THE HELPED DOING SOME HELPING

Strange title, I know, but you'll figure it out soon enough. This post is about my week at HandyCamp.
Monday was boring as usual. Wake up early, go to camp, sign in, unpack, go through six hours of orientation, and only have play time before bedtime. Orientation is really boring the third time you go through it.
Tuesday the campers arrived. I had a guy named Steve, but he preferred to be called Buddy. How do I know? His name tag said so. Otherwise I never would have known. He hardly spoke a word and when he did speak, it was about going home. A bit different from the usual excitement the campers show when they arrive. I can't say a whole lot about him due to privacy, but I will say that he was mostly independent.
Wednesday. Still not speaking very much. Also, he doesn't enjoy moving around a bunch. He sat around for long periods of time and so of course I sat with him. Buddy was anti-social and always sat in the back of the room during bible study, worship, or special events. The only things we did during the day were planned events. No spontaneous things for Buddy. He did, however, smile and laugh during the clown show, although he was afraid of the clown. I guess as long as those creeps stay away from him he'l perfectly okay with them being stupid.
Thursday. Same as above, except he was especially anti-social during dinner and the dance. At least he was willing to color that day. Still, by then I was starting to get used to Buddy and actually understand some of his mutterings (most of which are about home or some people at his group home). Also, I was starting to understand why God sent me to this camp and paired me with Buddy. I believe that God always has me meet someone at camp who helps work out an issue in my life. It can't be coincidence because it happens every single time.
Friday. Best day yet. I finally figured Buddy out. We got through the day without being super anti-social and actually make more than one woodcraft. The Friday night service was awesome (more on this and the week's bible studies in the next post).
Saturday. Worst day yet. Buddy couldn't stop complaining about going home during the closing ceremony. Then came the frustrating time for packing, which is always annoying no matter what camp you go to. There's always some rush and frantic searching as you look for their lost belongings that end up exactly where you should have looked first but didn't because you weren't thinking straight. Then, after the goodbyes (actually, Buddy said he hated me and told me to go away-more on this later) I packed my own stuff, which involved more rush and frantic searching because there are some moms wanting to leave on time.
So that was my week. If it doesn't sound interesting or even remotely fun, don't be fooled. Although that week was the most trying out of all the times I've gone, it wasn't any less interesting or fun. See, I've found out that HandyCamp isn't really for mentally and physically disabled adults to come and be served all week. It isn't about volunteers giving up their time to make sure the adults have fun. While both of those do happen, they aren't the reason the camp is fun. In fact, if that's all the camp was about, it would be awful. No, HandyCamp is fun because while helping the disabled adults, you discover that they are also helping you. Yes, those adults who are laughed at and turned away by society, who struggle every day, who must live under the care of others, end up helping you more than you help them. Like I said, God always sends me to a camp and pairs me up with a certain adult to teach me something. I've learned more about how to truly follow Christ from those adults than I have from church, youth group, Sunday school, and bible study combined.

Interesting Fact:
In 2003, the personal fortune of J. K. Rowling- the author of the Harry Potter series- surpassed that of the Queen of England.