Pine Cove
The podcast episode features a lively and heartfelt conversation with four college-aged counselors—Bennett, Levi, Carson, and “Puppy”—who worked at Pine Cove, a traveling Christian summer camp. The group shares how they became involved with Pine Cove through personal connections and faith-driven decisions, recounting stories of camaraderie, hard work, and spiritual growth. They discuss the unique camp culture, including the tradition of creative counselor nicknames, energetic chants, and the physically demanding setup and teardown of camp activities. The counselors reflect on the impact they had on campers, the deep friendships formed among staff, and the ways their faith was strengthened through challenges. The conversation also touches on the broader theme of spiritual revival among their generation, attributing it to a search for hope and authenticity in a world marked by anxiety and social media. The episode is filled with humor, memorable anecdotes, and a sense of purpose, ultimately encouraging listeners to find inspiration in their own journeys and communities.
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-Transcript-
Brad Burrow (00:00:02):
Welcome to In a World With Real Media. I’m your host, Brad Burrow. In this podcast, we’ll dive into the lives of the most successful people in business. We’ll learn how they overcame adversity, took advantage of opportunities and learned from their experiences. Learn from our experts. Get inspired, then go live your story. It’s in a world with real media. Hello and welcome to In A World With Real Media. I’m your host, Brad Burrow, and today we have four very special guests with us here today. These are all the boys from Pine Cove and from K State and Texas a and m. And so we thought we’d do a podcast today and kind of learn a little bit about Pine Cove and kind of what’s going on with these boys. Pretty amazing things happening. So we got Bennett,
Speaker 2 (00:00:53):
We
Brad Burrow (00:00:53):
Got Levi, we got Carson and Puppy. That was his name, by the way, when he was born. Did you guys know that?
Speaker 2 (00:01:00):
We did know that.
Brad Burrow (00:01:01):
So I got the privilege of delivering Puppy.
Speaker 2 (00:01:05):
True.
Brad Burrow (00:01:05):
The doctor let me deliver him, and when he came out, I said, Hey puppy. That was his name.
Speaker 2 (00:01:12):
That’s right puppy. I always let people know that his name is Puppy. He introduces himself. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:01:18):
Pretty funny. It’s not brayden. It’s not Brayden. It’s not Brayden. It’s
Brad Burrow (00:01:21):
Puppy. When we moved into the house that you guys are staying in right now, he met all the kids almost immediately and nobody in the neighborhood knew his real name. They only knew Ms. Puppy. Puppy. Are you puppies parents? Yes, we are. Yep. That’s right. So I appreciate you guys being on the podcast. This podcast goes out all over the world. So true. And it’s probably one of the top podcasts that’s out there as far as
Speaker 3 (00:01:53):
Top of the billboards and everything.
Brad Burrow (00:01:55):
Anyway, so tell me a little bit, so you guys were all together at camp this year. Tell me about the camp. Tell me Pine Cove, I mean, how did you guys even end up there?
Speaker 4 (00:02:07):
That’s
Speaker 3 (00:02:07):
A great question. That is a great question. You ended up first.
Speaker 4 (00:02:11):
Yeah, I’ll start. But yeah, so I worked last summer as a counselor. I met a lot of people that worked at The Bluffs, which is a family camp, and I applied with them and then I ended up getting offered by Will just, and not even knowing about Citi. And so when I, mentors actually worked for Citi, but when he was in college, and so he encouraged me to do it and I couldn’t be happy with how it turned out. So yeah,
Brad Burrow (00:02:39):
This is the will I’ve heard a lot about.
Speaker 4 (00:02:41):
That’s right. The will doors. The Will Will is awesome. And so I just decided to come back this year as full summer and yeah, it’s really awesome. I mean, I met all these people from Kansas out of all places, so it’s just wild that I’m here now.
Brad Burrow (00:02:58):
Yeah, pretty crazy. Came up to Kansas.
Speaker 4 (00:03:01):
Yeah. Just to stop by and hang out.
Brad Burrow (00:03:03):
Oh yeah, that’s right. That’s right. Yeah. And then you guys found out about, I mean it’s pretty interesting, there’s a K-State connection to Pine Cove.
Speaker 2 (00:03:09):
Yes.
Brad Burrow (00:03:10):
How did that happen? Do you guys know how that connection happened?
Speaker 2 (00:03:12):
Yeah, huge shout out to Grace Marriott. She kind of was the, she’s from Texas, and so she went to Pine Coven, worked at going into her freshman year of college, and then she just told all of her friends about it. And so slowly that connected to us.
Brad Burrow (00:03:28):
Now
Speaker 2 (00:03:29):
Is she related to Luke?
Brad Burrow (00:03:30):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:03:30):
Cousins that would be Luke’s cousin.
Brad Burrow (00:03:32):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (00:03:32):
So really
Brad Burrow (00:03:34):
There, it’s all tangled
Speaker 2 (00:03:35):
Together. And so really there were a lot of people that she brought in, but I know for me it was Ashley Kelly and Lauren Walker who really introduced it to me. And so yeah, that’s how I got connected.
Brad Burrow (00:03:46):
Now is this your first
Speaker 2 (00:03:47):
Year there? This was my
Brad Burrow (00:03:48):
First summer. Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:03:48):
Yes.
Brad Burrow (00:03:49):
And then what about you, Levi?
Speaker 5 (00:03:51):
Yeah, also my first summer. And same thing with, we had our freshman year at least, coming back from summer, we had a bunch of our friends go to Pine Cove because of Grace. And then coming back and then hearing about their summer and what they did. I think I was one of the first hired K staters, the second go round, and then it was just a waterfall effect after that. So yeah, it was my first year, but just being able to hear the stories that they did at camp and then coming back and just talking about it with us was the main pull for me. So
Brad Burrow (00:04:32):
It’s
Speaker 5 (00:04:32):
So much fun.
Brad Burrow (00:04:32):
And puppy, I know you were a part of Kaleo.
Speaker 5 (00:04:35):
Yep,
Brad Burrow (00:04:36):
Braden.
Speaker 3 (00:04:37):
I was part of Kaleo.
Brad Burrow (00:04:39):
You’re not Braden, you’re puppy.
Speaker 3 (00:04:40):
That’s right. It was a crazy story of how I got to Pine Cove, but totally a God dang. In terms of I was supposed to go to Kaleo in the leadership position and then just felt like God pulling my heartstrings of you’re not supposed to be here, you’re supposed to be somewhere else. And with that, I talked to my mentor and was like, Hey, I don’t think I should be at Kaleo. My heart’s not really in it, and I would hate to take a spot from somebody when spots are so limited. And I was like, I want to give my spot up. I’ll figure something out. I dunno what that’s going to be. But
Brad Burrow (00:05:18):
You didn’t even know you were going to Pine Cove at that point? Had
Speaker 3 (00:05:20):
No idea, not a clue. And I was like, I’m trusting that the Lord is going to put me where I need to be, whether that be in Casey or in Texas or whoever knows where it was going to be. And then I told Levi and I told Ashley Kelly about that, and they were like, well, pine Cove needs a few more guys, staffers. And he’s like, you know what? You
Brad Burrow (00:05:44):
Probably never have enough people do that.
Speaker 3 (00:05:45):
They never have enough guys. So they’re like, you know what, I’ll go for it. I’ll interview, I’ll bite. Interviewed with Will. It was great. Super good interview.
Brad Burrow (00:05:56):
Did he make you cry?
Speaker 3 (00:05:58):
He did not.
Brad Burrow (00:05:58):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 3 (00:06:00):
He is awesome though. He’s a guy I still keep in touch with and he’s great. But talked to him and he was like, we’re going to get back to you. You just need to fill this stuff out. Filled all that out. And I was telling Levi a lot of, I don’t think I’m going to get offered what I want. I fully went into it thinking if I get first half, I’ll go second half is the Lord telling me I’m not supposed to be here, but I would love full summer. And I was like, I bet I’m going to get second half and I’m just going to have to say no. And we talked about that for a long time and got a call back from Will and he was like, we usually don’t do this, but we’re going to give you whatever you want to do. If you want to be here for a half, we’ll give you that. If you want to be here full summer, we’ll give you full summer. And I was like, will. And I explained everything. I was like, I would love to be here full summer, ended up there and it was like, what the heck did I just get myself into? But looking back on it, it’s like, man, that was the best decision and totally a God thing that I ended up there. It’s super cool.
