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Dear friends in Christ,
I attended "Camp Noah" last month. For one July summer's day I was part of
"Camp Noah" in Wallace, North Carolina, along with thirty-one area children
and six "Camp Noah" counselors. The camp was being held at Camp Kirkwood,
a Presbyterian facility.
"Camp Noah" - a weeklong day camp for children recovering from the trauma
of disaster - is a new Lutheran resource offered to disaster-impacted
communities. This is the first year it is being offered nationally, and is
presently in its trial run. "Camp Noah" has been offered in Haysville,
Kansas; in Tuttle/Bridge Creek and Mulhall, Oklahoma; in Wallace and Rocky
Mount, North Carolina; and in Fargo, North Dakota. Guided by trained and
caring staff, the children and their families gain support by discovering
that their peers share similar feelings and fears, and, through Christ,
there is strength and hope for the future.
"How did you feel when the flood came through?" the counselor asked?
"Scared, sad, afraid, lonely," the children answered. "Those are OK
feelings," was the response. They did a craft project: writing feelings on
the inside of a paper plate, pasting a smiling face on the outside of the
plate. "Sometimes we keep our feelings on the inside, and show a happy
face on the outside." This led to a discussion of how their parents and
family might be feeling, and that it is good to share feelings with people
you trust.
"Camp Noah" is designed to help disaster-affected children as they try to
make sense out of what has happened in their lives. The curriculum for
"Camp Noah's" weeklong day camps is based on the Old Testament story of
Noah and the flood, inviting children to compare their stories with Noah's
disaster experiences.
George Strunk, our LDR coordinator in North Carolina, talked to the
children. George, a retired weather forecaster, described how the weather
caused Hurricane Floyd and the North Carolina floods that affected their
homes.
The local mental health worker told me, "I've never seen so much compassion
from a group of counselors." She related that parents are telling her
their children are talking about their disaster experiences for the first
time.
I saw a lot of love and compassion that day. There was splashing in the
pool, tie-dying t-shirts, kick ball, craft activities, and a camp lunch.
"My counselor swims like a mermaid," one little girl told me. The
counselors demonstrate the love of Christ to the children. The children
feel that love, and reflect it in their drawings, their actions, their
words.
You can help support "Camp Noah" as it is brings help and hope to children
who have endured something new and scary, and who don't understand how a
disaster fits into their world.
Please pray for the children and their families who have been affected.
Please pray for the "Camp Noah" staff as they provide this ministry.
Please send your support for the supplies and expenses of offering "Camp
Noah" to:
ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via the web: www.elca.org/disaster
LC-MS World Relief - "Camp Noah"
P.O. Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-9810
Credit card gift line: 1-888-930-4438
Please help to bring a Christian faith perspective and the hope of Christ
to children who have experienced disaster.
In Christ,
Gil Furst
GILBERT B. FURST (written on Mon, Aug 7, 2000, 5:32 pm). Director for
ELCA DOMESTIC DISASTER RESPONSE (Division for Church in Society) and
LUTHERAN DISASTER RESPONSE (a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LC-MS)
8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631 PHONE: 773-380-2822 FAX: 773-380-2493
Please visit our website: www.elca.org/dcs/disaster
