In this week’s blog, I’ve been asked to share a letter from one of our camp attendees. Her moving testimony captures the transformative power of our One Day With God camps and the hope that often is spawned in the midst of life’s struggles—being the daughter and sister of inmates. As she looks forward to joining us at the upcoming Whitworth camp in Hartwell, GA on March 8th, her words serve as a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.
Dear…
Throughout my life I have always known the prison system from the outside looking in. During my childhood, my father went to prison. Going into adulthood, my older brother went to prison. Throughout the time that my brother and father have been in prison, I have had a lot of time to think about how their choices and decisions affected me, but always wondered if they realized or even cared that the decisions they made that caused them to end up in prison, made a very negative impact on my life and how I grew up.
Oftentimes you think about growing up with your parents and your siblings and you are able to look back at these sweet memories with joy, with love, and happiness—so much so, that you wish you could go back and live through these moments again. But that wasn’t the case for me. For the last decade, I have had to go through life with just my mom and my friends, spending all the birthdays, holidays, and special events with them, but having the emptiness, anger, and resentment in my heart for those who weren’t there and were missing out on all these amazing milestones in my life.
I developed a hard demeanor, and my heart turned cold. I was angry at my father for missing out on so many things that a dad was supposed to be there for, and through that process my resentment for him grew stronger as the years passed by.
But this year I have had the opportunity to join a wonderful team and go into North Carolina prisons to spend time with the inmates. To say I was hesitant would be an understatement because all my life I have had such a negative outlook on them. So many tears were shed, and angry words had come from my mouth at the sheer thought of these people and their choices—because they were missing out on time with their families and missing those same events and milestones that my father had.
But God spoke to me. He showed me how to forgive and show compassion not just to my father, but to all the people who called prison home. Living in the free world is something so many people take for granted, but seeing the smiles, joy, and kindness of these men as we celebrate with them is truly life changing. While it is easy to pass judgment on them, I challenge you to take the path that Jesus did. Instead of judging, take the time to walk around in their shoes. Listen to their stories, hear their testimonies, and share the love of Jesus with them.
This ministry has helped so many of them give their life to Jesus, and that in itself is a true miracle. I hope that reading my story helps you to open that door to forgiveness and take that step to faith and redemption just like it did me. Because regardless of what some may admit, in the blink of an eye, so many people could be exactly where they are. We are all human. We all deserve to be loved and forgiven. Jesus died for us and He calls His people to forgive, love, and have faith. This is something that I truly feel God has laid in my path, and it is truly an honor to be a part of. I strongly encourage you to take part in this mission, changing lives one celebration at a time. You won’t regret it.
What a testimony. It just goes to show that we never know what others are going through. Even among our devoted volunteers, there’s trauma and pain. Let us take her words to heart and consider the profound impact that compassion and empathy can have in our own lives and the lives of those around us.
We hope you’ll consider joining us at camp and being a part of our mission to embrace love, forgiveness, and faith, and to change lives one camp at a time.
You are loved!
Les
