Personal
In Retrospect...
22/10/06 21:00 Permalink
A
good 8 weeks of our ministry in the United States in
2006 was spent as camp counselors at Day Camp
Sunshine, in the picturesque li'l town of Liberty
Corner in New Jersey. Admittedly, this will not be a
word for word/day for day account of our ministry
experience there, but when it had all been said and
done, there was no denying that it was an experience
charged with the grandeur of God. From the 5-6 year
old energizer bunnies to the near comatose prima
donna teenagers [smile guys], by the time camp drew
to a close, we all bore a resemblance that can only
be brought on by the love of God. We were one big
happy family y’all!
Before
we went to camp, we were interviewed over the phone
[for over an hour each], by Mrs. Kelly Deitch [the
camp director]. She told us about some of the kinds
of children we’d be working with and as such, we [I]
went to camp prepared to save the world one child at
a time. In retrospect tho’, it was more interesting
to find out that God had planned for me to learn a
few lessons of my own. Yes, yes, between piggyback
rides, applying sunscreen, and picking up lost
underwear, even a fossil such as yours truly could
and did learn something from children. Par example,
learning to let people a li’l closer than two or
three arms’ lengths.
When one travels as much as we do now, one finds oneself inadvertently predisposed to what I refer to as ‘building walls.’ See, traveling a lot doesn’t allow for much time to forge lasting friendships and as such, I had given up on trying. [Not to mention the fact that it was also bad business for my heart y’all.] So when I first went to the day camp I had made up my mind not to get too attached to those li’l kids because then the summer would end and the kids would have to go home, and I would have to head onto where ever John Miller had scheduled us to be and I would miss them so terribly [which I admit I do, boo hoo sniffle sniffle]… see what I mean when I say bad business?!
Anywho [and that word will soon become real English], to cut the long story short, this last Summer I learnt that it’s worth it. It’s worth it to get to know people and to let people get to know you - yes, even tho’ later, you will end up missing them terribly. I learnt that we [mankind], are a race at whose very core God placed an innate desire to relate and as such to deny it would be both masochistic at one level and selfish at another and to top it off, it is down right un-Christ like. So good people of God, love and let your self be loved. Hold onto those dear to you with both hands for God is love and thru’ loving and being loved we both release and receive the very essence of God into our lives.
Sharpe Ssewali II
Above L-R: Day Camp Sunshine counselors - First Love's Paul Kim, Priscilla from Costa Rica, Nicholas [also First Love], Daniella from Mexico, Janice from Brazil, and Sean from South Korea.
When one travels as much as we do now, one finds oneself inadvertently predisposed to what I refer to as ‘building walls.’ See, traveling a lot doesn’t allow for much time to forge lasting friendships and as such, I had given up on trying. [Not to mention the fact that it was also bad business for my heart y’all.] So when I first went to the day camp I had made up my mind not to get too attached to those li’l kids because then the summer would end and the kids would have to go home, and I would have to head onto where ever John Miller had scheduled us to be and I would miss them so terribly [which I admit I do, boo hoo sniffle sniffle]… see what I mean when I say bad business?!
Anywho [and that word will soon become real English], to cut the long story short, this last Summer I learnt that it’s worth it. It’s worth it to get to know people and to let people get to know you - yes, even tho’ later, you will end up missing them terribly. I learnt that we [mankind], are a race at whose very core God placed an innate desire to relate and as such to deny it would be both masochistic at one level and selfish at another and to top it off, it is down right un-Christ like. So good people of God, love and let your self be loved. Hold onto those dear to you with both hands for God is love and thru’ loving and being loved we both release and receive the very essence of God into our lives.
Sharpe Ssewali II
Above L-R: Day Camp Sunshine counselors - First Love's Paul Kim, Priscilla from Costa Rica, Nicholas [also First Love], Daniella from Mexico, Janice from Brazil, and Sean from South Korea.
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