She and I had a heart to do more but our pockets weren't exactly full. And then, one day, a friend of mine, Doris Bates came to me with a question. What would you do if you had more funds?
Without even thinking I said "Open a Touchdown Camp for the children." Doris smiled and then told me she had been collecting 100's on her "adventure with God" which started out with her pastor, John Ortberg, giving out $100 in church to a number of people who wanted to invest it in missions work. Doris idea before she even left church was to ask her friends to match her money for God.
When I told Patty we started to dream and plan. I also really tried to put into camp activities that would appeal to unchurched children. We would have food. Lots of good food. We would have sports. We would have games.
My son suggested a "Stay in School" Speaker series. Each day someone came to motivate them with ideas: a nurse, a policeman, etc. Crafts turned out to be so popular that everyone did them. Patty added the dramatization of the missionary story. Camp started because God wanted to be kind to lots of children.
We are about to have camp #9 this summer in Redwood City. I don't think Patty and I every could have imagined that one thousand children would get the benefit of the camp in these years. Nor, could we see the great impact on the children who went and then a few years late became teenage "staff" to help run the camp. No, God starts small but when He blesses, HE BLESSES BIG.
This is just the start. My goal is to see 10 new camps started in the next five years. We have another camp here in San Jose. It's small but guess what? It will grow.
Don't miss the blessing of seeing God work. Come visit us. Camp is seeing God paint the face of a child with a big smile.
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