Brad Burrow (00:07:02):
So one of the things I want to hear all about is camp names. So you guys get pretty hyped up about this and it’s like, tell me how that works, what actually happens? It’s like you guys get together and you’re together for a week before that happens or something, right? Yes. Orientation. At the orientation that’s up in Arlington and
Speaker 3 (00:07:21):
Dallas.
Brad Burrow (00:07:22):
In Dallas it was Fort
Speaker 3 (00:07:23):
Worth.
Brad Burrow (00:07:24):
So I was born in Arlington. Did you know that? I did not know it was. So I’m a Texan. So tell me, so you get together, you hang out, and then the whole thing happens. Tell me what that is.
Speaker 5 (00:07:38):
Yeah, so I think Carson would be a perfect opportunity. He got named last or two years ago, I guess, in front of the entire Pine Cove City camp.
Brad Burrow (00:07:49):
Was
Speaker 5 (00:07:49):
That unique or something? Seven in front of 700 people. So he got named. What was your name?
Speaker 4 (00:07:56):
So my full name is hitting whips and ripping lips. And so I went by Rip for short
Brad Burrow (00:08:03):
Rip. Well that’s a pretty good name these days.
Speaker 4 (00:08:05):
So it was a good name. But yeah, last year just being singled out and just throwing you on stage and just like, Hey, we’re going to give you your name and just, they’re going to ask you all these questions. So how it works is it’s called a name game. And so they put you on stage in front of everybody and you sit in a chair and they just kind of fire questions at you just to get to know you better, get to know your interests. And then there’s some silly questions that of course just get you going. And there’s always, they try to just name something. It’s fun for the campers just so they don’t have to call you by your real name. It’s a fun thing
Speaker 6 (00:08:42):
For ’em.
Speaker 4 (00:08:42):
So it makes them more engaged. But so they named me in front of 700 people and I was pretty intimidated. That’s
Speaker 3 (00:08:50):
A long name.
Speaker 4 (00:08:51):
It is a long name.
Speaker 3 (00:08:52):
Say it again?
Speaker 4 (00:08:52):
Hitting whips and ripping lips.
Speaker 3 (00:08:55):
Honestly, all things to considered. I feel like that’s a pretty short name. I feel like. Oh really? Some have longer
Speaker 5 (00:09:00):
Names than that. Long names.
Speaker 3 (00:09:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (00:09:01):
Alright. Levi, what was yours? So my full name was Sheriff Chocolate Milk, shortened it to just Sheriff Milk. Okay. Basically, so I don’t know if Carson explained this, but it’s like hot seat. So you basically just go up, ask a bunch of questions, some of the questions that I was
Brad Burrow (00:09:20):
Asked, who’s asking the questions?
Speaker 5 (00:09:21):
Everybody firing question. It’s like a room of
Brad Burrow (00:09:24):
50 people.
Speaker 5 (00:09:25):
Our entire team, usually it’s your team and then sometimes you’ll have a second team in there.
Brad Burrow (00:09:30):
Except for Carson had
Speaker 5 (00:09:31):
700 people. He in front of the entirety teams. So he was getting asked a bunch of questions, but my name was called a Planted name. I think that’s what it is. But basically Sheriff Milk was someone that they were trying to name the previous year and it never sold.
Speaker 4 (00:09:51):
Yes,
Speaker 5 (00:09:51):
I remember that. It was the thing that they wanted to name someone. Sheriff Milk didn’t get sold and then became a skit character. We have skit every day of the week at camp. And so every week it was skit character.
Speaker 4 (00:10:07):
Not every week, but it was a scary
Speaker 5 (00:10:09):
Ski at some point.
Speaker 4 (00:10:10):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (00:10:11):
So Sheriff Milk was a skit character previous year. And then coming into camp, I was asked a hot take that I had and I was like, I hate chocolate milk, hate it. And then someone else asked me if I’ve had any run-ins with the law and I was like, well, I’ve been pulled over once, didn’t get a ticket, nothing like going seven over or something. And then my good friend Ali Herman, shout out stands up and sells my name. And it’s so funny because
Brad Burrow (00:10:45):
She yelled it out
Speaker 5 (00:10:46):
To, so you give what’s called a name cell. So you get up and you’re like, so Levi’s a pretty cool guy, right? And so he needs a pretty cool name. Right? Right. So that was a huge thing. And then she asked you is putting pieces together. You see, I was up front so I could see everyone’s faces lighting up of returners who know the name Sheriff Milk. And they’re like, oh my goodness, we’re getting a sheriff milk. So it was a planted name. So it honestly, it didn’t have a whole lot to do with who I am or stories, but it was fun. So it was, you say there’s a new sheriff in town? There is a new
Speaker 3 (00:11:29):
Sheriff.
Speaker 5 (00:11:30):
It’s a
Speaker 3 (00:11:30):
Good name
Speaker 5 (00:11:30):
Though. I could either be for my kids the entire summer. I was either bad cop or good cop. So I was like, I don’t want me and sheriff to come out. So I would always So you use that, huh? Oh, motivated. I did
Brad Burrow (00:11:42):
Use that. It’s a good tool too. It
Speaker 2 (00:11:44):
Was awesome.
Brad Burrow (00:11:44):
Alright, Bennett, what was your name?
Speaker 2 (00:11:45):
Oh, mine’s. Mine was a monkey p monkey Zoo. Doba what? So yeah, there’s a lot to that. Okay,
Brad Burrow (00:11:53):
You got to explain that.
Speaker 2 (00:11:54):
Yeah. I think one fun thing about having a bunch of K State people there is that they know you
(00:11:59):
And that can be dangerous for name game just because they all know stories, so they knew what they were doing for sure. So I think the first thing they asked me was, a lot of people tell me I look like Curious George. And so they ask me what cartoon character I look alike. So that’s where the monkey part comes in. And then when I was, Levi knew this story and asked me this question when I was in third grade, there was a snow football game and it was like five degrees outside. They game us freezing and I was just trying to stay warm. Anyway, so I thought that peeing my pants would keep me warm. So I did it worked for a few seconds and then it got really cold. So he asked me that question in front of 50 people. So that’s the Monkey P part comes from, do want
Brad Burrow (00:12:50):
Me to edit that out of the podcast? No, that’s fine.
Speaker 2 (00:12:52):
That’s great. That’s great. And then they asked me where I’m from, and I’m from Omaha, Nebraska. And so they asked me what I do there and I was like, well, there’s not really much. I mean, we have the College World Series and a zoo. So that’s where the Zoo Park came from. And then my favorite place to eat is Qdoba, which I learned they don’t have ’em in Texas anymore, which kind shocked me. So that’s the full name. Monkey p Monkey Zoo Doba. So shout out Ashley Kelly. What did you go by then? I went by Zoo Doba there. Zoo Doba.
Brad Burrow (00:13:24):
Zoo Doba. That’s pretty good. That’s got a ring to it. That was great. That was really funny. And puppy, yours was pretty close to what you’ve
Speaker 3 (00:13:31):
Been
Brad Burrow (00:13:31):
Called. A lot
Speaker 3 (00:13:32):
Of mine’s. Take me out to the dog house. Yes, sir.
Brad Burrow (00:13:36):
Oh, I didn’t realize it was the
Speaker 3 (00:13:38):
Full thing. Yeah, the full thing is take me out to the dog house house, take
Brad Burrow (00:13:40):
Me out to the dog house.
Speaker 3 (00:13:41):
Exactly right. Yeah. They asked me something about baseball or some sport question, and that’s where they got baseball. And then they take me out to the ball game. And then I explained the puppy story and how I ended up being, how that ended up being my nickname. And then I think you sold it, right, Levi? Yeah, Chloe and Ashley both
Speaker 5 (00:14:07):
Texted me and said, sell this name.
Speaker 3 (00:14:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (00:14:10):
And then Dog House was House Boy
Speaker 3 (00:14:13):
For Yes, it was House Boy. They asked me about being a house boy. Oh, because you were house boy, right? I am a house boy for Cap Kappa Gamma. Let’s go throw what? Shout out, throw what you know, throw what you know. But they asked me that and it ended up being taking me out to the dog house. And there was a long debate whether I should go by dog or dog house and ended up going with Dog House to change it up a little bit.
