Camp GUAMISKI

by Madeline
​Guamiski, which means GUAtemalan MISsionary KIds” is, as one would expect, a camp for missionary kids that live in Guatemala. This camp has been a safe haven for many missionary kids, a place where we don't have to feel the pressure of being a missionary kid. As having aged out of camp I can say that this camp has and will continue to help ease the stress and pressure that comes with the life as a missionary kid. In my years at camp, I can tell you that it was always something to look forward too. It was also something that I could always count on to help me feel welcomed, safe and accepted. Which has always been hard to find. As we’re no longer yellow, as our birth-country is, neither are we green, as our now home-country is. We’re blue, a beautiful mixture of the two. Camp for me was always  a place where I could find other kids who understood not really fitting in to our birth-county nor our new home-country.
 Unfortunately, all great things have to come to an end. So as a missionary kid, I’ve had to say goodbye plenty of times, and I’ve had to say goodbye to camp Guamiski year after year for 6 years now. However this last one was different. It was different because it was the last time that I’d have to say goodbye to the camp for forever. As long as I’ve been there I’ve seen many people come and go, but this year, I was the one to go. However, I hope to go back next summer as a junior counselor helping out with the kids as well as lead the music as I did this year.

As a way to better express  how much all of the people meant to me, here is a part of my instagram post after my very last year at camp: 
 “So this goes out to all the people I’ve met through the camp. I miss you all very much. I hope that you’ve all been able to have as amazing of lives as you’d all hoped when I met you. I truly wish you all the best. I hope you all have been able to grow into the amazing people that I always knew you all could be. 
And as I said my last goodbye through my graduation speech, I realized that while I was hoping my legacy would be carried on by the new kids; I had a moment when I knew that I was a part of someone else’s legacy, which I hope will be carried on for many years to come.
 I love you all and I wish you all the best.”