If you’re new to my posts, you may have missed me talking about Haven Camp, if you’ve been around a while you may have grown tired of me talking about Haven Camp, you might be growing tired of hearing about it. I hope not, but please indulge me for a moment. Haven Camp is a camp for adults with developmental difficulties (I just call them my friends) run by Delta Lake Bible Conference in Rome, NY. To put it succinctly I love Haven Camp, but I thought I’d tell you why by describing a typical day for me. 

I wake up in a nice little comfortable cottage about six a.m.

On a sunny day I’ll take a few laps prayer walk around Simpson Circle, before going into our meeting room, Delta A, to finish any last minute set up for the morning session.

It’s usually about then that I realize the most important thing I have to do that day is share the Gospel with some people Jesus really loves, and I’m struck by the idea that that is really the most important thing any of us has to do every day.

Then it’s back to the cottage to shower and review my notes before jetting off to breakfast.

A few minutes after I have been in the dining hall, nicknamed the Stack after one of the coolest people I have ever met, my friends the campers come in.

I finish my meal so I can go and greet the campers, and chat for a while.

When breakfast is over, it’s time for the morning service. 

The services are always fun, the campers’ unpredictable questions keep me on my toes, 

I sometimes wonder if I let them go to long, but then I think about it. These campers deserve to be heard too, and they often end up taking us in good but unexpected directions.

When the service ends the activities begin. Sometimes I get to join them on a boat ride around the lake, other times I will sit and play games with campers, draw pictures for them, color with them, and have the best conversations with the campers and the counselors.

After the activities, we go to lunch, more eating (really good food by the way. Thanks kitchen staff), after which I hang with the campers at their tables until lodge time. This is where the campers go back to their rooms for a little time of rest. I go back to my cottage too, usually to go over the notes for the afternoon session, but sometimes a nap ensues for me as well, (only after I’ve  studied.)

Then I return for one of my favorite times.

They’re called rotations. The group is split into smaller groups and goes between three activities, snack and souvenir shop, some sort of gym activities or a hay ride, and a craft. 

I love having a snack with the campers or chatting on the hayride, or encouraging the campers at their craft. 

After the rotations are over, we have the afternoon service. Which again is a high point for me. 

After service one of the campers prays for dinner and we eat, with more hanging out with the campers before the evening activities. Talent show, banquet, dance party (yes, even I have been known to go out for the dance party.

After that, it’s bed time for the campers and after they get to bed, there’s a little staff meeting where we learn what was happening behind the scenes, are made aware of anything we have to know for the good of the campers. Then we pray and dismiss. This is another of my favorite times, because it is the time when I get to hang out with and hopefully encourage the staff. These are some of the most impressive young people I have ever met. Truly, if you are the parent of one of these counselors, well done! They have a level of kindness, faith and maturity that will restore your faith in humanity. As that winds down, it’s near 11:00 and it’s time to stroll back the cottage, to get some sleep before starting it all over again the next day.

If it sounds tiring, that’s because it is, but it is also amazingly inspiring and fulfilling. These weeks are some of the fastest weeks of my year, and I love it. Sometimes as I am leading a session or watching the campers as they come together and love on each other, I think about my life up to this point, and I praise God for bringing me this far. I love Haven Camp.