Brad Burrow (00:14:38):
Didn’t seem too
Speaker 3 (00:14:40):
Far from the truth, man. That’s right. That’s exactly right. But they’re fun. It’s like you become those names, which is pretty funny at camp. It’s like you have to walk around and it’s super, the
Brad Burrow (00:14:51):
Kids love calling you guys those names. Oh,
Speaker 3 (00:14:53):
It’s awesome. They eat it up if you make it fun, they make it fun.
Brad Burrow (00:14:58):
That’s really engaging.
Speaker 3 (00:14:59):
I always told my kids, I was like, my name’s not Dog House. It’s Dog house. And every time they saw me, they’d go, what’s up dog house? And we’d pass by each other going from things and you’d be like, what’s up? What’s up Sheriff Mill? And you’d get your kids to say hi to ’em because you can’t say their real name. You can, but it’s like the whole point is they don’t find out.
Brad Burrow (00:15:21):
Did they have nicknames too?
Speaker 3 (00:15:22):
No, no, no. They don’t find out your real name
Brad Burrow (00:15:25):
Until the last day
Speaker 3 (00:15:26):
Day of camp.
Brad Burrow (00:15:27):
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (00:15:27):
They’re doing everything in their power to figure out your real name and you just can’t give them anything.
Brad Burrow (00:15:33):
So I saw some videos when mom was down with you guys and you guys get pretty hyped up.
Speaker 3 (00:15:39):
Oh
Speaker 2 (00:15:39):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:15:40):
Is this Tex videos? Well, would this have been Saturday night?
Speaker 3 (00:15:45):
Saturday night?
Brad Burrow (00:15:45):
So tell me what’s happening. I mean, you guys are blowing your tops for
Speaker 3 (00:15:52):
Oh yeah, I feel like that’s, yes, we got hyped, but that was just the little cherry on top before we start everything else. But that’s called Vortex, which is we figure
Brad Burrow (00:16:06):
Out Saturday night is called Vortex.
Speaker 3 (00:16:07):
Yeah. So we just got done with our off days. We go meet up with our team and Will’s like, all right, tell me a couple fun things you did. And we just kind of get reacclimated and then we start getting hype and they start telling us who our cabins are going to be for that week and then who we’re going to live with. So it’s pretty fun.
Brad Burrow (00:16:26):
Yeah,
Speaker 4 (00:16:27):
It’s like a big hydro circle.
Brad Burrow (00:16:28):
Before people were doing some of this stuff, what’s that all about? Man boat. What is this?
Speaker 4 (00:16:34):
There are some feral things that just happened. I, I’ve been on top of trucks before just one time I was on top of the Euro bungee and I remember that
Speaker 3 (00:16:46):
Actually.
Speaker 4 (00:16:46):
You blank out sometimes, but it’s just like a hype circle of wild things.
Speaker 3 (00:16:53):
Yeah. You just kind of get lost in it a little bit. You get
Speaker 4 (00:16:55):
Lost. Yeah, you do.
Speaker 3 (00:16:56):
And they’re like, we’re going to start with the ladies. And then all the boys start running around doing stupid stuff on the outside while they’re like, who’s going to be what Kevin? Who’s going to be all this? And then we’re going to go to the fellas and they switch and you figure out, okay, the first week me and Carson were cos so we’re jumping around and they’re like an Evergreen one is dog house. And then you run up in the circle and they throw you in the air. Oh really? They’re like, you evergreen two, it’s going to be rip. And then we figure out, okay, shoot. That’s our cos in our cabin. Okay, good. It’s fun.
Speaker 4 (00:17:34):
Host some assignments
Speaker 3 (00:17:35):
And host
Speaker 4 (00:17:35):
’em. That’s kind of fun because that’s who you’re living with the week. And that’s a big deal. I feel like it’s big deal.
Speaker 2 (00:17:43):
It is just kind of a more fun way to do it. They easily could just sit there and read off where cabins are and Roff where our host arms
Brad Burrow (00:17:50):
Are, but they’ve got to get you guys fired up for Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:17:52):
That’s right. So it just is another thing that makes it more fun. We get to know each other more.
Brad Burrow (00:17:56):
Yeah. So tell me, do some of the chants. Gosh. All right, so this is all right. Do two or three for us. Which ones we do?
Speaker 5 (00:18:06):
Do you want to do,
Brad Burrow (00:18:07):
Tell us what these are? Why are you guys doing
Speaker 5 (00:18:09):
This? So we have actually a couple things. So we have what’s called gauntlet, cheers. So gauntlet is every morning we’re jumping up and down for what? 30, 35 minutes, something like that
Brad Burrow (00:18:20):
With the kids
Speaker 5 (00:18:21):
When the kids come to camp. So
Brad Burrow (00:18:24):
Since we’re traveling, when they’re arriving, when the
Speaker 5 (00:18:25):
Cars are driving cars, cars coming in with kids,
Brad Burrow (00:18:29):
I’d be tired after that.
Speaker 5 (00:18:30):
Oh yeah. And being in Houston was brutal with the humidity. It’s like 95
Speaker 3 (00:18:36):
Degrees out,
Speaker 5 (00:18:37):
Just hot. Hot. You’re like, you’re used to that probably, aren’t you?
Speaker 4 (00:18:39):
Yeah, but it’s still not joking.
Speaker 5 (00:18:42):
Oh yeah, it’s, it’s crazy. So we’re jumping up and down doing cheers, and then we have what’s called porch cheers. So throughout the day, anytime we’re waiting to go into the big, what’s called club room, we’re doing cheers to go in. And then we also have callback cheers too, which is like if anyone’s ever on stage, we have certain words. They say that. Yeah, keywords.
Speaker 3 (00:19:12):
For example, buzzword, buzzers, buzzword. That’s what they called. Yeah. So if someone was on the stage with a mic and they said that worship was lit, everyone would go boom, boom, boom, boom, and just random stuff like that,
Speaker 4 (00:19:25):
Or Epic. And we would all say
Speaker 3 (00:19:27):
Fortnite,
Speaker 4 (00:19:28):
Battle
Speaker 3 (00:19:28):
Royale. Those weren’t their first half lit. And I think Luke Omo made Fortnite, battle Royale. And then there was electric. Are you ready?
Speaker 6 (00:19:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:19:40):
That was lit.
Brad Burrow (00:19:41):
Boom, boom, boom, boom. Epic for
Speaker 3 (00:19:44):
Night
Brad Burrow (00:19:45):
Battle. I’m part of the team now guys, let’s
Speaker 3 (00:19:48):
Go. But there’s a bunch of things where if you call it, but it shouldn’t have been called, we can yell for justice. And if you get justice, you spin a wheel and you go on stage and you could either have to reveal your whole name or wear a backpack on the front of your chest the whole day, socks in your hand, socks. Just stupid stuff like that.
Speaker 5 (00:20:08):
Wheel of doom.
Speaker 3 (00:20:09):
And they’re like, oh, the word of doom. The word of doom. So if anybody ever said,
Speaker 5 (00:20:15):
I dunno, it was like everyone would choose a word and then you would have to hit the whip in Na every time someone said that.
Speaker 4 (00:20:22):
Every time
Speaker 5 (00:20:23):
Whatever. Just some random words
Speaker 3 (00:20:25):
Said it. Yeah. So it be, if the word was like, I don’t even know
Speaker 5 (00:20:28):
The word, we had one word, like chicken jockey. So our pd, shout out Caleb Martin, he got justice and his word of doom was chicken jockey. Chicken jockey. Well
Brad Burrow (00:20:39):
Who’s ever going to say that?
Speaker 5 (00:20:41):
Well,
Speaker 3 (00:20:41):
All the time, dad.
Brad Burrow (00:20:42):
Oh really?
Speaker 3 (00:20:43):
Oh my gosh.
Brad Burrow (00:20:43):
What’s chicken jockey?
Speaker 3 (00:20:44):
It’s from the Minecraft movie.
