Moments of Grace
This summer I am working at Camp Heaven. We just finished our second week of camp. The camp was a lot harder than I expected. We had lots of fights and even a kid pull out a gun and threaten to shoot somebody. The good thing is that it turned out to be a fake gun. The event shook up some of the campers and counselors at the camp.

In the middle of the fighting there were moments of grace. At a local pool one of the kids outside of the camp went up to a counselor and asked here if we were from a school. She said she noticed how the adults played with the children. The funny thing is that we stuck out like a sore thumb because the adults from the camp were the only non-blacks in the whole pool. I remember walking to get the van from the parking lot and a group of kids passed me and shouted in a suffer style tone of voice, “Hey dude!” I guess they thought if I wasn’t black, obviously I was white. The little girl inquired from one of the adults why we were there with the kids. The counselor said we were part of a camp that taught kids about God. She asked if God was a man? The child explained that she did not know God and that her family never prayed. I believe if this girl can see a difference in the adults then the kids that we work with also see a difference.

There were other moments of grace. I remember playing for half an hour Sorry with some guys that usually get into trouble. The last day we had an altar call for kids that wanted to begin a life in God. The pews were almost empty as the children came up for prayer. A pastor from the housing project was revived as God opened his eyes to new things. I saw a mother crying and asking for prayer in the middle of conflict with children. There was a child offering a hug after being encouraged because she was hurt from the insults thrown at her from another boy. Grace is apparent in seeing a child being fed his only meal that day.

Were we doing the right thing for these children?

Some felt like we had not seen a visible change in the kids. Then Jen Korth, a staffer that works in the community year round said, “I remember when Larry lost his mom two years ago. He does not have anyone to love him when he goes home. These two weeks we are with the kids do very little to change the kids. They return home to an environment that is much harsher than our two weeks. Change takes time and sacrifice.”

WOW!

TIME AND SACRIFICE.