Peace Camp
The weeks leading up to Peace Camp were anything but peaceful! Our leadership team, Rev. Patti Fears (Fellowship Baptist), Vicar Rachel, soon-to-be CLC member Ashley Hughes and me, were busy fundraising, planning the program, organizing field trips and recruiting paid staff, campers and volunteers. But it all came together in a way that was beautiful in ways we never could have planned.
Over the course of three weeks (August 5-23), 13 children and youth (ages 9-13), spent the day playing and learning together. They learned ways to cope with feeling overwhelmed such as various breathing techniques and identifying their feelings. Through group projects focused on anti-bullying, they practiced working as a team. As a whole group they performed a song and a dance and presented their projects in a final program for family members and Council Member Janeese Lewis George. We partnered with Urban Adventure Squad for outdoor learning in Rock Creek Park and had a tour of the U.S. Capitol. We did future-oriented activities like financial literacy and goal setting, as well as pure fun things like bowling and playing on a waterslide.
In the midst of all of our hard work and planning, the Holy Spirit was working overtime. You could see it in the caring collaboration between CLC and Fellowship Baptist. You could see the fruit of the Spirit in the community of campers and adults, creating a place of warmth, acceptance and inclusion. The Spirit was present in the many adult volunteers who were joyfully present with the campers at lunch, who generously provided meals and who willingly drove kids to camp and home when there was no other way for them to get there.
We have taken the time to evaluate how this first year went—and there are things we will do differently in the future. But overall, it was a strong first effort and the clearest evidence of that is that ALL the campers want to come back!