b u sin e ss
BASIC QUALITIES 1 | ' he list of qualities shown by a good counselor could 1L be endless, so we shall settle for five of the most important ones. 1. Love Campers Enjoy their company. Like to do things with them. Be interested in their conversations, their interests, their problems and joys. This has to be genuine concern, remember. Campers (the younger ones more than the older ones) possess an uncanny sense for detecting sham at this point. 2. Love a Good Time A fun-loving counselor is essential. In the first place, you have to appreciate the camper’s scheming glee in fixing up a bed with cornflakes before you can recognize it as a joke when you crawl between the sheets and find that you, too, have “ breakfast in bed.” If a sudden cloud burst on a hike makes you cantankerous, your campers w ill gripe too. Since campers come to camp primarily to have fun, you will want to be the source of lots of it. If you don’t instigate good times, the campers will ■— sometimes to your grief! 3. Be Mature That’s not always easy. None of us is consistently grown-up in attitudes and reactions. Campers are particularly unstable. This is because they are young and because at camp they are away from parental authority, sometimes for the first time. They require emotional steadiness in you. Know when to be firm about a rule, and when to be flexible in its applica tion. Be objective. Don’t figure that when your campers misbehave they necessarily have a personal grudge against you. Be “ resilient.” Don’t let kidding get your goat. Remember what you felt like when you were 13. You were all legs and arms. Your voice squeaked and rasped unexpectedly, and something funny always hap pened in Bible study hour. So wait for campers to grow up; don’t expect 28-year-old actions from a 12-year-old.
4. Be Resourceful Perhaps the campsite isn’t perfect. Make the best of it. Don’t let a rainy day drag; use it to develop cabin unity by working together on a project, such as a cabin sing. Suppose a cookout is poorly planned. Concentrate on making it fun anyway. Most campers will not be aware of planning gaps if you help them have a good time. Allow freedom (within limits, of course) for campers to choose their own ways of doing things. And go out of the way to allow for individuality in spiritual guidance. Don’t work so hard pressing each camper into the spirit ual mold through which you came that you forget that the Lord worked differently with Peter than He did with Andrew — even though they were brothers! Avoid triteness in spiritual vocabulary. Can you explain the way of salvation intelligibly to a 12-year-old who never went to a church like yours? Why not talk to a young person of your acquaintance who is a Christian and find out exactly how clearly he understands these important matters. You may find fuzzy spots in your thinking. Can you fill much-used evangelical terms with vital meaning? 5. Be Honest This means keeping confidences. Don’t fall into the trap of discussing a problem camper with the rest of the staff “ so they can pray.” With your campers, admit “ I don’t know” when this is the case. Don’t bluff your way through. Watch honesty of life as well as lip. The campers are required to keep the rules; they will respect you if you scrupulously follow these rules along with them. Be loyal to the camp administration. You may bring up for discussion at a staff meeting any policy on which you do not see eye to eye. But once the matter has been discussed, go along with the decision, whether or not you agree. Though you do not have to agree with all camp policies, you are expected to keep and uphold them at all times.
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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