You have to know that Camp Barnabas was started because one person had a heart for a child who wasn't able to attend her "regular" Christian sports camp...because she got cancer. And this one person, Cindy Teas, and her husband, Paul, got friends to think on and pray and invest in what God had put on their hearts...and Camp Barnabas was born. Still a camp that teaches Christ. Still a camp with a sports emphasis, only the activities have adaptations for those with physical and mental challenges.
Here is the mission at Camp Barnabas. I copied this from their website.
"CHANGING LIVES THROUGH CHRIST-CENTERED EXPERIENCES"
Our mission at Barnabas is to show others the love of Christ in every aspect of our ministry. Our ministry is not only in changing the lives of those with special needs and chronic illnesses, but also in changing the lives of all who come in contact with Barnabas: campers, volunteers, parents, staff and donors. We want to show our campers that they can live a life of ability and they were beautifully, wonderfully and perfectly created with a purpose. We want to show our volunteers what it looks like to serve others the way Christ calls us to serve, to look past physical appearances and instead, look at the heart. We want our donors to be blessed and touched by the stories of how their gift went towards giving a child the best week of their life where they made new friends, were encouraged, and were shown life-changing worth. We want our parents to find respite while their child is at camp and to find encouragement from staff, from other parents and from children just like their own. We want our staff to be challenged by the growth and strengthening of their faith as they set aside their own needs for three months while serving our campers, parents, volunteers and fellow staff. The experiences gained from Camp Barnabas go beyond a week at summer camp. These experiences change perspectives, redefine disability and become life-changing.
Over the course of the summer, Camp Barnabas will host campers with various levels of abilities...and in various stages of treatment or recovery. They have special weeks for those FRIENDS with cancer; for those FRIENDS with all sorts of developmental delays or autism/ for those FRIENDS in wheelchairs; for those FRIENDS who are blind. And they have weeks for younger campers, and weeks for adult campers.
I don't know if your mind can go to the place where you can imagine that not all campers make it back year after year. Some are just too sick. Some are ushered into the arms of Jesus.
I...just...can't...
For the campers who pass away, Camp Barnabas honors their memories by putting their names on little brass plaques attached to a large cross that sits at Inspiration Point. On the last night of each week, two people will carry the cross from cabin to cabin, leading in quiet worship songs. This is a very emotional time for all the campers because some of these campers have a diagnosis that is terminal. They are well aware that their names will be on that cross one day. Some of the campers are in the siblings cabin. They may have a brother or sister whose names are on the cross. At each cabin, the campers are allowed to gather around the cross and pray.
This year, when the cross came to his cabin, Joshua was chosen to lead the prayer. He was very honored to do this.
I was surprised that they asked him, because explaining cross-carry to the newbies was one of the things Joshua thought HE should get to explain...NOT the staffers.
Cross-carry is one of the sweetest traditions at Camp Barnabas. It's sad, obviously, but it's also hopeful...because of Christ.
"because of the hope that is reserved for you in Heaven..." Colossians 1:5
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