Brad Burrow (00:20:47):
The kids eat up
Speaker 3 (00:20:49):
Right over my head. Oh yeah. So if they said chicken junky, he would just have to start whipping nay, nay really quick. And you’d just be like chicken junky, chicken junky, chicken junky. Just so he keeps
Speaker 2 (00:20:59):
Doing it. Or one of ’em was like your real name gets revealed. And so that’s just a big deal to the kids the whole week. They just want to figure out your name. And so when your real name would get revealed in the middle of the week to the whole camp, everybody would just be calling for you. You don’t want that to happen, I guess. No, it would be frustrating.
Speaker 3 (00:21:20):
And the kids walk up to you, it’s some crazy thing and they’re like, what’s up Bennett? And they’re just like, they hold it over you. You’re just some sort of little person. It’s
Brad Burrow (00:21:31):
Like you’ve been demoted.
Speaker 3 (00:21:32):
Exactly. You’re like, what’s up? All this stuff.
Brad Burrow (00:21:36):
Alright, so give me a chance. Give me a CH or two. I don’t pick. I feel
Speaker 3 (00:21:40):
Like our good ones. So we have one during gauntlet that was just like, you get to personalize it, which made it fun like the manhole up. But we have Pine Cove specific ones too. Like what? The city camp. It’s city camp is the place to be. You got to do it together. I didn’t know this one. Oh, he didn’t know. Oh, Bennett, you know it, right Levi?
Speaker 5 (00:22:05):
I know it. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:22:06):
Do you know it was that second half? No, that’s just, I never learned that one. We can do it. Do it, do it. City camp is a place to be. We got the Euro bunny slip inside, you got to come and see you walk the water on the sea g lee. So come on down, him with me. Boom. Snap clap, boom, snap city, boom, snap clap, boom, snap City. And then you just keep doing it. Repeat and repeat. Alright, good job. Good job. And then you can do the man hold up one.
Speaker 2 (00:22:31):
Yeah, I can do that one. So it’s when is all the cars are coming in in the morning and all of us, it’s like 90 degrees. It’s so hot in the morning,
Brad Burrow (00:22:41):
But this is when you got to really be
Speaker 2 (00:22:43):
Hype for
Brad Burrow (00:22:43):
The kids.
Speaker 2 (00:22:47):
It’s like, I’ll do it specific to this. So there are different ones that we could do. So it’s like I said, man, hold up. We just got this place podcast up. And then you’d go say it loud, tell your story, let the whole world know this is city territory. So you just personalize it.
Speaker 3 (00:23:04):
You
Speaker 2 (00:23:04):
Literally
Speaker 3 (00:23:05):
Just go crazy. And then it’s like,
Brad Burrow (00:23:07):
So it’s not that really a chant then?
Speaker 3 (00:23:08):
Well, it is. So it’s like he says it and then we would be like, so
Brad Burrow (00:23:12):
You listen to what he says and then you redo it
Speaker 3 (00:23:14):
Or you just keep changing it. So I’d be like, man, hold up. Levi’s got this place good news now because of his shirt. He just say stupid stuff like that. And you keep going.
Speaker 5 (00:23:24):
You get a lot of frats and sororities. So we would say, because Grace has this place capital up, and so you just personalize it. Some of my favorite gauntlets where all of a sudden you would target the entire team whose gauntlet would target one person. Oh yeah. So you would never let them call a cheer. And then everyone else is just calling
Speaker 2 (00:23:49):
A cheer about them.
Speaker 5 (00:23:50):
Pup has this place, case stated up. And then someone else would say, pup’s got this place housed up and And you just keep going. Go, go, go. And the entire gauntlet that day is a puppy gauntlet.
Speaker 3 (00:24:03):
And those were gauntlet was literally my favorite part of camp. It was so much fun.
Brad Burrow (00:24:07):
You begged to
Speaker 3 (00:24:07):
G.
Brad Burrow (00:24:08):
So gauntlet is what is that? When
Speaker 3 (00:24:10):
The cars are driving in.
Brad Burrow (00:24:11):
So you call that gauntlet. Okay. What are the kids like when they’re coming in? When you guys are out there like that? They got to be,
Speaker 3 (00:24:19):
You get your fair share of there’s kids that bring water balloons and water guns and start shooting you and throw stuff at you. Oh yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:24:26):
Then you also, you’re cool with that probably, right?
Speaker 3 (00:24:28):
Oh, you love it. It’s hot. And you’re like just, you’re like, please.
Brad Burrow (00:24:31):
So they’re throwing ’em out the car. Right.
Speaker 3 (00:24:33):
And they love it. And then there’s some kids that are like, this is the most embarrassing thing ever. Get out of here. You really see their
Speaker 2 (00:24:39):
Personalities
Speaker 3 (00:24:41):
Come
Speaker 2 (00:24:41):
Out.
Speaker 3 (00:24:41):
And then the parents love it. The
Brad Burrow (00:24:43):
Parents, the younger kids probably really love it. They get older. They’re probably too cool for it. A hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (00:24:47):
It’s always fun to come to a church that we’ve been to multiple years in a row. They know the deal. So they’ll try to surprise you with water guns or the parents will get involved in it. So it’s like it makes you feel better because you’re doing it for the kids. If they’re involved, then it kind of spurs you on.
Brad Burrow (00:25:04):
Yeah. Did you recognize kids? I mean, you’re the only one that’s been there that would come back.
Speaker 4 (00:25:09):
Yeah, we kind of went to the same churches as my, so I only did first half my first year. And then this year I did both halves. But I had kids, I didn’t have the same campers year after year, but I had kids in code cabins or even just seeing church staff or I had the same host home one.
Brad Burrow (00:25:30):
Oh, did you?
Speaker 4 (00:25:31):
Harris
Brad Burrow (00:25:31):
Creek. Did the kids recognize you?
Speaker 4 (00:25:33):
Yeah. And we call ’em our host brother and sister. And so we were really close. And so it’s really cool to hang out with us.
Brad Burrow (00:25:40):
And you probably had a different name last year, didn’t you?
Speaker 4 (00:25:42):
No, I had the same name. Oh, it’s the same name? It’s the
Brad Burrow (00:25:43):
Same. So you’re going to be the same names forever. Okay, I got
Speaker 3 (00:25:47):
You.
Speaker 4 (00:25:47):
Yeah,
Brad Burrow (00:25:48):
I got you. If you
Speaker 3 (00:25:48):
Don’t, that’s why it’s such a big deal. Yeah, if you don’t like it, you’re just kind of like that’s stuck.
Brad Burrow (00:25:51):
You’re stuck.
Speaker 3 (00:25:52):
Okay.
Brad Burrow (00:25:54):
Have
Speaker 5 (00:25:54):
Zero
Speaker 3 (00:25:54):
Control
Speaker 5 (00:25:55):
Over your own name.
Brad Burrow (00:25:56):
Rip. Rip.
Speaker 4 (00:25:57):
That’s
Speaker 5 (00:25:57):
Right.
Brad Burrow (00:25:58):
You got a horse.
Speaker 4 (00:25:59):
I did not have a horse.
Brad Burrow (00:26:00):
We need to go out to Yellowstone
Speaker 4 (00:26:02):
I hope one day. I mean, yeah.
Brad Burrow (00:26:06):
Little rip action. So Pine Cove, tell me what, do you remember your favorite memory, each one of you from this summer with Pine Cove? This is becoming a Pine Cove podcast. They’re going to want to share this on their website. By the way, each one. And I would love, I don’t know if you can talk about kids specifically, but is there a kid, I know puppy, you had a couple kids that really impacted you. You guys favorite memory and maybe favorite kid that, and you don’t have to say their name, but talk about it a little bit. You want to start pop?
Speaker 3 (00:26:41):
Yeah. I mean, I honestly don’t know if I could pinpoint one singular memory that I’d be like, this is my favorite. But I just remember we did so many goofy things like Mammoth Hunt or Goliath wall and stuff like that where it’s just part
Brad Burrow (00:26:58):
Mammoth. What is that?
Speaker 3 (00:27:00):
So it’s like we’re on a tarp and we put socks on our hands and our feet and the whole bit is that we ate some poison and we became mammoths. And the only way for us to be saved is for the kids to pull the socks off of us.
