Lord, you know
there out there, so many young boys who have no one to lead them. Father bring
them to us, bring them to camp, help us to get to know them and to invite them!
This was my prayer last January in recognizing how few
boys we had at camp and just how many I saw playing after school on the playground
unsupervised. As I continued prayers such as these I handed out forms as I met
new kids hoping that the forms would make it home to their parent and somehow
back into my hands at camp.
Just before March break I received a phone call from the
mother of three young boys I had recently talked with and she eagerly signed
them up for camp. I was so excited not only did that bring three more boys into
our program but it meant three less boys where running around the neighborhood
on their own.
Fast forward a few months when one of these boys asked me for a
form for his friend. I sent him home with one. The next day the form returned
to camp accompanied with not one but two boys. Twin 8 year olds.
Well talk about double trouble. Daily I ask them what
their name is and then desperately try to remember what they are wearing unless
I can spot the scar on the forehead of one to be able to tell them apart.
Now we have 5 more boys between the ages of 5-9 and they
are a bundle of fun and a load of trouble.
At least 5 times a day I hear one of the twins stomping
up the stairs yelling my name, as he rounds the corner to my office he unloads
with a flurry of swear words, wrapped up in tight angry emotions at whatever
the situation was this time. I love these
moments, the moment when he is completely pouring out to me all his hurt
pain, and anger.
Than he stops and he looks at me, and I remind him of his
actions, of the choices he is able to make, I remind him that I believe in him
and I send him back into the situations. Sometimes this works, sometimes it
means that he returns in the same state 2 mins later but he is here.
I walked these 5 boys home the other day as they live
very close to each other.
As I dropped them each home I was able to talk with
their parents and to watch them interact with their sons. As I turned the leave
the doors the boys all exited their homes and ran across the streets as their
parents closed their doors. The boys joined other local boys from the
neighborhood who handed out toy guns and they proceeded to run around
pretending to shoot one another.
I tell this to hopefully help you understand me deep
desire for them to come to camp, to have a place to be loved and guided to be
played with and to be taught not only healthy play but healthy relationships
and discipline of character, to know that they are able to make their own
choices but also to know the consequences that come with good or bad choices.
Please pray for these boys as camp is something very different
to them, we expect big things from them and believe in them where they normally
have very little expected from them. Pray also for their parents that they would
not be discouraged when they are suspended for a day here and there and want to
pull them out of camp but rather that they would understand how good and
helpful it is for them to learn to fail in a safe place to have to deal with a
consequence to be received back in love and grace the next day!
