Monday dawned bright and early and Monday didn’t care who had/not slept a wink. I had an all out allergy/asthma attack from the dirt and dust in our room, so I coughed. all. night. long. By morning, I had no voice and I was exhausted. I tried to cover my cough with my pillow every time, but that also added to feelings of suffocation which did not help my nerves at all. I woke up my room around six and realized that I had no voice. What a great way to start off the week.
We had breakfast and devotions were shared by Brad Kolb. Since we were studying the Beatitudes all week, he picked the ones that would not be covered in the evening services and started off our mornings.
Team Cornflakes joined another team at HFCN to prep for VBS. I had to pick up our puppy and transport her home, so that added to the emotional ride of the day (poor puppy, she was so happy to see me when I picked her up and it broke my heart to crate her and drive away). By the time I arrived at HFCN, I was ready to sit down and cry. But, I didn’t.
I was so impressed with how Camelot directed the two teams and in less than 45 minutes, they had formed groups (music, skit, snacks, craft), learned three songs with motions and prepped for their designated activity. Amazing!
Around eleven, we packed up and headed to our Merriweather Hills to set up, eat lunch and greet the early arrivals. By noon, we were in full swing, hosing down the slip and slide, catching little ones at the end of the slide, snapping photos in our photos booth and mingling with the children. We moved through our music, skit, snacks, crafts and other activities. I loved watching our Renew youth interact with the children in their own backyards, the nations literally live within our city limits. Over 50 different languages are represented in the city school system. We do not have to get on a jet plane and travel thousands of miles away to reach the nations. The nations have come to us. As our youth sang songs about God’s greatness and shared stories from the Word, their own faith was strengthened. By teaching, we grow our our own beliefs are solidified. I watched as some of our youth (many who do not get to attend church regularly) taught the children things that they had learned only an hour before. Beautiful.
We had about ninety minutes of pool time with the children. I was a bit apprehensive about safety issues, but we were given some great guidelines to follow and the Renew youth paired up with the little ones. I was blessed as Lisa and Rebecca guided us. They both have ongoing relationships with and passion for the children at Merriweather Hills and their wisdom and guidance proved valuable to us throughout the day and the week.
Since I had no voice and I had to whisper when I communicated with anyone. I found that this forced me to listen more (ironically, “listen” is my one word for 2014) and to really weigh out what I was/not going to say. Whispering takes a lot more effort than talking, so I would consider, “Is this worth saying or can it be left unsaid?” Also, others often responded back in a whisper, so there was a quiet and calmness in the car and at other times that was very refreshing.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner at EM(H)S before going bowling. The bowling alley was packed out with 300+ Renew campers and some of our youth didn’t get to bowl. The leaders were asked not to bowl, as there were not enough lanes to accommodate everyone. I watched some of our youth struggle with the disappointment and my heart hurt for them, but I tried to fade away and prayed that God would work in their hearts and help them to make the most of it. In the end, they were able to bowl one game, but the disappointment was still painful.
Halfway through our time there, I found out that one of our campers had family members at home who were puking. I began to go into panic mode, fearing a repeat of two years ago when 30% of our camp (60+ people) were wiped out by a stomach bug…
Adding to my anxiety was the reality that I was going to be doing three “interviews” in the evening services to introduce the students to various ministries within our community. I wanted to be able to do these segments and be a face that they connected to certain groups, so I tried my best to save my voice for the evening.
Back at the school, we entered the auditorium with increased excitement. It thrills my heart to see the enthusiasm of our youth as they come into a worship service! We began the service with some sort of goofy/craziness brought to us by Gordon/Brian. I was then brought up to introduce New Creation…and I sounded AWFUL!!! I did not have a voice, so I had to resort to whispering. It was a bit humbling, but I really wanted to be the one to introduce Sabrina and New Creation to my Renew family. SO MANY PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED IN THIS MOMENT!!!
You see, a year ago New Creation was a brand new local ministry. Founded by a friend of mine, this ministry is striving to raise awareness about human trafficking, while educating our community and raising funds for other groups that are ministering to survivors. At Renew Camp 2013, I longed to introduce Sabrina and the work of New Creation, but the local church was just not “ready” to tackle this “subject.” I met Sabrina’s husband, Bud, before a service at last year’s camp and I said to him, “We will get New Creation here next year. Renew must partner with you.” At that point, I was speaking in faith, and praying that there would be an openness for such a partnership. At best, I envisioned us sanding furniture or making crafts for the boutique.
My faith was stretched in many ways as I saw prayers answered. New Creation has grown in the past year, many in our community are aware of who we are and about a month before camp, we bought an old porn shop that is going to be renovated and used as a coffee shop/boutique to fund human trafficking rescue and awareness efforts. New Creation became our biggest project at camp in 2014—we sent two or more teams to the building to work each day and two more teams stayed back at EMS to work on crafts with Sabrina.
Standing in front of my Renew family and introducing my New Creation family was a blessed honor. I later wrote, “I love when people I love love other people I love! I love networking, connecting and partnering together for a common goal! I loved being able to introduce my sweet sister (in Christ) to all of my Renew family. This is indeed a match made in heaven! RENEW CAMP + NEW CREATION = ALL THINGS NEW!!!!”
How amazing it was! In one week, 300+ people from 20+ churches were introduced to and educated about human trafficking and the work of New Creation. GOD IS SO GOOD!!!
During our service, we were led in worship by Skyward. Kara shared her testimony with us and challenged us to be real and honest about where we are. We met with our youth groups following the service to connect, debrief and share our blessings/bummers (highs/lows) for the day.
I had every intention of staying at the school that night. We went back to our rooms and began to settle in. I took some strong cough syrup, as my cough returned the moment I entered the room. We said our good nights, prayed and turned off the lights. Despite my coughing, I began to drift off, begging God for sleep. Just as I was dozing off, my cell phone beeped and I checked the leaders’ “GroupMe” message. A male leader was asking for a mop, as a boy had vomited upstairs. My heart began to race, my airways grew tight and I was in a full blown panic attack. I could not breathe, so overcome by fear and flashbacks of 2012 when over a third of our camp fell violently ill during camp. It was a horrific experience, with students and leaders throwing up any and everywhere we went. I have fought off the fear of this happening again, and here we were…
One of our directors responded to the text, saying he was on his way with a mop for this “one time incident.” I prayed that his words were prophetic, and began gathering my bag to leave. I knew I had to get out of my room so that I could breathe and sleep. I had made arrangements Valerie, the other leader in my room. She graciously excused me to go to Dad’s to sleep. As soon as I left the building, my coughing subsided and I was able to get four hours of sleep. I expected more “vomit” texts throughout the night, but no more came…
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