Back at camp

I spent the morning down at camp again yesterday and I was privileged to spend a little time with the young ladies who are serving as cabin supervisors and junior counselors.

One of the things I love about Teen Haven is the fact that we get the kids involved in leadership at a young age, and we give them real responsibilities. Out of the 8 leaders serving at camp this week, 7 of them are products of the Teen Haven program in Philly, and 6 of them are still in high school.

This has not been an easy week of camp for the girls (although they insist it hasn’t been any harder than the previous ones). The heat and humidity combined with negative attitudes from some influential campers have caused the counselors to lean on each other and God, a lot. As they shared about how God is teaching them to be patient and to love in the midst of being “spit at” and cursed, I couldn’t help but smile.

I tried to provide some encouragement and perspective to help them through the last couple of days. Hopefully, my chat helped them a little (probably not), but a couple of testimonies they shared, provided me all the encouragement I needed to know they’ll be alright.

Two first time junior counselors shared about their experiences:

One had been hit in the eye with a pillow Wednesday night as she came out of the bathroom to get ready for bed. The immediate surge of anger and urge for retribution were there, but she held back, took a deep breath and allowed the Cabin Supervisor to diffuse the pillow fight, confiscate the offending pillow, and get the girls settled for bed. The anger is gone, and forgiveness demonstrated to a young girl who has not received much of that in her short life.

The other first time JC was still bubbling with excitement as she shared about leading a camper to Christ for the first time. The joy in her face as she shared how blessed she felt to be used by God to have an eternal impact on someone else’s life reminded me what Teen Haven (and Water Street) is all about.

-Jack Crowley, Teen Haven