Camp, Ephesians, and Unity

One of my favorite things about camp last summer was working with Camp Hope cabins in joining them at the waterslide or for a car wash or something like that. Buddy night, when a Camp Sertoma cabin partners with a Camp Hope cabin, is my favorite night of the week.

I should probably explain, for friends and family that don't know much about camp, what the difference is between the two. Camp Sertoma, which I work in, is for both speech and hearing impaired kids, as well as for underprivileged kids, either from lower-income homes or even foster care. We get a lot of kids that don't know their parents, or have been from foster home to foster home to foster home (one kid last summer had been in at least 7 foster homes in 6 years). Camp Hope, which shares the same facilities and camp directors and operates at the same time, is for mentally handicapped kids and adults. They usually don't come from as broken homes or bad situations as a lot of the Sertoma campers, but it's definitely a different kind of challenge.

As easy as it is to focus on the differences between the camps, there is much more in common than people think. They are both extremely challenging to work in (I haven't worked in Hope, but I know the strength of character and heart that those counselors possess). More importantly, they both have campers that are extremely easy to love. Reading camper files and realizing the pain that my Sertoma kids have been through moves me to compassion and love before they even show up. Seeing the joy on a Hope camper's face after a high five, or catching a fish, or winning the Clean Clean Cabin award leaves even manly men speechless.

Unfortunately, the differences between the camps seem more focused on than anything else, and I think it's a shame. It has to do with the fact that some activities are camp specific (you can't take a cabin full of mentally handicapped men on a high ropes course). It has to do with the fact that the camps are funded in part by different organizations. But I think that most of all, it has to do with pride and complacency of individual counselors. I know that I'm guilty of thinking that my job as a Sertoma counselor is harder than a Hope counselor's, or that my job is more important, or that I have enough to worry about with my campers that I don't need to reach out and seek to work with other cabins. Fortunately I've often been convicted of these sins. It still frustrates me that I can think like that, but if I weren't convicted about this, I wouldn't be writing this post.

Wednesday this past week, during training, I had a conversation with a couple people that led to an idea. I won't go into detail about the conversations, but the upshot is that I and a number of other counselors are going to read through Ephesians over the summer. Six weeks of camp, six chapters. Whether we talk about it or not, the idea is that this will get us thinking in the same mindset. Hopefully conversations about the book itself will arise during time off or rest hour or whatever, but the idea isn't to impress one another with our devotion, it's to be united.

And me picking Ephesians for that is intentional: a major theme of the book is unity in the church, and while camp is not the church, many of us are Christians, and therefore the message definitely applies. Paul emphasizes that there is no distinction between the circumcision and the uncircumcision in Christ. Instead, "in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (2:13)" Furthermore, "you are no longer strangers and ailens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. (2:19)" Through the Gospel, all Christians are co-heirs with Christ. The letter goes on the redefine relationships between husbands and wives, children and parents, slaves and masters. We're encouraged to walk in love, not in a spirit of divisiveness. Family and friends, we would invite you to participate not only by praying for us, but by joining in and reading with us. We'll do a chapter each week, reading Ephesians 1 this week (starts on 6-15-2008). Just ask if you're not sure where we are.

So this summer, my hope for camp is that there would be no distinction between Sertoma and Hope, between counselor and specialist, between CIT and supervisor. That we would be more than just Camp Hope and Camp Sertoma. That, when we're asked "what did you do this summer," the answer would be "I worked at camp." Not a camp, not Camp Sertoma, not even CUOL (Clemson University Outdoor Labs), but just camp.