Speaker 6 (00:27:16):
And
Speaker 3 (00:27:16):
Then we’re like, oh, we’re back to counselors. Your counselors turn into mammoths. You have to go save them so you can keep doing camp. And for us it’s super fun. We’re just on all fours, just rallying at these kids and throwing them around and stuff. And they’re tackling you. It’s war. It is literally war. It is war.
Brad Burrow (00:27:38):
These are littler kids. I mean, how old are the kids that are doing that?
Speaker 4 (00:27:41):
Well, they changed it halfway
Brad Burrow (00:27:42):
Through,
Speaker 4 (00:27:43):
But the last week no one was getting him. And so I jumped on the tarp and tackled him down
Speaker 3 (00:27:50):
The ground. Is that right? It was me versus Carson at
Speaker 4 (00:27:52):
That moment. It was me versus
Speaker 3 (00:27:54):
P. Yeah, yeah. But it’s like fun stuff like that. And then Goliath ball is like, we are Goliath and they’re all David’s and if we hit ’em with a foam sword, they have to sit down. But if they hit us in the face with a dodge ball, then we’re out the rock. And it’s just this whole kind of fun illustration of what that actually looked like. And obviously the kids always win, but it’s fun getting to do the random stuff like that. But
Brad Burrow (00:28:23):
You remember a kid that you really
Speaker 3 (00:28:25):
Yeah,
Brad Burrow (00:28:25):
I’ve seen a few pictures.
Speaker 3 (00:28:26):
I mean I didn’t have specific kids that I was like, man, these were way better than others. But there were kids that had stories that were really cool. Week 10, I had a kid named Santiago and he was this super sweet little Hispanic kid and super smart kid, very intellectually sound stuff like that, but didn’t really know anything about what Christianity or Jesus looked like. And as we’re going through our Bible study, it’s like you’re learning, oh, creation story. Then sin came into the world and what that did and then how Jesus had to come in and be our rescue and stuff like that. And throughout the week you’re just getting a new little bit and piece of the gospel in week. So yeah, it was week 10 on day three. One of the questions in our reflection time was like, have you accepted that gift of grace or something like that? Or
Speaker 6 (00:29:26):
Do
Speaker 3 (00:29:27):
You understand why Jesus had to come and die for you? And we were talking about that and I always have my kids. I’m like, alright, everybody close your eyes. I want them to make it for themselves not to like, oh, all my friends are doing it so I have to do it. So I was like, Hey, who hasn’t done this? Or who has, and kids raise their hands, kids. And then I’m like, who wants to? And Santiago’s hand shoots up and I’m like, all right, everyone’s going to pray this prayer. We pray the prayer and they all leave. And I hold Santiago back a little bit and I’m like, this is what the decision you just made is let me just explain it to you for just in case you don’t understand what it was that you made. And we’re talking about it. And then I’m like, man, Santiago, I’m so proud of you. This is the best decision you’ll ever make in your life. And we do something called Camper Share on Friday. And he went up there and he is like, my name’s Santiago, my counselor’s name’s Doghouse and here’s what I learned at camp. And he gives this full five minute long gospel presentation. And I’m just like, that is so cool to, yeah,
Brad Burrow (00:30:31):
That’s awesome. See
Speaker 3 (00:30:32):
This fourth grader go from knowing nothing to being able to publicly share his faith with people is just super cool. And it’s not everybody’s promise to get those kids and see the fruit of that, but it is really refreshing to be able to see that your labor that you are doing at camp is not in vain. Even when sometimes it’s like, what am I doing here? These kids aren’t listening, these kids aren’t really understanding what I’m saying.
Brad Burrow (00:31:01):
Yeah, you just never
Speaker 3 (00:31:02):
Know. You never know.
Brad Burrow (00:31:03):
God’s word doesn’t return void. Right? That’s
Speaker 3 (00:31:04):
Exactly,
Brad Burrow (00:31:05):
Man, you might just, one thing that you said, that whole week might be something that somebody remembers
Speaker 3 (00:31:11):
For sure.
Brad Burrow (00:31:12):
50 years from now, who knows.
Speaker 3 (00:31:13):
So it’s cool to get to see a kid actually understand in that moment, because like you said, we’re not promised that. So that would probably be mine.
Brad Burrow (00:31:24):
Rip. What about you?
Speaker 4 (00:31:26):
I think his favorite memory, just we spent a lot of time just on our off days together as just people together
Brad Burrow (00:31:36):
Drive and do the
Speaker 4 (00:31:38):
Next
Brad Burrow (00:31:38):
Church.
Speaker 4 (00:31:40):
There’s been a lot of great conversations in those travel days. And also I think one weekend my family, we hosted everyone at my house and just getting to hang out and just swim the pool and just be a group of college kids.
Brad Burrow (00:31:53):
Your parents probably loved that. They
Speaker 4 (00:31:54):
Loved it. Yeah,
Brad Burrow (00:31:55):
We love that too.
Speaker 4 (00:31:56):
It’s just awesome to be a community together and just have a good time while we’re at camp. But yeah, I definitely had my last as a counselor, I had the group of older kids and I’ve never had the oldest kids. And so
Brad Burrow (00:32:16):
What age group would that be?
Speaker 4 (00:32:17):
They were going into sixth grade.
Brad Burrow (00:32:20):
That’s the oldest, oldest
Speaker 4 (00:32:21):
Group.
Brad Burrow (00:32:22):
Okay. So they’re
Speaker 4 (00:32:23):
About
Brad Burrow (00:32:24):
10 or 11. Okay.
Speaker 4 (00:32:25):
Yeah.
(00:32:26):
And so I had this one kid that you can just tell he was just full of energy and so excited just to do, we’ve never done camp at that church. And so it was just like he was our cheerleader for our group and every day he was just so encouraging to his friends to me. And that was a breath of fresh air for me in the middle of the summer to just watch a kid who believes Jesus and is willing to share it with all the people around him. And in that he just made a really good time to do camp. And so that was definitely a breath of fresh air for
Brad Burrow (00:33:04):
Me. Yeah. What about you, sheriff
Speaker 5 (00:33:08):
Milk? I would say probably same thing. It was cool to be a part of the relational aspect of, I think Citi in and of itself is a cool, from what I’ve heard of onsite pine Cove camps, you don’t interact with your staff as much like your fellow staffers.
Brad Burrow (00:33:31):
C you guys keep referring to that. That’s the place where everybody comes to.
Speaker 5 (00:33:35):
Right? Okay. So there’s Pine Cove and then there’s Pine Cove City. So Pine Cove onsite camps are stationary, they have places,
Brad Burrow (00:33:46):
Several different places that people go. Overnight camps
Speaker 5 (00:33:49):
Very, he was talking about family camps like The Bluffs, that’s an onsite camp that people go to. So Pine Cove City, what we do is, the way I explain it is just a traveling VBS. So we go from city to city
(00:34:08):
And put on a VBS inside a church that is housing us for the week. And then we have campers from nine to four every day. And then after that you’re just with your team. So that I think was one of my favorite parts of just like you are going so deep and intentional with your fellow people that you’re doing life with and you’re doing the ministry of the gospel with you’re locking arms with these fellow college kids and you’re giving up your summer and no one really understands that except for the people that are around you. And so I think that is probably my favorite relational aspect because for me it was kind of disheartening and discouraging. I never had a kid, my eight weeks of camp, never had a kid come up to me and hey, I turned and repented and I not believe in the gospel, never had that. But kind of like what P was saying, we’re not promised to see our fruits.
(00:35:18):
And I think my last week that was so encouraging, but also opened my eyes was one of our girl counselors was like, I saw a girl who up until that point, same situation as me, had never had a camper accept Christ and never had a camper for the rest of the summer. And then she comes back next year and we’re at this church and this camper, one of her old campers comes up to her and is like, Hey, I think, I don’t remember who it was, but hey counselor’s name. I just wanted to let you know a couple days after camp last year, I accepted Christ and I’ve been walking with him for a year.
