My Boothcamp Experience.

Last week was a rollercoaster of emotions. In case you need context, Ywap’s boothcamp was last week and I was saddled with the responsibilities of being the head of counselling (this was a full circle moment for me) and the head of photography under media (also an interesting experience).

Prior to camp, my plan was to just come and chill like Crid did. Then a couple of weeks to Boothcamp, Sally called me to tell me I’d be part of the counseling team. I was like “Oya nau" because that was not a new thing. I’d been serving under Fist in the counseling team for a couple of years so it was going to be business as usual. It was when I got to camp that they now have me the full gist that I’d be heading the counseling team. Again, I said “Oya nau" but omo, I kept thinking if I could do it. Each day I’d wake up and pray to God to help me carry out that duty well. I kept saying “Father, help me serve your people in the way you’d want me to" and being head of photography didn’t make the job easier. Tbh, I thought I was going to be stretched to my limit but at the moments when I felt like I couldn’t be strong anymore, strength came.

My schedule was very packed. I was shuffling two offices at the same time. Shout out to Ballie for making leading the counseling team easier for me and to Niger for making leading the photographer team easier for me too.

If an instruction was passed on the counseling group, Ballie would do her best to ensure that every other person carried it out whenever I was busy trying to coordinate the photography team. Niger would do the same when I was handling counseling responsibilities. The counselors and the workforce would usually pray after everyone had gone to bed so Niger took it upon himself to uncouple my equipment and pack everything into my bag so all I had to do when we were done praying was go upstairs, pick my bag and head to the room to sleep.

Oh yes, the media work station was upstairs so that automatically meant that during each session I went up those stairs at least 5 times. Everyday was leg day 😂

At the beginning of camp, people were closed off and we the workforce could feel it. I think it was because most of the campers were new so they didn’t really know anybody well enough to say “I need help in this area". Did I mention that we’d not had a Boothcamp since 2019? Yeah, so put that in perspective.

So we prayed that God would open the hearts of people and He did. One thing I’m sure God is very passionate about is that all His lost sons and daughters come to Him and He made their hearts open to receive. Little by little, people began to come out for altar calls and for counseling. It gave me so much joy because I knew people were going through a lot. I could feel it. So to see God answer our prayers was just so beautiful to watch.

As we were at what was supposed to be the climax of the whole camp, we found out that we lost one of our brothers. The news hit hard and most of us are still processing our feelings. Nobody could have seen that coming. We tried to pull through and finish the camp then on the way back to KD my guys had an accident and it’s just amazing how only one person got injured and it didn’t lead to any fatalities. I just kept thinking of what I would have done if it was worse.

Thank God it wasn’t worse.

I pray for God’s comfort over all of us and I pray for healing over my friend.

I want to say a special thank you to the counselors on my team. Ballie, Chapta5ive, Pastor Peter, Axcel, Jemimah, Zizi and Favour (I hope I’m not leaving anyone out). Thank you guys for availing yourselves. I know it demanded so much from you but you still have it your all. Thank you for serving faithfully.

Thank you also to my photography team for coming through. You guys did an amazing job and I couldn’t have asked for a better team. These guys shot and edited pictures late at night and even at moments when they wanted to engage in camp activities. Iyke Ibeh was on my team and it was such a pleasant experience. To see someone of his calibre come and work under me the way he did was humbling. The real definition of “nothing dey this life". Thank you guys, God bless you.

To the workforce and the LOC, thank you for all you do. I pray that you are able to rest and that the fatigue doesn’t overwhelm you and I pray that God replenishes you. God bless you.

To my brothers, omo we’ve come from being the newbies to handling responsibilities and it was such a beautiful sight to behold, seeing all my brothers serve in one way or the other. I’m so proud of the men we have become and the men we are becoming. There’s more ground to cover, thank you for showing up everyday to be better men.

To my OGs, Fist, OJ Whyte, Spokesman, Micky Jay, High Priest, DC Fly, Aunty Debby and everyone else who has taught me in one way or the other. God bless you. Thank you for availing yourselves to do the work.

To Uncle C, the one who answered the call to start YWAP I pray God continues to strengthen you sir and make every path straight before you. I pray that at every turn He continues to increase you and you do more exploits according to His will.

Thank you for answering the call. Our lives have been made better because of the work God has done and is still doing through you.

And to you reading, thank you for reading to the end. I’m sure there’s a YWAP center near you. Leave a comment below with your state and I’ll get back to you on which center is close to you.

Have a lovely day ahead ❤️