"RAM - Rafting Appreciation Moment"

It was the first week with campers for the 2025 summer camp term, with Caroline Furnace hosting Confirmation Campers! Confirmation Camp has a long history with Caroline Furnace with opportunities to serve, learn more about their confirmation values, and adventure into outdoor activities. This year, their group consisted of youth from the Virginia Synod and Metro DC Synod. We had some familiar faces returning and some new faces joining us to experience our theme for the summer: God’s Word Comes Near! Some of our summer staff, including our lovely Ruthie, and newcomers Aaron, Luke, and Kirsten, had the opportunity to join the youth and pastors on their rafting trip down the Shenandoah River on Wednesday, June 18th. This was the perfect opportunity for our cabin leaders and interns to experience a relaxing activity, one they weren’t leading, from the kids’ perspective.  

For Kirsten, the trip started strong with the kids quickly figuring out how to use their paddles and navigating the rapid streams. The youth she was rafting with consisted of Raymond, Vincent, Jeffery, Chloe, and Kathryn.

Ray and Vincent were the strategists of the group, figuring out the best plan, even switching sides of the raft at one point after verbalizing that one brother was left-handed, and the other was right-handed. Chloe and Kat were the foundation of the group, helping to steer the raft on the correct path as the strongest paddlers, while also encouraging and uplifting their group throughout the trip. Lastly, Jeffery was a natural-born leader, being at the front of the raft directing and guiding the group.

Kirsten was impressed with their communication skills, which were at the forefront of their navigation strategy. She stated, “It was satisfying to witness firsthand all the youth coming out of their shells on this day.” 

Amid their navigation planning, a significant amount of time was devoted to having fun and playing with the other group members on the other rafts. “I liked being able to conjoin boats and raft down the river together because it was easier to navigate and we got to hang out with everyone at those points,” says Vincent. Everyone was enjoying the beautiful sunny weather after a very rainy start to the week. To cool off, a splash war broke loose, and the kids even had opportunities to hop out of their boats and swim in the river.

Some other favorite moments came from CJ when he shared that getting tackled by Owen and just sleeping/chilling in the sunlight was the highlight of his day. There were lots of moments filled with songs led by Jackson, keeping the energy alive. All the kids got into the songs about a Pharaoh, Moose, and even a Pizza Man!

All the youth at the end of the week agreed that the rafting trip was their favorite memory from their time at Caroline Furnace this year. It was a chance to explore other scenic areas outside of camp property and to learn more about themselves as individuals and each other. Most importantly, it was a way for everyone to have time to be present with God. There were many slow points of the trip where everyone chose not to paddle and just allowed the streams to guide the path, allowing for quiet, peace, and observation of their surroundings. The youth got into these moments as well, using our water appreciation moments abbreviation (WAM) and changing it to SAM (sun appreciation moments) or RAM when we ended up getting a little sprinkle of rain. They even thought up the abbreviations STAM and GAM, which were to highlight where they appreciated the Caroline Furnace staff and God. Kirsten's favorite quote of the day that stuck with her the most was when Ray stated, “I had low expectations for this trip, but this has been great!” She undeniably felt God through the youth, empowering Caroline Furnace’s overall mission. "I'm so excited and eager to see many more experiences like this unfold with the upcoming campers," said Kirsten.