Brad Burrow (00:36:09):
And
Speaker 5 (00:36:10):
So that’s what we’re talking about. Right, exactly. And so it’s so cool to see she got to see that fruit of what she was faithful to during that time, even though she didn’t get to. So it’s really cool to see. I know seeds have been planted and there’s some kids that I really connected with tough family life
(00:36:37):
And those kids, it hurts to send them back into the world and it’s like, I want to be with you and I want to protect you. But just to see the growth amidst five days of you’re seeing confidence being built of these, my last week was I had the crib, so it was like these five and 6-year-old boys that are talking about themselves have such low self-esteem on when they come in on Monday. And then you have see little steps every day. So I think that was probably my favorite part is getting to see the growth of kids. I didn’t have any older kids. My oldest group that I had was going into fourth grade, so I had super, super young kids, which was so cool just to see there’s jumps from first to second to third, and then it’s just cognitive stuff that is really
Brad Burrow (00:37:40):
Cool to see. Different difference in a year.
Speaker 5 (00:37:41):
And it is really,
Brad Burrow (00:37:43):
When you guys are parents, you’ll see that happening with your kids too.
Speaker 5 (00:37:47):
But yeah, just growth of campers was probably my favorite thing.
Brad Burrow (00:37:52):
Pretty cool. Bennett, what about you?
Speaker 5 (00:37:54):
Yeah,
Brad Burrow (00:37:55):
Excuse me. Zba. There you go. Sorry about that. I made a mistake. There are people,
Speaker 2 (00:38:00):
Yeah, I, I mean I can speak to all of those things. I think the biggest thing that I took away and my favorite thing about the summer, just memory in general, was just a great picture of what faith is and just trusting in what’s unseen. Just having conversations with everyone on our team. And I just realized a lot of these people had no idea what they’re getting into, dunno what it’s going to be like, dunno how difficult it’s going to be, but they just jump into it and you just trust that the Lord is faithful and that he’ll provide and that if we depend on him, he will give us exactly what we need.
(00:38:37):
And so I just saw that so much in each of the people on our staff’s lives. And so I just thought that was a beautiful picture of what faith was. And then just same with our kids. You have no idea what the rest of their life is going to look like. You just spent a week pouring out the gospel to a kid and you have no idea where he’s going to end up in life, but you just trust that we serve and love a faithful God who we can trust that he’s going to just give them the best or he’s going to have great plans for them.
Brad Burrow (00:39:13):
Yeah, that’s awesome. So a couple more things. Stories. Do you guys have any stories that you can tell us? I mean you had to have some amazing things happen out. Talking about
Speaker 3 (00:39:27):
Do you want a funny story?
Brad Burrow (00:39:28):
Funny. Well, I like funny, embarrassing, kind of fun too. But funny would be a good,
Speaker 5 (00:39:39):
So this would’ve been week four? Week four? Yes. Week four. This is my first time getting the crib. So I have the youngest, youngest group of kids.
Brad Burrow (00:39:51):
This is five. Five. Just turned five turned. I remember you talked about they’re supposed to, did you do that the first week? That was my first ever, they both had crib first year. That’s
Speaker 3 (00:40:00):
How we met.
Brad Burrow (00:40:01):
Oh, okay. You guys met with the crib, huh? Yeah, we
Speaker 4 (00:40:03):
Had long experience
Speaker 5 (00:40:05):
For sure. No, you’re okay. Go ahead. But yeah, so I had the crib that week with my boy, speedy Dylan hit, let’s Go.
Speaker 2 (00:40:14):
Dylan
Speaker 5 (00:40:15):
And I could not have gotten through that week without him, but we had what were called runners. So this church was, half of it was inside and then you had courtyards and stuff outside with our activity classes that we did, but we had some runners and we also had a pooper, so I had pooper, so it was Friday. And so it had been a tough cabin. We just had a lot of different needs within the cabin as five and 6-year-old boys do.
(00:40:54):
But I had a kid was like, Hey sheriff milk, I really need to go to the bathroom. And this was right after Bible study. We were about to head to our first activity class. Normally with kids that age, they just forget about it. So unless they’re like, I need to go right now. So I was like, all right, camper’s name, we will go, will explain the rules of this activity class, then we’ll go and come to me afterwards and I’ll take you to the bathroom. Explained the rules, he’s playing the game. So I’m like, okay, totally forgot about it. He did not forget about, well, he kind of forgot about it, forgot. But then he came up to me afterwards after 45 minute long activity class and was like, sheriff milk, I need to go to the bathroom. I was like, okay. We go, comes out of the stall and he walks up to me and is like six inches away from me. And he goes, whispers in my ear. He goes, sheriff milk, there’s poop in my ear.
(00:42:07):
And I was like, oh boy. So I go up to my leadership and I’m like, Hey, what did we do about this situation? Basically what we did was we just got him changed. He had a swimsuit that he changed into. So it was all good. But with the crib you get sheriff milk. So what’s funny is that was a joke for the rest of camp. The next week I had a cabin of girls come up to me and their counselors were like, Hey, we’re all going to go up to sheriff milk and whisper this thing. So a group of seven and 8-year-old girls come up to me and they’re
Brad Burrow (00:42:53):
Like, oh, they put them up too. Oh
Speaker 5 (00:42:54):
Yeah. Literally 16 girls come up to me and they’re like, sheriff milk. And I was like, oh no, you knew what was happening. Yeah, I knew exactly, but then they whispered, you’re doing a great job. I was like, thank you, thank you. So it was just a joke for the rest of the summer. But that was
Brad Burrow (00:43:14):
Hilarious. That was my main chocolate milk kind of fitting in that situation. Right? Yeah. Any other stories?
Speaker 3 (00:43:23):
I mean, I
Brad Burrow (00:43:23):
Know you guys got some, there had to be some funny things happening.
Speaker 3 (00:43:26):
Me and a guy named Adam, we were cos one week we were Cos two weeks actually, so week six and week eight. And every time we did obstacle course, which is like they run in, go through these different obstacles and have to go over the rock wall or not the rock wall, the little wall thingy. And then first one went and they all freak out and they’re like, oh my gosh, I beat you, I beat you. Me and Adam stand in the middle, a water activity. So we’re spraying with water and then also making it difficult for them to get through. Adam, super awesome guy, just a goober. And we’re going through it and I’m using the inflatable things to push them out of the way and make it hard for ’em. And then Adam, keep in mind we’re with the crib this week.
Brad Burrow (00:44:14):
The little kids
Speaker 3 (00:44:15):
Like the fifth, not fifth graders, sorry, the five-year-olds.
Brad Burrow (00:44:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:44:19):
And they’re running up and Adam just picks ’em up and chucks them over the wall and half these kids are like, oh my gosh, that was the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my life. Do it again, do it again, do again. And then you have your other kids that they laying weird and they start crying. They’re like, oh my gosh, that bad. And you’re like, you’re okay, you’re okay. Deep breath. And they’re like, alright, do it again. Do it again, do it again. And it’s so much fun. It’s hot, you’re tired, and then you get this opportunity to just throw a child literally and they’re like, oh my gosh, this is so awesome. Do it again. Do it again. And with that, that became the new norm of what we did every week after that. And it’s fun. You don’t understand how difficult it is to be engaging in these activity classes, but you have to and you have to find ways to make it fun for them and make it fun for you. They can see if you’re not having fun, they’re not having fun, they feed off of you and you have to do something to make it fun.
Brad Burrow (00:45:22):
Where’s ya doesn’t. Oh my gosh. And you guys are, I don’t know that you’ve actually recovered from the summer yet. Honestly,
Speaker 3 (00:45:29):
I honestly don’t think so.
Brad Burrow (00:45:30):
But it’s hard, isn’t it? Can you talk about that a little bit? I mean, you were telling me some of the things puppy that you do, just setting up and tearing down the big bounce houses and all that. That’s hard work, didn’t it? Shout out to the
Speaker 3 (00:45:42):
Inflator bros.
Speaker 2 (00:45:42):
It’s,
Speaker 3 (00:45:43):
It’s
Speaker 2 (00:45:43):
Tough for me.
Brad Burrow (00:45:44):
Do you have to do that every day or just
Speaker 2 (00:45:45):
Every day? Kind of. We would set up every day, which really wasn’t a lot. It was just some chore, a little bit. But every Sunday and Friday we would do it. Have to
Brad Burrow (00:45:58):
Take Did you dread those days? That Sunday were fun,
Speaker 2 (00:46:01):
Mean? It was definitely tough, but I think I got to know guys best than
Brad Burrow (00:46:07):
That’s when you’re
Speaker 2 (00:46:08):
Working together. When you’re working together, when you’re having conversations, I look back and all I can think about those times is that they were the most fun memories. You don’t remember the hard work about it.
