Dear Prayer Warriors and Camp Family,
Last week, Session #5 from July 11-15, was
another counseling week for me and I was blessed to be very emotionally
stretched by my girls. One of my campers was named Tiffany, she was taken away
from her parents when she was young because her family was addicted to drugs
and has been in five foster homes since then. She was such a sweet girl, she
held my other camper when she was feeling sick, and she treated all of the
other campers with such love. She has been going to church and has known God as
her Savior since she was young.
Right now she is in a good home but there is
a family that she has known for a while who wants to adopt her, and I thank God
for that. They are a Mormon family and she loves them so much. At first I was
worried about them being Mormon, scared that she would be confused by their
teachings. But I asked her who she believes Jesus is and she said, “He is God,
the way to get to Heaven.” The family takes her to their house on weekends and
is throwing her a birthday party in August. They take care of her and she loves
all of the children in the family. So although she will be faced with some
challenges to theology in the future, she is going to be safe and loved and I
think that is where God wants her to be. Pray that she stays close to God as
she goes into high school, that she would fall even greater in love with him.
My other camper's name was Jenn. She is highly
functioning handicapped, but she could run, laugh, and play like any of the
other kids. She was very clingy during amphitheater time, I gladly endured many
dead arms during the week. She liked to play games of being mad at me, not
talking to or looking at me and sitting far away. Then she would take my hand,
pull me aside and say "we need to talk" and apologize for the way she
had been treating me. She also has epilepsy, and had a few seizures during the
week. The first time we were walking together and she dropped to the ground,
clung to my legs and tried to push her head through my legs. I was very
confused as to what was happening, but eventually she stood up, walked to a
table to sit down and told me she was having a seizure. Throughout the week she
would fake a few of them, not fall to the floor or anything, but tell me she
was going to have a seizure in order to get the attention.
The other campers would also give her the
attention she desired, hugging her and holding her hand as she walked. It was
emotionally stressful for me because I didn't want to take a seizure lightly,
but her parents confirmed she uses them as an excuse for attention. But God was
good and there was no real complication. I think she went home feeling loved
and I hope that she associates that love with God. God also used her to
encourage me that I am doing a good job as a counselor. She shared her
testimony at a campfire time, and in the middle of it she said, "That’s my
one-on-one over there, she is very nice. My one-on-one takes good care of me. I
like my one-on-one.” We have times where we talk with just one of our campers
and it’s called one-on-one, which is where my nickname came from. Please pray
with me that God heals Jenn's seizures and continues to protect her.
Thank you so much for your prayers,
Allie Hitchcock
Summer Staff 2016
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