The World at Our Doorstep: A Map Overview

This is a quick geographical overview of the countries that were represented at our Summer Camps for Refugees at Hidden Acres. The World At Our Doorstep: No need to fly around the world to minister to people from countries in Africa and Asia. Pretty cool!

We are family...I got all my sisters with me

One really cool thing to see at Hidden Acres this summer were all the families working together at camp. We had married couples, parents and children, brothers and sisters, grandparents and grandchildren, cousins, and in-laws...well you get the point.

I have posted a few pictures of a few of the relatives working at HA. Really there are a whole lot more.

Some guests or first-timers at camp have suggested we construct some sort of "family & friend tree" to show how everyone is related as it can get quite complicated and hard to figure out at first. :)

Thanks go out to all the very cool families who participated at H.A. this summer. It is such a blessing to work alongside of you guys.

We hope this encourages other families to invite family members to join them in ministering together. There is always room for more in the Hidden Acres family!

Curt & Candice Grisham

Kaylen & Landon Stevens, Amanda & Toby Elery, Kate (McDonald) Stevens & Jody McDonald, and Selah & Seth Carpenter

Mrs. Darlene Litwin with grandchildren Paige, Hannah, Sarah, Brandon, & Jared

Cathy Diffee "Boss" is Director Carp's cousin & Pastor Diffee's daughter

Glenda McDonald (Kate & Jody's mom)

Jerry's Dream Camp by Senorita Rosa

You are probably not able to read what the white shirts on the first pictures on this blog say they read "We build Jerry's Dream Camp. Kiwanis Club of Pleasant Grove."Jerry Diffee would have been happy to see what happened at Hidden Acres during our third week of camps.

Pastor Jerry who passed away over a year ago was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Pleasant Grove and a big part of the tradition of raising funds for inner city kids to attend summer camp. He knew what an impact just a week of camp can have on these kids who would very likely not experience a week of summer camps if not for the generosity of Kiwanis club supporters.

We were very encouraged at the start of camp to see so many parents come and drop off their kids at camp. Usually all of the kids are dropped off at a location in Dallas and bused to Hidden Acres.

I talked to a couple of campers about their camp experience. I asked a young boy pictured above, "What is your favorite part of camp so far?" He said, "everything!" "This is my first camp ever and I love everything about it."A young lady named Rebecca, (It's easy for me to remember her name)who has attended our camp at least two other times has grown up so much from last summer. We talked about last year's camp and she asked about some of the counselors she missed seeing this year. Then she told me with a twinkle in her eye and a smile that brightened her face "I want to work here when I grow up. I want to be a counselor." I replied, "that would be great! Did you know that Kit Kat (Kate Stevens), Sharkbait (Toby Elery), and BabyE (Amanda Elery) used to be campers and are now on staff?" She nodded and then informed me about how Kate had been attending Hidden Acres since she was in second grade and that she too had wanted to work at Hidden Acres when she was a camper.I had a follow up conversation with Rebecca and asked her if she was involved at a church. She told me she was and attended with some of her family members. I encouraged her to keep going to church, reading her Bible, and praying. I told her she needed to be strong in the Lord to be a camp leader. She smiled and said yes as if she was up for any challenge to achieve her goal. I watched her as she interacted with the staff and noticed her almost soaking up the love and example of the camp leaders. I saw her basking in the glow from Kit Kat, Baby E, and others.

I pray that Rebecca will someday be back to be one of those girls who other girls want to grow up to become.

Readers Digest & Us by Senorita Rosa

We recently came across the latest issue of Readers Digest where an article caught our interest. This article (follow this link to read article) is the story of two young girls from Burma who are in refugee camps in Thailand. This article broke our hearts as we had a small glimpse of what some of the campers that attended our 2nd week of camps have experienced in their short lives.

To me the coolest things about the second camp was that we had more nationalities represented and we got more of a glimpse of serving the world. One of the groups we served were the Karen people from Myanmar. These children were sweet, polite, and shy. One of the girls said that I (Rebeca) looked "Karen". They tried to teach Tim and I a few words in their language which we found phonetically a little hard to learn.

When I look at some of our pictures from camp I can't help but think of the song "red, and yellow, black, and white they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world" We thank God for the opportunity our staff had to share God's love with these children who come from a past of pain, fear, and losses. We pray that God will give these children a hope and a future in Him.

Please join us as we pray for all of the kids who came to our summer camp. Please pray especially who made professions of faith. As you take time to read this article and learn more about what is happening in Burma please take time to pray for all those people who are right now living with fear and despair in refugee camps around the world.

From Director Carp's Journal

From Tim's Journal 6/17/08
Last week was an incredible week of camps for refugees. I'm encouraged about the work at Hidden Acres when I think of stories like the one of a young man named Abdi. This young 14 year old was not going to be allowed to come to this camp because he was already going to be attending another camp. The leader thought it was unfair for for Abdi to go to two camps when there were others who couldn't even go to one. Abdi begged, and begged, and begged until eventually he was allowed to come.
By the end of the week Abdi had accepted Christ into his heart. This story reminds me of the Caananite woman who begged Jesus to heal her daughter. The verse says, "she keeps crying out." She even knelt before Jesus and said, "Lord help me! Jesus replied"It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." to which she said, "even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Jesus responded "you have great faith." Persistence. Seeking the truth. God had a purpose for Abdi to be at Hidden Acres for our 1st week of summer camp for refugee children.

6/18/08
Little Hassan, heart hard as stone, so angry, so disturbed, so hateful, yet I must remind myself that without Christ, I'm no more pure than he. I held him for a half hour while he struggled and fought my embrace. Then Coy held him for another hour or more all the while Hassan is using every expletive and hateful thing he could think of.
The day was winding down and snack time was here. As Coy held him in the line, he continued to refuse the snack. My mom (who is volunteering her time at HA) mentioned the message from that day which happened to be about Jesus. My mom said, "Do you know Jesus loves you?" "I hate Jesus!" was his response. My mother then responded, "It doesn't matter how much you hate Jesus, He still loves you." She then sat down beside this young boy with anger in his eyes and asked, "would you take this snack?" Without looking at her, he took the snack. This story is more than just about a boy getting his snack. It's about the love of Christ breaking down the walls of hardened hearts. A seed was planted. Now we pray that God will grow the seeds.

-Tim

Welcome to our Hidden Acres Summer Camp Blog

To our camp fans welcome! We hope you enjoy this blog. It is our hope and prayer that you will be encouraged by the postings on this blog. Check back with us as we post things through the year.