Brad Burrow (00:46:18):
Tell me, so what would you do on Sunday? What are all the things that you would set up? Bounce houses, the rock wall. What are some
Speaker 4 (00:46:27):
Projects?
Brad Burrow (00:46:27):
And you guys probably had it all. This was his job.
Speaker 4 (00:46:29):
Oh, okay, awesome. Yeah, so the second half I served on projects, which is maintenance and anything, if we needed to go buy things or town runs like that, I did all those random chores. But every day we set up the big euro bungee, which is a big tall, it’s got a slide connected to it, a rock wall, and there’s so many pieces to it. And so it’s hot metal, big poles that you have to lift up.
Brad Burrow (00:46:58):
You got to do that right too.
Speaker 4 (00:46:59):
And you got to do it right and you can’t drop it. I almost lost my finger at training week. I got it smashed in between,
Brad Burrow (00:47:05):
Oh my
Speaker 4 (00:47:05):
Gosh. One of the hooks. And so thank goodness we didn’t have any of those during the year. But yeah, it’s a lot of work. And
Brad Burrow (00:47:14):
So training week, you’re learning how to set up everything basically?
Speaker 4 (00:47:16):
Yeah. Training week with projects, you go a week before orientation and you learn all the things about it. You help pack the box, truck pack, all the things that we need for the entire summer. And so it’s like leadership and then projects as
Brad Burrow (00:47:30):
Well. I gotcha.
Speaker 4 (00:47:31):
And so yeah, it’s a good time. But during the year, Sundays are a lot of work and not that we dread, but it’s definitely a labor.
Brad Burrow (00:47:41):
How long would that take to get set up?
Speaker 4 (00:47:43):
I think we did it from two to five.
Brad Burrow (00:47:46):
So three or four hours. Three or four hours, honestly didn’t six, seven. Would you go to church at the church on Sunday and then
Speaker 3 (00:47:55):
Yeah, so we’d go to the late service, then we’d go get lunch and that would be our last bit of off time. And then we would go to the church and get our little things ready and then we’d go out. And so for us and the inflatables people, we would drop off the inflatables and then we’d put two people on water bags because there’s what, 46 and there’s only one hose or spigot
Brad Burrow (00:48:24):
That we use. What do you mean water bags?
Speaker 3 (00:48:25):
So to hold down the in, we
Brad Burrow (00:48:28):
Don’ts down. I got you.
Speaker 3 (00:48:30):
We do ’em on the,
Brad Burrow (00:48:31):
Do you have to fill ’em up with water? And that’s what hold, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:48:33):
So me and Levi for a lot of it was, that was our job was we would go out and we’d fill all that up while they would get them ready. And then once the water bags were all done, then we would put ’em next to the inflatables and hook ’em up and then tie everything on to where it was. All we had to do was plug them in and put the hoses on and then they would be ready to go. But water bags were so boring. You’d just sit there on the curb filling water bags for an hour and a half and then
Brad Burrow (00:49:08):
Had to be done.
Speaker 3 (00:49:09):
I mean, yeah, it was like if we didn’t do that right away, then we’d be there for an extra hour or so. So
Speaker 5 (00:49:16):
Water bags is first thing you’d
Speaker 3 (00:49:17):
Do. We, the first week, whenever our guy was teaching us how to do it, we had one person do water bags at the very end. So it took us like I kid you not probably five hours to do it. It was bad.
Brad Burrow (00:49:31):
So that needs to be the first thing you start. Yeah,
Speaker 3 (00:49:33):
Exactly. But that was his, Hey, this is how you do it. Explaining everything through that. But it honestly was kind of fun. I enjoyed it. It wasn’t bad labor. And then it was more Fridays that I dreaded.
Speaker 5 (00:49:44):
Just Fridays rolling things up. So you would stomp all the air out of the inflatables at least to be able to get it to Oh yeah. And then you would roll it.
Brad Burrow (00:49:55):
Those things are heavy, aren’t they? Oh, oh my gosh.
Speaker 5 (00:49:57):
Oh yeah. They’re heavy.
Speaker 4 (00:49:58):
We have to get ’em in the back of a pickup every time. So
Brad Burrow (00:50:00):
That’s
Speaker 4 (00:50:01):
Tough as well.
Brad Burrow (00:50:01):
Was that your pickup?
Speaker 4 (00:50:03):
Well, not that, but I did drive around. So yeah, I mean that was definitely a tough,
Speaker 3 (00:50:08):
If you didn’t roll them good enough and they didn’t fit in the pickup, you’d have to again reroll it or find a way to somehow strategically make it fit. And it was, oh my gosh, that was brutal. Sometimes we did not have some good roles,
Brad Burrow (00:50:23):
So even though you guys were dead tired, it was worth it.
Speaker 2 (00:50:27):
So much fun. And I think even it can be harder outside of camp because you’re just put in a position where you have to depend on the Lord. And so I think one important thing outside of camp is just like, okay, I have all this free time now I’m not as tired. How do I find ways to rely on the Lord and just depend on him for my strength?
Brad Burrow (00:50:48):
For sure.
Speaker 2 (00:50:48):
And camp, it’s honestly easy to do that. You have no other choice.
Brad Burrow (00:50:53):
A
Speaker 3 (00:50:53):
Hundred percent will talked about this a lot. Our site director, and we lived this out in terms of there were many days where we were all sick, we’re all tired, we’re like, I don’t know how I’m going to go out to the gauntlet and jump for 30 minutes and then go into a full day of camp and give a camper all that I can give so that he can have the best experience. And you’re like, you’re dragging and it’s week seven or eight or week 10, and you’re like, oh my gosh, how am I going to get through this week? And then you’re like, okay. Then somehow during gauntlet you’re like, oh, I got energy. I can do this. And it’s just like we’re so heavily depending on the Lord. And it’s cool because we’ve talked about this with one of our friends, Jacob White a lot, and Seth Adams, who are two of our really good friends from Pine Coven. It’s like the Lord will give you strength to show that you’re weak. We know that we can’t do it by our own power. And it’s like the only way that this could happen is by the Lord’s strength. It’s like we get to live that out. We know if it were up to us, we would be cramping, we’d be tired, we’d be laying down and not being able to give the kids what they deserve. But you know that the Lord, it’s so cool to see how powerful the Lord truly is because that’s what we’re preaching to these kids.
(00:52:16):
It’s like, oh, we get to see that on a firsthand basis with camp and with these kids. And they may have no idea and the parents may have no idea, but when we’re living together and we understand, wow, we’re going through it, honestly, we are going through, it’s like we got close through that. If camp wasn’t so difficult, I don’t think we’d be as close. You really, you have to encourage each other like crazy.
Brad Burrow (00:52:47):
This is the last thing that we’re going to talk about today guys, but I want to talk about your generation I’m seeing is there’s a revival in your age group. Obviously you guys, I know you guys very well in seeing that, but it seems to me like older generations aren’t on fire for God. You guys are. Why do you suppose that is? Why is why’s happened? I mean, why is it that you guys have grabbing a hold of your faith in a different way than maybe some of the older people older than you?
Speaker 4 (00:53:24):
That’s a good question.
Brad Burrow (00:53:26):
Deep. That’s a deep question, isn’t it? Question,
Speaker 4 (00:53:28):
Yeah. I’ll kind of just speak on things that I see at a and m.
Brad Burrow (00:53:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:53:33):
So I go to Texas a and m and this is, I’ll be sophomore year. And so I think this year I’ve noticed just how in the South everyone, there’s a lot of Christians that claim to be Christians, but
(00:53:50):
People who walk the walk and talk the talk, there’s very few, but I’ve seen even at this stage of life college where people are deciding what is their faith going to be and what do I believe about my faith? And so it’s been really unique through things. We have a big thing called breakaway. It’s a big bible study in Read arena, which we’re doing a worship service with thousands of college students. But things like that where the younger generation or younger pastors are coming and speaking at those things and people are hearing the gospel and actually hearing it maybe some for the first time or maybe in a new way that they haven’t heard. Some people have bad encounters with Christians who don’t act how they should. And so that’s something that I think a lot of people have been encountering at a and m is that seeing a revival of believers and being in community has been really good for a lot of them and just being spurred on through that. So I think and M is really blossoming with that with a lot of believers through the ministries that are pursuing college
Brad Burrow (00:55:03):
Students. Yeah, I think that’s happening in K State too.
