Daughter of the King

Reasons for Prayer

If you are interested in what I am doing here at camp, then please take the time to read a summary of my week with the special needs adult campers.

SUNDAY:
Our 8 campers arrived this afternoon. They are all quite the characters. Diane made me laugh when we were sorting through her clothes because she apologized profusely for her Patriots t-shirt when she found out I was from Indianapolis. Brenda sorta freaked me out because she wouldn’t settle down and she has a tendency to hit herself when she is upset. Patty is so cute with her toothless grin and limited vocabulary. The campers weren’t there for more than an hour when a bad storm started up. The electricity flickered off a few times and then decided to stay off for good. Many of our campers are terrified of lighting, and the darkness didn’t help. We all hoped that the dining hall would be lit, but alas the kitchen crew was slaving away at gas ovens in the darkness. It was as an interesting spaghetti dinner with for our campers. Brenda has to have all her food pureed and she is allergic to glutton, so we had to make up special noodles and mash them with a fork because the blender wasn’t working. There was an uproar because the coffeemaker wasn’t working (and not just by me). After dinner we went to a short worship band service and then back to the cabin with crossed fingers over running water and lights. We were disappointed. So we brought lake water in to flush the toilets and we had the women brush their teeth with bottled water. We skipped showers, and sent everyone to bed.
Monday:
We woke up at 6:45 to discover that the electricity was on and the water was working. I quickly read Psalm 130 “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope.” The words were refreshing and inspiring as I contemplated the daunting day ahead.
Rachel and I got dressed and then woke up the rest of the cabin. We started showers- and purposefully left Brenda to sleep as long as she could. Breakfast was significantly better than dinner because we had power which meant everyone could have their coffee. I suppose I fit in well with the special adults at least in this regard. I had trouble finding Brenda something to eat, but eventually landed on rice crispy’s and milk. The rest of the morning was spent cleaning up accidents which required rubber gloves, a few walks to the cabin to get new clothes and lots of prayers. Jesus reminded me gently that He cleans up my crap so I should be willing to do the same for others. Lunch was an adventures because I served Brenda tomato soup assuming it would be fine, but also there is glutton in that also. I ended up feeding her mooshed up tomatos, tuna, cucumbers, and green peppers. I almost gagged when I put it on her plate. She ate it up, and wanted seconds. *sigh* Rachel had her own problems to deal with at lunch, so by the time we got to the pool we were both rather exhausted. Diane ended up falling and hitting her head on the cement on the way into the bus. (This fact will play in later when we talk about her three seizures.)
The beach was fun, and I enjoyed bringing Margaret and Diane to the water and then wiping the sand off their feet. They are so hesterical and very thankful. Margaret is 80. When we got back to the store Carrie threw up again, and this time I dealt with it. When we got to the cabin for rest time Rachel and I thought that we would finally be able to sit down. Five minutes into it we heard Brenda running to the bathroom. Bless her heart, she had made it to the toilet but her vomit scared me, and she was breaking out in a serious purple “rash”. I sent for our unit leader and got Brenda wiped up. They took her to the nurses office. Dinner was easier because we didn’t have Brenda think about. I sat with Diane wasn’t feeling good from her fall, so I was trying to make her feel as comfortable as possible. Our director Bill came up to me and asked if I had eaten dinner, because he wanted me to come with him and Brenda to the ER. I left my table in Ben’s care and went to the nurse’s office. Brenda’s lips were turning colors and she wouldn’t be consuled. The drive to the hospital wasn’t pleasant except for the beautiful sky. The clouds are different out on the east coast. Back home the clouds tend to be flat just like the land, but these clouds were puffy and gorgeous. Brenda was miserable and kept asking for Millie, and to be able to go home. I held her hand and asked God to give us peace. The ER waiting room was rather empty, which was nice, but it seemed like and eternity before we went in. They finally waited on us, and her caregivers (Millie) arrived. Bill and I waited for the results. Apparently, Brenda burst a bloodvessel when she was puking and that was the purple “rash” on her face. They didn’t want her back at camp because she had low sodium/potassium. By the time Bill and I got back I was helping with showers for no more than 10 minutes when the Amblence arrived at the nurses station for Diane’s seizures. She had two while I was at the hospital with Brenda, and Bill asked me if I would be willing to ride with Diane to the ER. I asked Dan to grab my bag when he came, and he asked me what my favorite milkshake was. *sigh* I fought back tears while sitting next to the EMT. It’s amazing how quickly the heart can learn to love. I felt awful for Diane. She hates drawing attention to herself, and she didn’t want to go. I tried to joke with her and we sang a little. She is such a dear.
