GraceFox

The bonding that happens in a few days between campers and ministry teams is difficult to understand until you’ve experienced it. Everyone exchanged hugs, hugs and more hugs when the van arrived to take the kids home. Many traded email addresses and Facebook identities. Most cried. We’ve shared jokes and laughter, worship and prayer, splashes in the pool, music, meals and more, and hearts have been knit together.

Saying goodbye to our new friends – in a way, our adopted sons and daughters – was difficult because there’s no guarantee we’ll see them again. Expense and distance lie between us, but thankfully with today’s technology we can stay in touch. That was my only consolation as I waved goodbye. My guess is that the kids feel the same way about leaving – several stuck their hands out the van windows and waved until the vehicle disappeared around a curve.

Team members have commented that this experience has helped them understand that people are similar no matter where we live. We all want to be loved. We all want to feel valued. And we all hate to say goodbye to those we care about.

My prayer is that relationships will continue to deepen over the next months via computer technology so that when we return in 2011, we’ll pick up where we left off as though separation had never happened.

“Thank You, God, for loving these kids. Thank You for promising to be their refuge and strength. Thank You for promising to be with them at all times no matter what they face. Please keep them safe. Provide for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Send them daily reminders of Your love for them. And bring us back together again in the near future. Amen.”