By Vicki Tabb

We have been so blessed beyond measure throughout this journey to begin Hope's Haven.

On work days, so many people came, giving their time and effort to help prepare the campsite for the children. We had so much work to do. It could not possibly have been accomplished without the efforts of so many wonderful people who sacrificed time and the sweat of their brow to prepare for camp.

We are overwhelmed by the generosity of companies, churches and individuals who donated materials, camp supplies, the use of a Gator for transportation, the picnic tables, Bibles, etc. ...

To say thank you to all of you who gave so generously to make camp possible, seems inadequate. We have been humbled and honored to play a part in bringing this ministry into fruition. God has been honored and glorified by the outpouring of service to Him.

To those who served as counselors, junior counselors and staff I'd like to share with you how you impacted me.

Each day of camp is defined in my memory. The first two days we managed through overwhelming heat, getting into the groove of the schedule with the campers, and learning the roles and jobs we each had.

All staff and campers were thrust into the same discomforts with the heat, the humidity, the intensity of the bug population and the fact that they joined us in the cabins during the night. Each of us was stripped of our usual physical comforts and stretched to endure the elements, the lack of rest and managing children who are very needy.

Some situations that arose with campers brought some interesting drama to our camp experiences. As a director, I had the privilege of being blessed, humbled and honored to work alongside of you. You gave your all, leaned on the Lord for strength and rose to the challenges that you faced.

To watch the staff, counselors and junior counselors selflessly pour themselves into the campers was really amazing. To see you praying together, caring for one another and seeking God's wisdom for the moment was just incredible.

It's a slice of heaven to work alongside others who are loving Jesus with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and letting that overflow into loving others even when they are "unlovely." You gave blessing when cursed at.

You suffered in the flesh on behalf of others, just to give them the opportunity to know our God, whose love for them, the least and the lost, is unfathomably passionate.

As for the campers, each child that came to us was very special, very wounded and very deep. I will change their names for the sake of confidentiality but, I'd like to share a little story about each of them.

Max -- the cutest 8-year-old boy, you've ever laid eyes on. He had the most infectious smile and sparkling eyes. He refused to talk about his personal life and experiences but had the wonderful ability to be in the moment. He was inquisitive and absolutely loved the nature setting all around him.

I think he collected more caterpillars during the week than any other, and he had wisely given them all the same name, Peter. Several days of Peter collecting went on when I asked him why they were all named Peter. He looked at me, like I'd just asked a pretty dumb question.

It then dawned on me that Camp Hebron is located at the base of Peter's Mountain. I asked him if that is why the caterpillars were named Peter, and he emphatically answered, "Of course!"

How clever this little man was ... more clever than me! He is truly so bright and fun that I couldn't help but be saddened that he doesn't have a mom who thinks she's lucky to have such a darling boy.

He does have a heavenly Father though, who delights in him. Max really enjoyed the Good and Evil book that we had handed out. He had some great questions too. I think, he's processing some of what he learned about God at camp. He's a thinker, and despite the quick grin, mischievously twinkling eyes and obsession with caterpillars, he's as deep as the ocean inside, and he's working out some things. I sometimes wish that all people would come to God that way ... ask those tough questions, wrestle with the truth and find out through this process that those who earnestly seek Him, find Him.

Jake -- a 10-year-old boy with special needs. He was adopted within the past year by a lovely Christian couple that has been through amazing trials with this little man. In his past, Jake had been molested as well as beaten with metal bars.

In some ways, he is like a small child filled with innocent faith. He loves Jesus and was eager to teach us all hand motions to some of his favorite Bible tunes.

He was a real challenge to keep on task. He required such patience, which came forth in abundance from his counselor and all the guys on staff who helped during bathroom, shower and bedtime stuff.

Being a child with special needs, he has that wonderful beauty of simplistic faith and speaking his mind. Several ladies were blessed by words such as, "You're pretty. I want to marry you!"

However, unspeakable things have also been done to this boy, and his behavior is not always appropriate. He's been familiarized with filth. He has been exposed to perversion and thereby robbed of innocence. He had moments that revealed this heart-wrenching reality.

He also had other experiences at camp that brought out something beautiful.

