If you have ever told a Rainbow Bible Ranch Staff Member that you think its time they get a “Real Job”, you might just want to reconsider. Like, I get it. I know what you’re thinking and I that you mean well… but to be honest…its almost offensive and should be said only after careful consideration and observation! And if after that careful observation and consideration you still feel the need to say that _________ needs a real job, then maybe a heart realignment is in store. :)
I would like to give you a few reasons of why I believe this…

Camp. 10 weeks. June 1- August 14 (With most weekends and one week break over the 4th of July).

The life of a team leader:
The Mornings are early. Every morning is early, and that after a very long day of riding, swimming, fishing, untangling that line for the fourth time, preparing devotions, giving devotions, answering questions, answering the same question for the 8th time, helping the homesick kid work though the homesickness and see a huge smile after the ride...the work projects, where you try to get the whole team involved…capture the flag, capture the flag, capture the flag, answering questions, getting climbed on, answering questions, oh, “one more game of capture the flag?” 3 games later… answering questions, preparing a group skit with 8 little girls...or 8 little boys who just want a battle scene, staying up late talking to kids about their home life, trying to help them understand that there is Someone Who cares, getting woke up at 2 by the little girl that doesn’t feel well, and hoping you get a little more sleep so you can do it all over again tomorrow. We love it. There is absolutely nothing so rewarding!

Or the life of the wrangler: “Yeah everyone wants to be a wrangler.” Every day you wake up with the sun, ride over a mile to get to the saddle horses, get them in and saddle twenty horses by breakfast. Then on a hot day in July take another group of riders out for an hour and a half, then another, then another, making sure the saddle fits the kid and the horse, and making sure that the kid that is scared and crying can overcome that when they get to the top of the breaks and see the view and a smile spreads across their face. You told them to trust you. They did. They cried. They made it. They loved it. Now they love you. Cutting up one more cactus and dividing it 10 ways, getting everyone home safely, unsaddling at the end of the day, doing some ranch work, and going to play capture the flag when you’re not sure if your bones can handle it. :) But you run anyway, because you remember being that kid at camp watching the wranglers...
We love it. There is absolutely nothing so rewarding!

The All around crew? Cleaning, washing dishes, cleaning, washing dishes, cleaning, washing dishes, going to help run the zipline, going to lifeguard the swimming hole, cleaning, washing dishes……..

I don’t tell you this to brag about the staff….well, yes, actually I do. They deserve to be bragged about. Camp is hard! It wears you out! Would you stay in that dorm and be there with thirty-five 8-12 year olds getting ready for the banquet? Or how about sleeping outside on the ground so that the kids get the chance to sleep under the stars, sleeping lightly so when it starts to rain you can get everyone up and inside and it’s 3:29 in the morning.
Most of you wouldn’t want to do it! ….BECAUSE IT’S A JOB. IT IS HARD WORK.

If you worked at Rainbow you will leave with a very diverse resume!
You do what needs done when it needs done. You can clean toilets, you can saddle 5 horses in 15 minutes. You can wash hundreds of dishes and put them away, and then go give 100 underdogs to the 6 year olds.
Camp is not easy! I promise it’s the hardest summer you’ll ever be a part of! You don’t go out with friends on the weekend because you are wore out and you know you need to be ready for the next week starting Monday!
It is the most fulfilling job you’ll ever have. I can also promise that, and you won’t want to do anything else.
But when someone says that it’s time to get a real job, or your friend who works at McDonalds asks you why you do camp and don’t have a real job….it kinda cuts right to the core. If they only knew…
If only you knew.

A good staff is VITAL to the continuing ministry of Rainbow Bible Ranch. And to be honest, it has been getting harder and harder to get staff who will commit to the summer. Why? I’m not really sure. I mean, yeah, it’s hard. But “real jobs” are work.

Maybe that’s why… because they keep getting told working at camp isn’t a “Real Job”…