Young Life South County: OC Capernaum at Woodleaf 2012

OC Capernaum’s High Rollers took 18 students with special needs and 16 leaders to camp this year. After a 5:30am wakeup call on July 1^st, and a long car ride up to Northern California, we finally arrived at Woodleaf. Our Capernaum friends were thrilled to be there and could hardly wait for club that night. It never ceases to amaze me that of ALL the fun things to do at camp, the activity that our kids look forward to the most is Club – singing, dancing, playing games, and hearing someone talk about Jesus at the end of the night is what they anxiously wait for all day long. We did, however, find a way to occupy ourselves during the day by hanging out at Woodleaf’s heated pool, going on “The Blob”, conquering our fears at “The Tower”, scarfing down a few whirlies at the Sugar Barrel, venturing onto the giant swing, taking advantage of the waterslides, and testing our leader’s driving skills on the Ridge Runners (dune-buggies). Camp never fails to be a whirlwind of fun, emotion and laughter. But, in the midst of all the commotion, it is where friendships are built and it’s where many of our Capernaum friends discover that they can be accepted, loved and cared for by those around them. Watching our Capernaum friends come out of their shell, after realizing they are loved and wanted, is one of the biggest blessings any leader could experience.

One of our campers, Bret, started coming to Club only a few weeks before we went on summer break. The first time I met Bret he was quite, reserved, and seemed to have a desire to go unnoticed to the people around him. Dance parties are a huge part of Club in the Capernaum world; the only way Bret would take part in this activity during, was to dance in the corner, facing the wall so that “no one could see him” dancing. Bret’s time at camp was one that was a true joy to be apart of. Those who met Bret when he first came to Club were able to witness the change that took place while we were at camp. He became increasingly open and comfortable with the OC Capernaum family (some may argue that he was too comfortable, haha). Bret let us dance with him on Western Night, watch him run rampant at the camp carnival, and see him conquer the first level of “The Tower”. What a beautiful encouragement to see a kid, who didn’t even want to come to Club, enjoy himself at camp for 5 days!

The Lord provided encouragement through Bret, and provided peace through my sweet friend Meagan. I have had the pleasure of knowing Meagan for almost 5 years. I met her when she was 15 and have had the joy of becoming close friends with her and her family over the years. Meagan has a severe case of Cerebral Palsy and is wheelchair bound. Meagan, like many of our kids, needs more rest than the most people. The extra downtime that's needed for Meagan has become one of my favorite aspects of our friendship. At camp, Meagan and a few of our girls will sometimes head back to the cabin during free time to lie on our bunks and just have girl time. We’ll talk about our favorite part of camp, what we plan on getting at the Sugar Barrel later that day, and of course we talk about all the cute boys at camp that week. In the chaos of camp, this simple, restful fellowship has been one of the biggest blessings to me personally.

Though Meagan has a sweet, gentle spirit, she does have some spunk in her. This year at camp, the girl’s cabin was right above the boy’s cabin. We had a balcony that hung over the deck of the boy’s cabin and when the boys walked out of their room, they had to pass underneath the girl’s balcony. The day before we left camp, I walked into the girls cabin to find Meagan and Bailey (another one of our very sweet and normally well-behaved Capernaum friends) pouring water on our guy leaders as they walked out of their cabin. The two girls giggled with the pleasure of knowing that they “got’m!” and the exaggerated reaction of our guy leaders made the girl’s laughter increase all the more. Walking into that room to the sight of these two sweet girls causing just a little bit of trouble was so precious! The little moments like that are what made camp such a blessing this year.

Our Capernaum kids come to camp because of our cool, college-aged leaders and fun events that take place - the messy obstacle course, the big swing, the waterslides, the mud games, the 80° pool and “The Blob”. But for me, and many other leaders, the best part of camp is getting to see kids like Bret come out of their shell and make friends, or watching two sweet girls pull a prank, or simply hanging out in the cabin for some “girl talk” and fellowship. Thank you so much to those of you who support this ministry. It is so important that our friends with special needs are able to experience the same things every other “normal” high school student experiences. Everyone serving in this ministry would tell you what a blessing it is to hang out with these kids. Thanks to all those who make it happen!