Week 3

Ministry week was amazing! The school was split into two groups and we each went to a different camp. The other group went to a CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) camp. From what I have heard, it sounded pretty ‘chill’ and fun. Our camp was a Te Mapua camp at the Woodend campsite. Te Mapua is an organisation that runs camps and extracurricular activities for underprivileged children. We were working with children aged 5 to 10, most of whom came from very difficult backgrounds. During the two days of training, the staff told us about some of the children’s backgrounds. It was terrifying and heartbreaking to hear about some of these kids who had live through physical, sexual, and mental abuse. We learned of the neglect that some of these children face on a daily basis and of the poor living conditions of some of the poorer families. Each child is sponsored by the government, so they are children who would not be able to attend camp under normal circumstances. Many of the staff and volunteers were in tears as our hearts broke for these precious children. For confidentiality reasons, we were not told which children came from which backgrounds, but we heard about children who were not yet potty trained, children who did not know how to use utensils, children who had never seen a vegetable, and children who were commonly referred to by swear words. We were also told about some of the results of such neglect: some of the children were ADD, ADHD, ODD, and bruised and scared (mentally and physically). Needless to say, after the two days of training, I was terrified to meet these kids that I subconsciously though of as little dirty monsters. But during the training, we were given half an hour to simply spend some time in prayer and in ‘God’s special book, the Bible.’ During this time, I came across a passage in Psalms talking about how God cares for the outcast of society. Reading this helped me realise that I needed to let God take control of the week. I realised that there was no way I could love these kids enough, I had to simply let God love them through me. Knowing that there was nothing I could do to make this week be a success and knowing that it was all in God’s hands and for His glory gave me the sense of peace I really needed.

I was assigned to the bus team, meaning that I got to go meet the kids at the church where they were being dropped off and then I accompanied them on the bus back to camp. Seeing the precious children made me realise that they were just kids. They had all the same quirks, fears, expressions, and ‘cutensses’ as any other children their age. I was delighted to meet the nine beautiful girls who would be in my cabin. For safety reasons, there are always two leaders to a cabin and it is essential that a leader never be alone with a child. My co-leader for the week was Penny. She was amazing with the kids and she was so good at keeping our group on track. We balanced each other well: she was great one on one with the kids and I felt more comfortable managing them as a group.

Te wonderful thing about the camp was that it was ALL about the children. They were put first in everything. They were the only ones to do the activities – such as go-karts, climbing wall, archery, and water slide – while the adults supervised and made sure the kids were enjoying themselves and were being kept busy. The kids got seconds, thirds, and fourths if they wanted and the leaders only got more once the kids were completely satisfied. This is because many of the kids don’t get to have three full – or healthy – meals a day. We had to keep the kids entertained all the time: even free time was very structured, with leaders interacting with the children. This was partly because, left to themselves, they would get themselves into trouble, and also because we wanted them to really feel loved and be able to just be kids. We had about 45 minutes away from the kids for a leaders meeting in the evenings and we had a few minutes to shower – there were scheduled showers so that there was only one leader per cabin showering per night so that the other could be with the kids – and get ready for bed.

The leaders got to lead ‘Power Hour’ each day, which was where we would explain the gospel in terms that the children would understand, sing praise songs, and perform skits. The theme of the week was ‘Sent to Save,’ so we had mailboxes, giant envelopes, and huge packages as props and as a background for the stage. We also had a mailbox for each cabin and the children would receive letters, such as instructions for activities, throughout the week. There was a new them each day: sent to love, sent to show, sent to save, and sent to share. The first day, we learned that God loved us so much he made everything in the world for us and he sent His son for us. The second day, we learned that Jesus was sent to show us to go God’s way and we learned that when we sin, we can’t be close to God. The third day, we learned that Jesus was sent to save us from our sin so that we could be close to God again. On the third evening, the kids had a special party in their cabins where they were invited to ask God to be the boss of their lives. Both cabin leaders shared their testimony (in a child friendly way) and explained how having God as the boss of our lives has changed us. In my cabin, all but one of the girls – who had run off and was playing in the hallway – said that they wanted to make God the boss of their lives. My prayer is that this decision is not just a camp thing, but that it will change their lives. On the fourth day, the kids learned that they are now sent to share God with the world. Power Hour was tons of fun! The first day, I got to present the sentence from the Bible (the memory verse). I got to be silly and make the kids laugh. We got the kids yelling, whispering, and chanting the sentence from the bible. The second day, I got to play Zacchaeus in a skit we presented. I think my favourite part, however, was the kids praise. We got to be crazy and do awesome actions and it was tons of fun! I loved to watch the kids rocking it out! They were awesome!

It turned out to be an amazing experience to pour everything I had into these children and it was so rewarding at the end when they all asked God to be the boss of their lives.

