““Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’””
I decided to return for the second time as a Summer Intern at Sonshine Day Camp, because of the relationships that I built in Flemingdon Park with the older bunch of students in my small group. Throughout last summer, I shared my love for worship music with them and had intentional conversations with them about the Gospel, and the lessons that we taught.
This summer, in moving to the Jesse-Ketchum community and meeting a new camp of children, I set the goal for myself to stray out of my comfort zone with the older campers. I was determined to reach out to the younger children, affectionately dubbed the Littles by the staff at Jesse-Ketchum. At camp, I have found that as I spend increasingly more time with the youngest campers, God has supplied me with overflowing love and grace for them.
Because I do not have any work experience or schooling in working with young children, last summer I was apprehensive about leading a small group consisting of only the campers from grades 1-3. I was uncertain how to communicate best with the young campers, and I wasn’t confident in being able to make a meaningful connection with them. I also knew that in the past, my patience was short with children in that age range, and I was afraid of being short-tempered and impatient with them.
But this year, I’ve been more intentional in spending time in conversation with the Littles, eating lunch together, and gravitating towards them during our free time in the gym. I have also seen during our times of teaching the Bible, often the Littles take the lead in participating and answering questions that we ask. Seeing their genuine curiosity in what we are teaching has given me so much encouragement, and has filled me with so much joy. It has shown me that God will reveal Himself to each and every one of His children regardless of the stage of life that they are in. I have seen firsthand through just the first week of camp, that my role as an Intern this summer is to simply deliver to the young campers the Gospel message, and to show them the love that Jesus first showed us. While I may not see the fruits of the team’s labour right away, I can have faith in knowing that God is with the Littles and day by day He is changing them to be more like Him.
