2016 is off to a busy start for me. I was out of the office for much of the month of January. I often get to visit other camps across the country, or travel within the state to churches and schools, but I never thought my job would grant me the opportunity to travel to the Philippines! What a charmed life I lead.

It’s still hard for me to consider a trip to paradise a “work trip,” but really, it was! Ferncliff was invited, along with Crestfield Camp in Pittsburgh, by the national church to provide a day camp program for the children of PC(USA) Mission Co-Workers, who were meeting in Dumaguete, Philippines for the Asia & Pacific Regional Gathering. Joel and I partnered with folks from Crestfield in 2014 for the regional gathering held in El Salvador. When Ferncliff was asked to send representatives again to run the children’s programming, we naturally jumped at the chance!

This year I traveled with Hannah Lahodny, super staffer with seven summers under her belt already! We met up with Paul and Jeremiah from Crestfield Camp and we traveled for nearly 48 hours until we made it to Dumaguete, our gorgeous seaside home for the week.

The four of us enjoyed an awesome week with our kids, and we had a ton of great space for it. We spent our days finding coral and making sand sculptures on the beach, playing games, doing nature study, making crafts, learning songs, swimming in the pool, and studying the Creation Story and our place in it. I think everyone’s favorite activity had to be pool time every day, just like at Ferncliff. I guess there are some universals to camp, regardless of when and where it is! It was such a fun week with such a fun group of energetic, silly, hilarious, and sweet kids.

In our off time we had the opportunity to snorkel at a coral reef, hike through the rainforest to a giant waterfall, and explore the colorful markets of Dumaguete.

Some of the best times when we were “off duty,” though, were the opportunities to speak with mission co-workers serving across the region, from Sri Lanka to Thailand to Taiwan to Indonesia. There were couples, single folks, whole families, and YAVs. There were those new to their positions and those who had been serving for over 20 years. There were co-workers who worked at seminaries, as YAV site coordinators, in public health, in human trafficking prevention. The variety of experiences of the mission co-workers was fascinating and inspiring to hear.

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Rigby, a faculty member at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, led worship in the mornings and evenings. One night she talked about the importance of considering aspects of your work as “play.” Hmmm… think that might apply to camp careers? 🙂

It was a beautiful trip, and Hannah and I are so thankful to the Mission Co-Workers for sharing in fellowship with us for a week, Crestfield Camp for their partnership, First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport for underwriting the cost of the trip for us, and the national Presbyterian Church for the opportunity to spend the week at the gathering!

-Emily