We were all exhausted and quite hungry at the end of camp. When we met back at Amy Boss’s house for the debrief, we devoured at least ten pizzas in 15 minutes! During the debrief, we filled out a form on each child that will help the Te Mapua follow up well on each of them. There is a Tuesday night program for all the kids and the staff also visit the schools and homes on a regular basis. I think it is so cool how well the kids are cared for before camp (the staff meet all the kids and learn tons about them before camp even starts) and even after camp. They keep a file on each child so that they can minister to them in the best possible way. After the debrief, we went around the circle and we each shared one thing about how God had worked in us that week. We then got to honour one person and one person got to honour us. The group from Capernwray had to leave right after the sharing circle so the staff gave us a bag of lollies (which are just candies and treats) – which we devoured on the way home – and after many hugs and thank yous we left.

It was amazing how tight the bonds were that had formed in that one week at camp. I think there are two reasons for this. The first is that camp is so intense, since we are interacting with the kids at every moment, that we had to rely completely on each other for so much. The second is that we were constantly building each other up. So many times during the training, we had the opportunity to honour people and tell them what they were doing that was so amazing or simply thank them for some thing they did that really impacted us. Also, during our short meetings in the evenings during camp, we had the chance to honour our fellow leaders. We even received letters from Amy Boss in our cabin mailbox just pointing out some of our strengths and encouraging us in our work. It was so cool to be able to tell build each other up! It was even more fun to honour someone else that it was to be honoured!

This ‘honouring’ system was also used with the kids. We would build them up at every opportunity. I had one girl who would not sit still and who would always get up from the table or leave the group so whenever she was sitting quietly at the table or during an activity – even if it was only for thirty seconds – I would tell her how amazingly she was doing. After any activity, the staff would have lollies that they would give out to kids who were listening well or doing awesome actions during the praise and everyone would cheer for them.

I think God used this week to teach me to fully rely on Him. It is once I came to the end of myself that He could fully use me and love these precious children through me. Hanna gave each of us a slip of paper at the beginning of the week with a quote by Major Ian Thomas on it. It read: “I can’t. He (God) never said I could. He can and always said He would.” This was a real encouragement to all of us as we struggled with the seemingly impossible task ahead, and throughout the week, fully trusted that God was in control. I also had to give these children up to Him because, after camp, it is only Him who can make a lasting difference in their lives. As Amy Boss put it, He lent these precious children to us for a week. It was difficult to send the kids home on Friday knowing some of the backgrounds, but it was made easier knowing that the Te Mapua team will continue to support them and knowing that God is still holding them in the palm of His hand.

I have spoken quite a bit about Amy Boss. She is the one who began the Te Mapua ministries. She has such a beautiful heart and such an anointing for taking care of the ‘outcast’ children. She is so passionate about what she is doing and it is obvious that she truly cares about each one of the kids. It was a wonderful experience to be able to learn so much from her. I think one thing that I learned a lot about was discipline. It was so rewarding to first encourage the good behaviour before trying to correct the bad. Even when we were ‘angry’ with a child, we would make it positive. For example, if a child was climbing on another child’s bunk, instead of saying “You are not allowed up there,” we would say “Sweetie, I would love it if you could come down from there.” I had one child whom I had asked to come down from a bunk but she had not obeyed so when I asked her the second time, I said “Honey, I’d love it if you could come and sit here with the group, thank you for being such a good girl and coming down right away when I ask you, you are such a good girl.” She gave me a surprised look and came down immediately. This form of discipline makes it so that the children are so much more willing to do as they are asked and they are less likely to resist. Aside from discipline, Amy Boss taught me the importance of building people up. She is so good at making people feel right at home, accepted, and valued.

The Te Mapua team has said that they might come down to visit us at Capernwray at some point this year. It would be sooooooo cool to see them all again!

We got home from camp on Friday night, well, more like Saturday morning at 12:30am, to find the other half of the student body had waited up for us! There were tons of shrieks and a huge group hug. We were so happy to see each other again (it’s amazing to see how we’ve become so much like a family in only three weeks) and we were also relieved to be home from camp. Camp was extremely difficult and challenging, but I got a lot out of it and I am very glad I went. I think the Te Mapua organization is such a blessing and it would be so cool if it eventually became international. After the reunion in the student lounge, us girls went upstairs and talked till at least 2am about our experiences.

On Saturday, most of us spent the day simply recovering. We had breakfast at 11. Jonas and I made poutine for supper (every Saturday, a different group of students makes supper) with fruit salad for desert. Unfortunately, it took way longer than we thought so it was an hour and a half late, and I killed the gravy (the recipe I got of the internet was kind of gross). But we still got a few compliments and Sheryl did manage to save the gravy.

Today (Sunday), after church I went out for a photo shoot to get some pictures of the school, the grounds, and the surrounding mountains. Tonight, we will have Sunday night fellowship and Werner will be speaking (yay!!).

I would really appreciate prayer for the children whose lives were made better for four days at camp. My prayer is that Te Mapua will be able to support them and that God would continue to work in their lives and in the lives of the people around them.