Pam* loved to sing! She sang when she got up. She sang on the way to school. She sang at supper. She sang in the shower, and she sang before bed! While she sang, her feet would often dance in time to the song. Pam loved music. Pam was a foster child at this time, living in a group home for children needing temporary shelter. A United Methodist church in Pam’s town heard about her love of singing and offered financial support to send her to a musical camp at Wanake. Pam’s group home said yes, and Pam was on her way to camp.
Upon arrival at camp Pam was a little tentative, but within the first hour she connected with a dozen other campers who loved to sing as much as Pam. This group of campers began that first day of camp to work on a musical they would develop and perform over the course of the week. Pam was elated. As the campers rehearsed and enjoyed camp activities they began to build a family group. “Our group became my family for the week,” Pam shared. “I knew I was loved and accepted by the other campers, my counselors and our musical director, even when I messed up my lines or steps. It was wonderful to have an accepting family.” Jill*, another girl in the group, and Pam hit it off from the start and began to build a friendship. One song became their favorite, “Where Do I Go.” This upbeat tune declared:
Where do I go when I need a shelter? Where do I go when I need a friend?
Where do I go when I need some helping? Where do I go back on my knees again!
Sure as the winter comes after the fall. Sure as true love tears down any wall.
My Jesus is able to carry it all. He will answer your call!
The week ended with the performance of the musical for family and friends. One of the adults from the group home came to see the performance and to take Pam home. As Pam and Jill parted, they took each other’s address to stay in touch, which they did. Back and forth the letters flew. Then in the fall, Jill’s mother noticed that Pam lived in the next large town. “Would you like to go and visit Pam?” she asked her daughter. Jill was thrilled. Yes! She would love to visit her camp friend and sing the songs again.
So, not having any other contact information, Jill’s mother drove to the address the letters were coming from. As they pulled up to the house, she realized that this was not a typical residence. It was a group home. But before she could say anything, Jill was out of the car, up the steps and had rung the bell. A woman greeted them at the door and Jill and her mother explained who they were and that they were there to visit Pam. By this time Pam had heard her friend’s voice on the porch and had come to the front door. The worker invited them in for a visit, which was much too short for the girls. As they were leaving, Pam ran to the screened in porch and began singing that favorite song from camp:
Where do I go when I need a shelter? Where do I go when I need a friend?
Where do I go when I need some helping? Where do I go back on my knees again!
Sure as the winter comes after the fall. Sure as true love tears down any wall.
My Jesus is able to carry it all. He will answer your call!
“I thought to myself as the girls sang,” Jill’s mother recalls, “how important it is that we all know that Jesus is all these things! And how vital it was for Pam, who didn’t have a family or a home, but now knew that she did have a shelter, a help and a friend in Jesus and that she could go to Jesus anytime in prayer.”
Your generosity allows campers like Pam to experience the love of Jesus through the camp community.
*Name changed to protect the privacy of the camper.