Another camper chose him as her scapegoat for the week. She was terribly cruel to him at times and said hurtful things. She threatened to call 911 and have the police "come and lock him up," etc. He came to me wanting to pray for her. We spent some special time before the throne of God, asking Christ to help this young lady with her anger and to help him to forgive. He was compassionate toward her because he understood deep within, her anger.

It just rocked me seeing this interesting weaving of personalities and what God foreknew would take place. Moments like the prayer time I shared with this guy were truly holy.

May we all be so quick to forgive and see the needs of others who are hurtful.

Mindy -- an identical twin who is court mandated to live apart from her sister is another special young lady who joined us. We had the privilege of ministering to her.

She is angry for many justifiable reasons. She recognized that she is angry with God throughout the week. She simply can't understand all that's happened in her young life.

We were able to discuss healthy ways of expressing frustration and anger and also to see the tender side of her as well. She became my special helper for my toddler and 5-year-old daughter.

She also gave all the staff the opportunity to exercise their faith in prayer and by exemplifying Christ. Truly God was glorified as the counselors and staff returned blessings for cursing and responded with empathy, understanding and patience as she expressed outbursts of anger.

Stacy -- the sister to Mindy also joined us. It was with much hope that the two girls could share this experience together and build some shared memories.

Stacy was quieter in nature than her sister and quickly made friends. She had some great, insightful questions about God. She shared the pain of her past as she had been molested by her mother's boyfriend... at her mother's suggestion.

She gave her pain and life to Jesus Christ at camp and now can begin truly healing! We saw her change radically from cold and distant to becoming softened and genuinely warm toward others.

Christ was working out beautiful things in the quiet of her spirit during our time together, and we were blessed to see the tangible fruit that only He can bring forth.

Nikki -- a beautiful little lady who is shy and reserved. She carried such a heavy burden coming to camp. She wants desperately to return home to her mother and fears the termination of her mother's parental rights.

It was difficult for Nikki to have fun at camp. She feels such a sense of guilt. She feels responsible for her mother's happiness and responsible for what's happened to her.

She was nervous and scared to try new activities like rock climbing and horseback riding. With encouragement however, she did try and discovered for herself that she could do it! What joy to see her face light up as she overcame her fears and accomplished what she'd been too scared to try.

During campfire time, she spoke into the ears of her favorite junior counselor as she was too overcome to share her story aloud but was comfortable having it related for her. We all sat in quiet reverence as this was so hard for her to do.

Two nights later, she wanted to share again and simply exclaimed, "I got saved!" Her favorite junior counselor led her into a relationship with Jesus Christ, and we all rejoiced along with her.

Ned -- a 9-year-old great guy! This little man has the most amazing imagination. He has constructed an amazing story of his life complete with riding horses across the ocean and living in Scotland and Ireland.

One day, I believe he will become a gifted writer. For now, this world according to his own making is his safety net. He keeps his mind occupied this way and it helps to forget the painful reality he lives with. He attested that he had become a Christian prior to camp when he was hit by a car....

He absolutely loved the comic Good and Evil, and was reading it every chance he got. He had very inquisitive, bright questions. He grew in knowledge and understanding and was just a joy to be with.

Sarah -- a beautiful, quiet-spirited young lady was also with us. She was one to watch and take it all in. However, it wasn't long before she had made friends and was having a great time.

She had a terrible time with the bugs, and her counselor was wonderful at assisting her. The last night of camp, she was up late getting itch-relief cream. During that time we were chatting, she said that she wasn't sure if she'd be going to heaven, I asked her if she wanted assurance and a relationship with Christ. She nodded, and her counselor and I led her into that blessed assurance. The relieved look on her face when we finished praying was so very precious!

Katy -- a fun loving, spunky girl was a sheer delight. She was quick to make friends and eager to help out. She is a believer and actually ministered to the other children but also understands personally their pain as she was the child of a drug abusing birth mother.

Vicki and her husband, Jason, are the directors of Hope's Haven.

By the Numbers

A quick numerical snapshot of camp 2008:

1. - Campers: 8
   

2. - Bug bites: 153 (per person)
   

3. - Campers who accepted Christ: 4
   

4. - Camper who was very, very close to accepting Christ: 1
   

5. - Campers for whom we'd appreciate continued prayer: 8
   

6. - Total number of lessons learned by everyone at camp: 372,164
   

7. - Prayer partners during camp: Quite a few. Thank you!
   

Read camper and counselor perspectives.