first plague, infractions, began. Our other counselor, Solo, ran in and yelled, “Infractions!”. The second plague was water bottles and the worst plague of all, was purple. I had fun during skit night and our tribe did a great job!  

Introducing the Tribe of Asher 

Avital
14 
Asher  

The tribe of Asher is a fun and exciting group of girls. We are the eldest ladies tribe. An important part is the tribe leaders: Sparkler and Bubbles. Sparkler is a quirky woman with a sparky personality and Bubbles is an energetic woman with a bubbly personality. The campers in our cabin are each unique and one of a kind. Elorah is a passionate and creative 12 year old who loves animals. Naomi is an artistic and graceful 14 year old who loves reading. Norah is a curious and kind 12 year old who loves singing. Tali is an insightful and funny 14 year old who loves writing. Hannah is an honest and inquisitive 13 year old who loves acting!

Our cabin is super eventful space where lots of memories are made. Some of the tribe’s favorite memories we have made are creating the degel and working together for Mission Impossible. Some of our favorite times are late night devotion times where we come together and share personal stories and study the Bible together. Our tribe enjoys dancing and listening to music while getting ready for the day or just hanging out.

Our tribe has grown closer each day, through God as we continue to worship, study, and talk together. The tribe of Asher was so happy to come together and meet this year. 

Stop and No Go Night

Azriel
12 
Reuben 

Hi, my name is Azriel. I am writing about Stop and No Go Night. It is a talking game and the goal is to get the most clothespins. You start with one and you can get more by getting people to say “no”. You can also get out by moving after the whistle blows when you’re supposed to be frozen.

You ask someone a question where they would likely respond, “no”, to get them out. If I were to get out, I would have to give up a clothespin to the person who tricked me. Nacho’s favorite trick question was, “can I borrow your water?”. I wasn’t fooled by Nacho.

Rocco was the person who won. He had a full sleeve of pins. I think everyone enjoyed it!!!

Hebrew 

Elorah
13 
Asher

As a camper at Camp Gilgal, one of my favorite parts is Hebrew led by Lonestar. I love Lonestar’s unique way of teaching. He gets his campers involved while teaching the Hebrew language. The lessons are very interactive which I look forward to every day. He teaches it in an exciting way.

What we learned in Hebrew class was the Shehecheyanu blessing, the aleph-bet, and some simple commands such as sit, stand, and run. Overall, I loved Hebrew and I am so grateful to Lonestar for putting his time into it.

How the Agents Lost

Rocco
9 
Benjamin

It was a dark night when the faithful and loyal Wells Fargo agents came out with bags of gold. I was an outlaw and me and the other outlaws planned on how we would steal the gold from the faithful and loyal Wells Fargo agents. So, when the time was right, I ran into the bushes and saw S’mores, one of the faithful and loyal Wells Fargo agents. I looked down and saw the bag of gold next to her while she was looking at other outlaws. When she wasn’t looking, I SWOOPED down and grabbed the bag and ran back to home base!

In the second round, I got tagged because I was trying to steal Spot’s bag of gold, so then I had to count to one hundred. By the time I was done counting to 100 the whistle blew and the round was over, and we won with six bags of gold. In all, I stole one, but I stole it from S’mores.

Wood Burning

Snack Shack 

Eli
9 
Benjamin

The snack shack is the best place in Camp Gilgal to get iced tea, milkshakes, Italian sodas, sodas, Gatorade, ice cream, chips, sparkling water, and snow cones. My favorite thing from the snack shack is Sprite and Gatorade. We have the snack shack during free time. I get my money from the bank to go to the snack shack. Then I have to wait about 5-30 minutes in line. Then I have to wait for my order, that does not take long to get. My friend says he likes the mint chip chocolate milkshakes. My cousin, Rhyder likes the Italian soda in the mango flavor. One of the people in the tribe of Reuben, named Judah, likes the nerd clusters strips. S’mores likes the coffee and cookies milkshake. Rocco likes the chocolate and peanut butter milkshake and so does Nacho. Jonah likes the mint chip shake!

Tribe of Reuben

Levels 4 & 6 

Gabe
13 
Reuben 

It all started when we were done with the pool, all the tribes were let go to “FOB”. You are probably wondering why I put “FOB” in quotations. “FOB” stands for “Flat On Bunk”, which is kind of our rest time at camp. Before the older cabins were released to FOB, the leaders gave us the option to go to FOB or go to the rock wall. Obviously, just about everybody chose the rock wall. We got ready to go and left.

We got the harnesses and helmets on and chose a wall. There was no way I would choose one of the easiest levels, so I went to levels 4/6. I headed to the wall and got hooked in. Then we had to say “On Belay!” and they would reply with “Belay On!” Then, we say, “Climbing!”, which they would reply with, “Climb on!” And then, we can climb.

When I started it was not too hard but was tiring. I took so many breaks but when I got to the hardest part, I knew I had to lock in. One rock at a time, I climbed and climbed. I finally touched the top and everybody was cheering. I felt really nice about myself. I got down and prepared myself for level 6. I got hooked into the wall and started climbing. When I got onto the wall, I realized that the rocks were a lot smaller. Then I thought, even though they were small, I didn’t need to give up and I kept going. I got about a quarter of the way up when I discovered that I was stumped. There was a rock I couldn’t reach. I tried and tried over again until I gave up, but I promised myself that I would get level 6 next year!

The Game of Silent Football 

Daniel
10 
Reuben

So, one camp day we cleaned our cabin, so did the other cabins. After that, we went outside to play Silent Football before lunch, and three out of the four tribes were there. So all of us played together. Let me explain the rules to Silent Football. So there are four moves. The first is a shrug, the second is a shmotem, the third is thwacka, and the last is zooma. If you do something wrong, nothing will happen if someone doesn’t tattle on you. If someone does, you will get one penalty. You don’t want to get three penalties because that will result in a dare!

So, we played and everybody was getting penalties, but I didn’t get any! It really wasn’t that intense for me. Then, it just kept going for a while until Jonah finally got a dare. He never really completed it but nobody really cared. I never really explained all the rules so I hope you get the idea. Then we stopped playing and went for a yummy lunch. That is my Camp Gilgal story!