Captain Planet Tries To Save The Earth, Gets (Acid) Rained On

“Do any of you know what that was at all?” That was the question Brandon Cobb, our dean for the weekend, asked after Captain Planet and the Planeteers were introduced for the night game on Saturday night and then whisked away in a flurry of pollution and littering by Captain Pollution and his evil henchmen.

Captain Planet is an early ’90s cartoon based on a comic book of the same name that debuted before any of the campers were born. Some of the adults were even shaking their head in confusion over the strange opening skit – a regular practice here at Delanco Camp for introducing our run-around-in-the-woods night game. Surprisingly, several pop culture savvy campers raised their hands in response to Brandon’s question.

Unfortunately, the rain shortened the game and the teams’ opportunities to chase down and rescue youth-leader-in-tights Mike Ralph (as Captain Planet) and the rest of his planeteers (no spellcheck, it is not planters), played by Rich Dugan, Mike Harkisheimer, Leah Palamaro, Kim Strauch, Kait Farrow and Scott Lederer.

The tie-in with Captain Planet, of course, is that it is Earth Day weekend and our theme has been Renew. One of the incredible things about being at Delanco Camp, or any summer camp, is that we are immersed in God’s creation. It’s impossible not to see the significance of Earth Day for Christians when in a place like this. God has blessed us with a beautiful planet but beyond that He has called us to enter into a kingdom of heaven. This kingdom is like a mustard seed as our speaker Rick Court talked about in his Saturday morning message – it grows and spreads when we allow Christ to lead us and bring light to the darkness of our world.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” -2 Corinthians 4:16