Preschooler Talk

"The bears were flying along and then...they just died!"

"I'm sorry" "I forgive you." "That's right! You do forgive me!"

"Nora, you are beau-u-u-tiful!"

"I've got it! We have to step on mosquitoes to stop them and turn them into butterflies!"

"I got you a flower soooo, you can marry me now."

"Let's play the dead squirrel game!"

"Noah what do you wanna be when you grow up?
N: I want to be a super ninja who rescues squirrels!
M: Oh...hmmm...ok....Well, why do you want to be that? What do the squirrels need to be saved from?
N: I don't know--sometimes they just need me to rescue them! like this! "hi-yah, swish, punch, take that!"
m: Who's going to pay you?
 *silence*
N: I think maybe I'll be a fireman.

Friends! No sniffing each other's peanut butter!

Camp: An Old Journal Entry

One week can seem like an eternity—especially when you have a test on Friday. A week can also seem like a mere moment—especially when you are with people you love, doing things that you enjoy. But sometimes, a week can seem like both an eternity and still not long enough of an eternity to accomplish what you had hoped.

That is how I felt this past week.

I spent the last seven days counseling at Camp Koinōnia . Koinōnia is the Greek word for “fellowship” or “community,” and that is what we try to build during camp week. The campers range from 3^rd to 5^th grade, from ages seven to eleven. They also range in spiritual knowledge from the Sunday school smart aleck to the completely un-churched. Their socioeconomic status go from girls who brought two outfits—the only ones they owned—to girls who told me they got their hair high-lighted…every month. And yet somehow, they tell us, we are to make a community, a Koinōnia, out of this peculiar gathering of children.

And so, my co-counselor Cari and I do our best to unite this group of young girls. Not only that, but we strive to provide emotional and spiritual support, and share the gospel effectively. It is a huge mission and we only have a week to accomplish it.

1.     Create Koinōnia – Working on it…

2.     Support emotional and spiritual needs

Mariah* had huge burn marks down the backs of her legs. A large bruise in the shape of an adult hand loomed ugly and purple beneath the smooth, childlike skin on her thigh. A wound on her forehead and scars on her back fixed my conviction that my camper was a victim of abuse. It broke my heart. Mariah also had many behavioral and relational issues. Not only was she abused, she was also my cabin’s “problem child”—for some reason, I am attracted to troubled kids. There’s something frustrating yet intriguing to me about figuring out what motivates their actions. The insatiable drive to figure them out is rewarded, however rarely, by an infinitely satisfying feeling of helping fix what is broken inside of them.

But the process is long and hard.

Most days at camp, I feel so discouraged. After all, what can one week do in the life of a girl who probably only hears about Jesus a few times a year? Can you even begin to heal the hurt of abuse? Even if the child does improve, is there any chance it will last once they go home?

1.     Create Koinōnia– Working on it…next?

2.     Support emotional and spiritual needs – trying, but feel discouraged. Next?

3.     Share the Gospel effectively.

Last year, I wasn’t able to counsel at camp. But I still heard stories. It was a memorable year because, for the first time, a camper was sent home. Why? She punched another girl, declaring she “wasn’t and never would be sorry.”

I came to find out that this camper was Loretta*, one of my campers from a few years back. The year she was in my cabin, she supposedly gave her life to the Lord and got baptized in the camp pool—apparently it was merely an emotional response to the setting sun, soft music, stirring testimony, quiet sniffles, and flowing tears of counselors and campers alike.

A sad sort of horror hung around my heart when I heard about Loretta. I questioned whether it was possible for kids that young to be saved: was it possible for them to understand the Gospel? I questioned my abilities: did I explain the message of salvation poorly? I questioned my own knowledge: did I even know what the gospel was?

In the end, I learned that sometimes all you can do is love them and hope that someday they'll associate that love with the love of Christ. 

By the end of the week, my list reads:

1.     Create Koinōnia– Working on it…next?

2.     Support emotional and spiritual needs – trying, but feel discouraged. Next?

3.     Share the Gospel effectively.

1. Love them like Christ loves you