Dan and his wife Jeanette got to the ER in about 40 minutes. They handed me my bag an a milkshake and told me to take a break. I called my Mom, because that is what a person does when they are enduring tradegy. Mom doesn’t even know Brenda/Diane but she needed to hear what happened. We didn’t talk long, just until I finished my chocolate milkshake and decided to walk back into the hospital.
We were there until 1 in the morning waiting on results and such. They let her go back with us, and her care taker never showed up. When we got back everyone was asleep, but Diane didn’t sleep well. I mumbled something to Rachel and didn’t even bother turning on the light to change. My whole body ached from the emotional exhausting of being the supporting comforter for two next-to strangers, who I love dearly, and physically from standing on hospital tile for hours. Thankfully sleep was sweet. (That was one day).
Tuesday: We woke up this morning with Diane heaving in the bathroom. It was 5:30 and I ran to get Heather. She called the nurse and I tried to calm the other women. It was too early for everyone to be getting up. I tried to go back to sleep, but people were waking up, so eventually I convinced myself to get out of bed.
We got the women to breakfast and it was a rather uneventful morning. Diane felt dizzy and she was acting strange. She ended up having another seizure at lunch. We called 911 and they took her away again. I was expecting to go, but Bill sent one of the office people this time. I felt so sorry for Diane. She kept apologizing for being so much trouble.
We ended up skipping swim time because of all the commotion. Instead we had longer time at the store and then went for rest. Rachel and I actually got to rest for 20 minutes today. I did have to back up Diane’s things so that her care taker could pick them up. It made me sad. She loves Jesus so much and she really enjoyed camp. Last night when she was in the hospital, she said, “I can hear my heart,” to which I smiled and said, “good.” She replied, “Jesus is in there.” It’s moments such as this that make our work so intense.
Dinner went well and so did the evening activity. Rachel and I had a great schedule for showers, so we didn’t have any trouble getting done on time. I did devotions with Doreen and Penny. I read some Scriptures and asked how I could be praying for them. Doreen said, “That I would go to heaven.” I jumped at the chance to talk about salvation. “Do you think you will?” “No, because I am not good at my house.” I got to tell her that the great part about the Gospel is that it’s not about what we do, but about what Christ has done. She said, “You mean, Jesus is real?” What a question! I smiled the hugest smile, and told her that He was. She wishes she could see Him, so we read I Peter 1, “though you do not see Him you love Him, though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory… obtaining the salvation of your souls.” *sigh* It was so exciting. She wants to talk about it more today. The best part is that she is a hold over camper, so I will be spending the weekend with her as well.
WEDNESDAY:
Uneventful, I am a bit more rested, and Heather decided to give me two hours off this morning because I am working the weekend. I will give you an update when the day is done.

All this is to show you that we need prayer. We are working with some serious stuff. These people don’t know kindness, and they are so touched with our willingness to serve them. Please pray for strength and patience. Please pray that we would take every opportunity to share Christ with them verbally and nonverbally.
I forgot to mention Peter. He likes to come up and ask to meet me in private. He is always touching my shoulder and asking me to look into his eyes. When I say “always” I mean truly every few minutes. We are going to have over the weekend also. I am nervous, but I need to remember that he needs Jesus too. His home is really rough, and this place is radically different from anything he has ever known.
Ok, there is so much more, I can only give you a glimpse, and I know that it is already too long. Thank you for holding us up in prayer. May God be with you.

(I am sorry for all the typing mistakes. I don't have time to read over this.)

posted by Becca @ 9:30 AM