Dreams into the Future

This past weekend, Steve and I and two of our children (Ben 14 and Alex 8) had the opportunity to attend Camp Prime-Time. http://www.campprimetime.org/ Camp Prime-Time is about an hour from Yakima, up on Clear Lake. It is devoted to serving families with special needs. Every weekend throughout the summer months, families who have children with disabilities and special needs come up to Camp Prime-Time to experience a weekend in the mountains. It is so relaxing and fun. There are activities to do, but for the most part, all the time is free time and it's up to the families to fill their time the way they choose. Groups of volunteers sign up to cook and serve meals to these families for the weekend. For a donation of $20.00 per family, these families with special needs children, have the ability to attend a family camp from Friday afternoon until Sunday noon.

One of the really cool things about this camp is that all the families there are living with some sort of "special need". Meal time "melt-downs" are common place and parents don't feel judged because everyone just understands...

Although is was fun and relaxing, I felt that one major camping component was missing... God! We were surrounded by God's beautiful handiwork and He, the creator of all wasn't mentioned! Maybe this is a blast from my upbringing, but camp doesn't seem like "camp" without a service or two and a sprinkling of classes.

But here's the rub... To be able to attend classes or listen to a speaker someone has to watch the children.

At Camp Prime-Time, parents are responsible for their own children 24/7. Here's my thought... Add Buddies!

I would love to see a family camp set up for families with special needs. (it is nice to not stick out like a sore thumb... with everyone having to deal with some sort of "special need", everyone seems "normal") But... if we could add buddies to the mix, that would give parents the ability to go classes and even visit with friends while their child is having fun and being watched. This could be a little tricky because the buddies (who would probably be teens) would need to have a counselor or someone (who is not there as a parent) who is keeping an eye on them. The buddy program would have to be organized. The buddies would have to be trained and have specific things to do besides some free time as well.

Children would stay in cabins with their families. Families would eat meals together, with the buddies either eating with the families or at a buddy table. There would be activities for families to do together and also activities for the kids to do with the buddies while the parents are in meetings or when they are visiting.

Well... that's the basic idea. Now all I have to do is find a camp and staff. Oh yeah... and money to do all of this might be a good idea as well. So now I shall pray...

Learning along the way...

When will I learn that God is in control?

The day started out rocky yesterday and seemed to be going downhill fast. First, the day started out with 14 special needs kids registered and only 4 volunteers signed up. Then, when I tried to print of some things needed for the night, I find that my computer and printer weren't communicating with each other... UGH! What a morning!

I quickly emailed Aubrey (who was being church secretary for the week) and she said that I could email her the necessary forms and she would print them off at the church. Which didn't "totally" work the way I wanted it to. She also informed me of a few people who said that they would be able to volunteer, along with a list of more "No's:"

Quickly my stress level was going from "high" to "super extreme high". I was pouring the coffee as fast as I could, but thought that maybe it would be a good time to bathe this whole project in prayer.

By 2:00pm, I was feeling a bit better. We had more volunteers and I was reminded that we were also going to be having dinner provided and that was all going well. I knew that we were going to have some kids that would benefit from a "quite room", so I picked up some toys (Mr. Potato Head, little people, etc...) from our house and took down to the church. I had a wonderful schedule planned for the evening and things were looking better.

By 5:00pm, Steve was at the church helping me set up and a few people started to come. The "schedule" said that at: 5:30pm the volunteers would get their assignments and we would have a time of prayer. Well... not everyone read my schedule. At 5:15pm families started to arrive. YIKES!! The first family to arrive was a "Spanish speaking only" family. Oh my... they were a new family and they had lots of questions. We scrambled quickly to find someone with more Spanish than i have(which isn't difficult, since I have none...) and between the two of us, we spoke to the family, answered their questions and helped them to fill out the registration form. While this was going on, more families arrived. Families were arriving faster than the volunteers. At one point, I did look around to find the quickest escape route, but decided that wouldn't be the best idea.

While I was helping out with new families, Aubrey was getting our "regulars" and our volunteers situated. Oh boy... I was so very thankful for Aubrey!.

By 6:15 all the volunteers and children had arrived. Quickly everyone was assigned a buddy and everyone seemed to be having a good time!

Dinner was a little late, but was wonderful! Burgers and hot dogs on the grill. Yummy! After dinner the kids did art projects, raced the remote control car, and then played outside. Buddies, special friends and sibs alike all had a wonderful time, smiles were seen on the faces of everyone. Time went by so quickly. Before we knew it, it was after 8:00pm and time to start thinking about cleaning up and getting ready for the snack and movie. By 8:30pm, everything had been cleaned up, and everyone was sitting in front of the T.V. with snack in hand, waiting for the arrival of parents.

About 8:45pm parents began to come. They all looked a bit rested and happy to see that their children had such a good time. This has been our best "Night Out!" so far. I am so thankful to all the wonderful volunteers (adults and teens).

Trust

"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for me?"

Jeremiah 33:27

It sure is easy to have trust in someone or something when all is going well. Not so much when you can't see how something is going. Sometimes I have trouble allowing God to be the one in control. I want to take charge and make sure that all goes well and sometimes that is impossible.

This past March we launched "Night Out!" It has been so exciting to see God work in the lives of so many people; the children with special needs, the families, and the volunteers. People have stepped up to offer amazing things far beyond my wildest dreams. We have someone teaching art, someone preparing meals for EVERYONE!

Night Out! has also caught on with the families who have special needs kids. Our first Night Out! in March we had 4 kids with special needs (one of which was my child...), this month, we have 17 children with special needs signed up and more families interested.

So... where does the idea of "trust" come in? We need volunteers to be buddies!! At last count, we had 17 children with special needs (plus sibs) and 4 buddies!! YIKES!!! We have just a little over 24 hours to find more buddies!

I have really been struggling with this. I know that this is something Satan has been using... The little voice in my head says "see... your idea was stupid! no one wants to do this! Just be done." Sometimes it's hard to ignore. I get caught up in the lie and feel defeated and want to runaway. Then this morning, I met a mom who is new this month to our program. She was dropping off the family registration. She was so excited for this program. Her and her husband have been unable to go out to dinner for an evening for about 7 years because they can't find a sitter. They have a child with Autism and have been unable to find someone willing to watch their little boy for even a few hours.

So.. this IS an important endeavor. These families with special needs children ARE important to God... I have just got to trust that God WILL supply the needed workers.

Night Out! has Gone Electronic!

Parents and Volunteers and now sign up for Night Out! by going to www.yakimaec.com

Yakima Evangelical church now has a web-site. On the "events" tab, a parent can register for the next Night Out!, giving us a simple count of how many children will be attending. If a family is new to Mark 10:14 Ministries and Night Out!, they can go to the Mark 10:14 Ministries tab and fill out the family registration form right on-line. It is so easy and swift.

Volunteers, too can sign up for volunteering at each Night Out! using the "register for this event" tab under "EVENTS".