I mentioned a few posts ago that I have become the music guy for the camp. What I did not say is that it was not expected. I had hoped to help with music, but I never found out if they needed me.

It's interesting how God works, though. When I arrived, one of the first things we were asked is, "Do any of you play music?" It turns out that, according to the camp leaders, of the 19 people that make up the Josiah Venture interns and the Core Life church group, none of them had musical talent and they had spent the prior few days praying that someone from our group would.

As a result, I have been charged with leading music in the evenings and Angela is leading worship music during devotion time in the mornings. I would like to take this time to point out that she is by far a superior musician -- the voice of an angel -- but the keyboard here is not really what she needs to do her thing.

What started out as Alisha and me and one of the campers leading some of The Ragamuffin Stampede's songs has evolved into what we have dubbed "The Poděbrady Sound Machine." More and more of the youth have been asking to get involved and the best part is they're GREAT! We now have a keyboard player, a drummer, and a youth singer in addition to our original lineup. We also were able to recruit an additional youth guitarist to help Angela with morning worship.

The music is honestly nothing special -- the campers like the old standards like "Lean on Me," "Pharaoh, Pharaoh," and other classic rock songs with modified lyrics -- but the campers' enthusiasm is unmatched by anyone. Ever. Forever. Period.

Proof:

And that's just to the pre-recorded camp song! It just gets better with the live music. These Czech youth know how to rock!

It will be interesting to see how The Poděbrady Sound Machine continues to evolve the rest of this week. I know one girl brought her saxophone...