Speaker 4 (00:55:06):
For sure.
Brad Burrow (00:55:06):
It’s your age group and it’s really awesome to see. Honestly, I think it’s really cool that you guys are grabbing hold of your faith. I mean for me, that didn’t happen until way later in life a lot later. So that you guys are grabbing hold. And I’m just curious as to what it is. I mean like puppy, I know you’ve grown up in church and you did a talk the other day and talked about that and how it’s not your parents’ faith anymore, it’s your faith. And I thought that was great and I’m just curious what it is that really has drawn you guys in.
Speaker 2 (00:55:44):
Yeah, I mean I think people just need hope and that we live in a culture where, I mean you look at all the increase in anxiety
Speaker 6 (00:55:53):
And
Speaker 2 (00:55:53):
Mental health concerns and with just social media, it’s just like we just have a crazy generation. It’s a crazy world that we’re in right now. And so I think people just really need hope at the end of the day. And so I think you just have a lot of people who have tasted and seen that hope
Speaker 6 (00:56:10):
And
Speaker 2 (00:56:10):
Have experienced life to the fullest with Jesus and it set them on fire and it just makes them want to share that with people who are also struggling. I think as much as our generation is very on fire, it is also struggling in a lot of ways for sure with kids
Brad Burrow (00:56:28):
Just with
Speaker 2 (00:56:29):
Anxiety. Anxiety, yeah. Mental. It’s crazy. And so I just think it kind of goes hand in hand. People have experienced this joy from Christ and this freedom and they just want to share it with people too.
Speaker 5 (00:56:41):
Yeah, that’s
Brad Burrow (00:56:41):
Right. What do you
Speaker 5 (00:56:42):
Think? Well, I was going to say kind of what Bennett was saying, but I think especially with social media being so prevalent in our, that I think heightens and just shows that people are out there looking for something, whether that’s validation or some relationships or whatever it is. I think our generation now has been searching for something and I think more now than ever it’s put on a stage and you’re able to see that. And so that’s genuinely what I think is people are so much more out there with I’m searching for something, whether they say that or not, whether that’s what they’re posting or what they’re looking at or whatever it is.
Brad Burrow (00:57:28):
So they’re more transparent about it.
Speaker 5 (00:57:29):
It’s public, it’s more known. It’s public and it’s more like, like I said, you may not come out and say I’m searching for fulfillment or whatever, but just how you live your life and what you’re searching for genuinely. And I think that was the opposite side of what Bennett said, but on the same thing of we have kids that have grown up in the church and have experienced that and they now more than ever are like, I have your answer. And I think also our generation is connected more than anyone that has ever been.
Brad Burrow (00:58:16):
Yeah,
Speaker 5 (00:58:16):
That’s a good point. You have. Relationships can be, I mean from Texas, we FaceTime all the time now. So it’s like you are able to maintain relationships and go deeper with people further out. I mean we have the ability to, I mean I went to Kenya last summer and it’s like I still talk, I’m able to communicate with people that I met overseas. And so it’s like I think we’re all just so connected to where now we have the ability to provide, Hey, I have your answer of people that truly know the Lord and are like, I see you. I see what you’re posting. I see what you’re doing. I know you are searching for something. And so that’s what I think is our generation. You see more outwardly we’re searching for something and then we have people stepping up that are just like you said, younger people that are
Brad Burrow (00:59:18):
Like, I think God’s raising up a generation right now.
Speaker 5 (00:59:22):
I agree is
Brad Burrow (00:59:22):
What it feels like to me. You guys are going to do amazing things. That’s the really cool thing about it.
Speaker 3 (00:59:30):
Just to add to both of those things. And I feel like with us being such an anxious and stressed out generation, we’re also a very curious generation. And I think with that, with our social media and with all of that, people see, okay, why is that person living the way he is and why is he so happy? Where’s this joy coming from? And people will walk around and they’re trying to fill that Christ hold heart or whatever, or that Christ hole hole in our heart. Yes, that’s what it’s with everything other than Christ. And it’s like, okay, wait, what are these people doing that we need to do? None.
Brad Burrow (01:00:19):
None of those other things work, by the
Speaker 3 (01:00:21):
Way. Exactly. I think you’re right in the fact of God is raising up a generation of that. And I don’t think it’s anything we have done. There’s nothing we have done for us to be the way we are. It’s strictly like God has put us in the right places and God has given us community. I can think to myself of the fact that I found this community is, it’s not by anything I’ve done. It’s all coincidence. Levi and Bennett meeting.
Brad Burrow (01:00:50):
I wouldn’t even say coincidence. Not coincidence, but God ordained.
Speaker 3 (01:00:54):
Exactly. The fact that they met is all God. The fact that we met Carson is all a God thing. And we look at these things and we’re just like, wow, the grace that God shows us in that is so cool and we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus and we get to show people what we have tasted and seen and it’s like that’s what God has called us to. And although we’re not the best at it by any means, we’re just trying to do what we can and trying to be faithful. It’s
Brad Burrow (01:01:26):
Like you’re just taking the steps that’s more important than being the best
Speaker 3 (01:01:30):
For sure. So I think it’s cool that obviously we get to be a part of that with God. And I talked about this a little bit in the talk I had with KCC, but just how we are ambassadors for Christ and how why not take that step genuinely. What do you have to lose? If you accept Christ and Christ doesn’t exist, then what changes on it? Literally nothing changes, but you have everything to gain in Christ. And I can speak on behalf of everybody here, and this is what is so cool about Pine Cove is everybody understands this is what life is about. Life is about everybody coming to know Jesus and growing in Jesus and then getting to experience the life that he gives us. And it’s like I know that none of us would stop at anything to continue to make that known to other people. And obviously we’re not perfect and we’re never going to be, but we’re just doing what God has called us to do. And I think that’s a really cool thing that God invites us into and we just get to see it more because I feel like it’s really known in college right now. Colleges are around the world, are seeing that very prevalently and that’s just the stage of life. And so it’s really cool to be
Brad Burrow (01:02:56):
A part. Well, I love it. I’m so proud of you guys. I mean, this is really, really cool and what you guys are doing is amazing and we need to come back 10 years from now.
Speaker 6 (01:03:06):
That’s right.
Brad Burrow (01:03:06):
Remember that podcast? Yes. And see what you guys have done. This would be really awesome. Alright, we got to wrap up here On Every, in a World with Real Media podcasts, we have everybody do the movie Voice. Okay. And I’ll show you how to do it. So you got to get really close to the mic and you got to get that low airy voice like that. And you say, so in a world with real media, all right?
Speaker 3 (01:03:29):
Is that what you want us to do? I
Brad Burrow (01:03:30):
Want you each one
Speaker 3 (01:03:31):
To do that. Okay? You want to go first? Go around. Oh, okay. Go around the circle. Alright puppy. Here you go. In a world with real media.
Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
Alright, next up. Next up. In a World with Real Media, let’s go. That was pretty good. Now
Brad Burrow (01:03:50):
Bad. No bad
Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
In a world with real media. Good, thank you. In a world
Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
With real media.
Brad Burrow (01:04:02):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (01:04:02):
Let’s
Brad Burrow (01:04:03):
Go. I love the looks on your face. Everybody’s like, it’s real serious. That’s awesome. Well thanks guys for being on here with me. Sure. Thank you by the way. So I’m going to talk to them now. Alright, so if you want to support Pine Co, I’m sure we will share some links and stuff like that if you want. Maybe you’re seeing this podcast and you want to be a counselor or something like that. So reach out to these guys and take this inspiration and do something with it and share this podcast, comment on it, like it, send it to people all over the world. We want you to do all those things. And thanks for joining us and we’ll see you on the next podcast. This has been in world with Real Media. Thanks for joining us. And be sure to subscribe on iTunes and follow real media on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. So you never miss an episode.