From as early as I can remember, summer camp has been a essential part of my life.  I would count down the days on my calendar every year, waiting in excited anticipation until it was finally time to pack up and head out for a week of campfires, singing, swimming and fellowship with God. 

 As an adult, camp continued to play major role in my life, as I worked as a volunteer counselor, on staff and even as a speaker at various camps.  Few things give me more joy than watching kids share that same enthusiasm that I had as a child at camp and watching them learn about themselves and grow in their relationship with Christ.  There is something about being in the outdoors, surrounded by the constant energy of kids that makes the experience none less than magical.

The experience of camp, however, is expensive.  Not all families can afford to send their children, so summer camp often remains a middle to upper class luxury.  At My Father’s House, sending a child to camp is usually last on a parent’s mind, as they struggle to find employment, housing, and the provide the basic essentials for their family.  Very few of our children have had the opportunity- camp remains as yet another thing that they will not be able to experience because of the challenges of poverty.  Sadly, these are the kids that could benefit the most from going. 

Last summer, several camps stepped up and offered full scholarships for the children at MFH to go to camp.  The kids were ecstatic- I had the opportunity of driving them out to Eagle Fern Camp, (which just so happens to be the camp of my childhood) and they could hardly contain their excitement.  They all wanted to know what the cabins looked like, who was going to be their counselors and when they could go swimming.  When we picked them up once the week was over, the excitement had really just increased.  They wanted to sing us the songs they learned, tell us about about the friends they had made and the adventures they had had.  But most amazing of all, many of these kids had developed a relationship with Christ and they couldn’t help but spill over with the way it had changed them.  Truly, for those children who had so little and had been disappointed so many times in their short lives, it was an experience of a lifetime.

 This summer, thanks to scholarships from several camps and generous donations from Gresham Ford and the Gresham Rotary Club, we have the opportunity to send even more kids to camp.  We are even able to send some of the children who were living here last summer.  Many of those families now have apartments and jobs, but still cannot afford the extra expense of camp.  One 10-year-old boy has already started marking down the days on his calendar to when he can return to Eagle Fern.  His excitement is wonderfully contagious and strangely familiar.  We can’t wait to see this same excitement on the faces of the kids currently living in our shelter.  We have truly been blessed by the opportunity to send these kids to summer camp, an experience that they surely won’t forget. 

Blessings,
Heather Wiese

Volunteer Manager