Marcus came into my life for the first time 4 years ago as he was working in the dining hall in our Indiana camp as part of the Teen Service Team (TST) program. When I saw him I realized this must have been his second “tour of duty” because I had seen him a couple of weeks earlier at camp. Marcus is easy to remember because he needs the assistance of a wheel chair/scooter to move around and he used this as a tool in doing his dining room duty. That was a sight easily remembered and one that would bring a smile to anyone’s face. Marcus drove around that dining hall going table to table as other TSTer’s would load dirty dishes onto his lap. He would then scooter over to the dish room. A very creative way to clear tables. When seeing him for a second time, I asked Marcus what motivated him to take 4 weeks of his summer vacation to work in a dining hall. His answer highlighted what SpringHill has come to mean to 1000’s of campers over our 40 years of ministry. He simply said “when I come to SpringHill it is the only two weeks of the year when I feel like I do not have a handicap.” Powerful and profound words from a high school kid and a sad yet truthful indicator of how the world makes him and other physically challenged kids feel when he and they are not at SpringHill. Some version of similar sentiment have been shared with us from all types of kids over the years. When we’ve asked why they come back to SpringHill year after year they respond by telling us that they can “leave the box at home” they have been put into by their friends, school, families, etc. The overall freedom of truly being themselves and being accepted for who they are without expectations to be someone else.
Marcus illustrates one of the defining characteristics of SpringHill- to be welcoming and embracing of all young people regardless of social, racial, ethnic, faith, physical, educational or economic position. There is no typical SpringHill kid. Campers and the places they come from are as diverse as the world in which these young people are living in. This is not new at SpringHill for back to the very beginning in 1969, the first campers came from an orphanage. Since that first summer SpringHill has held as a core value that we are about ALL kids and work diligently to welcome and embrace them for who they are and how God has made them. Allowing them to leave their “boxes at home” and have an experience where there is freedom to be themselves. This reality is played out with the wide range of church’s that attend our teen retreats held in the fall, winter and spring to our special needs program that Marcus was a part of and in our Neighbor’s program that partners with local urban ministries to provide camp opportunities for kids who normally would not have one. Although we have not arrived in the breadth of kids we want to reach, we are thankful for the privilege we have to serve all the kids, their families and churches we currently do.
It is important to understand where this value comes from; what feeds our desire to embrace all kids. The answer is really quite simple and straight forward. We believe and want to live the truth that all people are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” The key word in this verse is “image”. We are created in His image. What does that mean? It means we are made in His likeness, with many of His qualities and characteristics. In other words we were created to reflect Him. We are to be His reflectors within His creation. And the reflection of Him is His glory which means when we reflect Him we reflect His glory. This is why the first commandment to Adam and Eve was to be “fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). God’s intention was for us to fill His earth, not just with people but with His reflectors, with His glory. The earth is to be filled with His glory (Psalm 72:19) and we are the glory bearers. This intention is at the foundation of His purposes for us as people. We are created to reflect His glory through out the earth.
CS Lewis says in his book The Weight of Glory “The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.”
This is why we at SpringHill hold the value of embracing all kids. Regardless of where they come from, they all are created in the image of God for the purpose of filling the earth with His glory. This requires, as Lewis says, “humility”. Not only are we called to embrace these young people but we are called to help them fulfill their created purpose of reflecting God’s glory. This happens as one comes to know and then grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and the reality of Him living in and through them.
As we have just completed the first month of a new year, let us each remember the bigger purpose young people have in God’s creation and how God is using us to help all of them fulfill this purpose of reflecting God’s glory now and into eternity. By the way, one final note about my friend Marcus. The last two summers, he moved on from TST, and has served on our Indiana summer staff team. He has moved from being “helped” to reflect God’s glory to helping others to reach that ultimate destination as well. Let us take Marcus’ example to heart and continue to enable all our campers to not only become glory reflectors but to help them lead others to do and be the same.
This is so powerful, Michael. Isn’t that the idea of the Body of Christ….we cover each other’s weaknesses and everyone has a place to serve and belong. May God bless you and the team as you gear up for another incredible camp season. You all are in our prayers.