I am honored to have Nicole guest post on my blog today to share about a special way to care for orphans! If you feel so called, please consider becoming a camp sponsor to give one of the precious Chinese orphans the opportunity to go to camp! Let then know that someone cares and loves them, and that they ARE important!
I knew that traveling to China to be part of the Bring Me Hope summer camps would change my life, but I had no idea how deeply and permanently it would wreck my heart.
It was only five days that I spent with those three orphans, but I still remember it like yesterday. We ate our meals together, sang the silly camps songs, hiked the Great Wall and pasted and glued our hearts out at craft time. As they opened up and shared their stories, I felt myself coming undone from the inside out. How do you not when a gorgeous, twelve-year-old girl tells you that she was orphaned after her parents died in a murder/suicide?!
Shock. Then heartbreak. Then the tears.
Fast forward six years. My trips to China have continued, my new dream in life is to get to 30 years old so I can bring our own son or daughter home. From that first week at camp, I saw what a difference five days at a summer camp could make in the lives of chinese orphans, as well as their foreign camp buddies; I never wanted to stop being a part of this mission. Bring Me Hope is dedicated to improving the lives and futures of Chinese orphans. It begins at summer camp and continues with year-round programs to meet the ongoing needs of orphans in China.
We are currently in the middle of four weeks of summer camps in five chinese cities. A great need right now is raising the rest of the camp sponsorships to make the fourth week of camp possible. As a sponsor, you will become part of the team that makes camp happen for the kids. Sponsorships of $125 or more will receive a phone call and letter from one of the children attending camp.
Your camp sponsorship will provide Chinese orphans with a safe place to experience healing, be assured of their value, and be given opportunities to explore fun, new things like swimming, art, music and field trips. Camp also connects orphans with people who can advocate for them year-round.
We would love to invite you to partner with us. Would you help make these last weeks of camp happen with a camp sponsorship?! {You can do this on our website here} We also hope you would consider about joining us at the 2014 camps. It is an adventure that will change your life. Most of all, please pray with us that these children's lives could be changed through the power of love and family.
“We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they are not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.” -David Platt
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