Every summer the Sonshine Center
has the opportunity to host two and a half day camps in different parts of the
island. The theme for this year is Treasures in Heaven. Instead of helping with
crafts and games like I did in 2011, I’m helping as a counselor this summer. I
am assigned to the older children because most of them speak English. This is a
very exhausting job because I’m with the kids the whole day. But it’s also so
rewarding because you get to be a part of their lives, and watch them be
touched by God. We just completed our third camp a few days ago and it was a special
one for me because it was for the children in Calajunan. It was great to
reunite with the children I had spent a lot of time with last year during my
apprenticeship year. I also enjoyed getting to know some of the new children
that have started to attend Kids Club in Calajunan.
We were known as the Amazing Rangers!
I saw a lot of familiar faces and new faces in my small
group of eleven year olds, but there was one little boy who stole my heart. I noticed
little Johnny had an extra thumb on his right hand and I couldn’t help to
wonder how other kids treated him because he looked a little different. He had the most outgoing personality
and the cutest smile. After the first day, I noticed how he always wanted me to
sit next to him while we had our activities and our time of worship together. I
couldn’t help but to give in to his irresistible offer as he asked me to sit
with him with a huge smile on his face. I carefully held his right hand, not
wanting to hurt his fragile hand but showing him that it didn’t matter to me
that he was different and that I loved him. It was hard to see him walk home
after our last day of camp because I got really attached to him. But the good
thing is that once we finish with our camp season, I’ll go back to helping with
the Kids Club in Calajunan and I’ll get to see him again!
Mary & Johnny :)
