I told Melissa I would write this guest blog months ago. I’ve had a hard time. I can tell you that as a repeat volunteer at Royal Family Kids’ Camp, it is the most intense experience I have ever had. (Keep in mind that I live in the inner city too!) My husband, who also volunteered for six years, would agree. In fact, after every year we would say, “We can’t go back. . .” But then we would go back. As a couple, this was our first introduction to working with at risk kids.
Royal Family Kids’ Camp is a godsend for foster families and abused children. It is a unique camp specifically designed for abused and neglected children. Every child that is there is in the social services system and has a confirmed case of abuse and neglect. The camp is one week long and is sponsored through a local church via its volunteers. The goal? To give each of these children a one week, fun and safe, camping experience that communicates two things: they have a heavenly father and that heavenly father loves him.
Can you imagine having NO concept of faithfulness? These kids don’t have any idea what it means to have something the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow–let alone to find those qualities in an actual person. There have been few if any faithful adults in their lives. What about the idea of a loving heavenly father? For these kids, the adults in their lives have misplaced their trust and made it nearly impossible to see God as ‘loving’.
Many kids think that they are/were abused because they deserve it. This is one of the horrible things about the abusive cycle. In one week RFKC seeks to tell the kids that they are special to God. . .a one of a kind treasure that is irreplaceable. If these kids aren’t “the least of these” then I don’t know who is. They have been let down, abused, trod on, taken advantage of, and been made to feel worthless.
You will not hear an altar call at RFKC, or neither will you hear a ‘preachy’ message. The camp is unabashedly Christian. . .that is for sure. Hopefully, it lays a foundation for kids to understand their heavenly Father. This is one week where they can experience that our God is a good God.
Look soon for some of my journal entries from my experiences there. . .
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