In June, all of the kids and I had the opportunity to travel to Oklahoma with a group from our church to work and serve for a week at Bertram Bobb Bible Camp. The camp is in Choctaw Indian territory and was established years ago for Choctaw Indian families. Today it is a mixture of Choctaw families and some local families from around the Ringold and Broken Bow area of Oklahoma. The majority of the children that attend the camp come from poverty and Bertram Bobb has a policy that they will not turn away a child if the family cannot pay. They also charge a very low amount for the week, only 30$ a camper for the entire week. The camp is mission run so they never know where the funds will come from year to year and even month to month to feed these kids and run this camp, but for over 20 years now God has provided every single year. The camp runs for 4 weeks each summer, 2 of which are kids camp and 2 of which are teen camps. We were there for the 2nd week of kids camp.
We went with a team of 30 people from our church, the majority of them being teens from our youth group. We caravaned in three vehicles. We left at 4 am on a Saturday and arrived late that evening at camp. Once you turn off the main road onto the camp property you drive down a very rough dirt road for 6 miles before reaching the actual camp. It is tucked back in the woods next to a lake and the property is gorgeous!
The front of the dining hall.
The chapel building.
The pavilion.
The kids did not start arriving until late afternoon on Sunday so we had most of Sunday to become familiar with the camp and attend staff meetings with the director. Here is a picture of our group on Sunday morning right before chapel service.
Registration at the office on that first afternoon.
The daily schedule was pretty intense but this is what the directors have found that works well for the kids. Keeping them busy and occupied helps to keep them out of trouble.
These three cabins were the girls area. I went as a cabin counselor and the yellow cabin was mine. The cabins do not look too bad in the pictures but they were pretty run down with holes in the floor and walls where spiders and bugs would come through. They are just really old and therefore falling apart. Sadly, for some of the kids these cabins were nicer than their actual homes though.
I had twelve girls in my cabin for the week.
Our older three kids went as TICS. What that means is that they went to serve and work at the camp for the week. Our younger three kids went as campers. Ally and Natalie were in my cabin and Camden was in a cabin with a counselor from our church.
One of the responsibilities the older kids had throughout the week was kitchen duty. They were assigned specific times that they were expected to work in the kitchen, helping to prepare the food, serve it, and then clean up after meal times. Here is Emmy on kitchen duty one day.
Inside of dining hall
Dining hall- this center table was for staff.
Each table in the dining hall had one TIC at it at all times to pour drinks and assist the kids during meals. Here is Houston with his table of boys during meal time.
Houston with Matt, one of the camper boys. We called him smily because his smile was so big!
Grant, one of our youth, serving drinks.
Natalie in the food line with one of the girls from our cabin.
Girls from my cabin.
Matthew, one of the boys we took from our youth group getting a Matt hug.
Lindsey and Matt, two of our youth washing dishes.
Jenna, Annie, Natalie, and Mackenzie.
Annie sweeping the pavilion. Cleaning was a big part of the TICS responsiblities throughout the week.
Annie and Mackenzie with Terri, one of the girls from our cabin.
Emmy, Annie, and Ally with Alexis and Rita.
Makenzie & Natalie
Emmy with campers.
Me with one of the youngest girls from my cabin. She was so stinkin' sweet!
Afternoon activities included crafts, BB shooting, ziplining, and archery. Houston and Emmy assisted with the BB shooting each day.
My Natalie girl ziplining.
Emmy with a couple of the campers that she got to know well.
This was Camden's first camp experience and he got to experience it with his best bud, Logan, who also went. They were in the same cabin.
Joe is just a little bit adored by our girls. *grin*
Just a little bit adored.
Creatures are attracted to Annie no matter where we go.
Mackenzie and Natalie in our cabin one evening.
Our Ally photo bombing Jenna and Josh. They are both in the college/young adults group at our church and they went as cabin counselors too.
Showing the size of the bugs and scorpions in their cabins.
Josh comparing the size of the snake that he found in the boys bathroom to the scorpion that Jenna had to kill in her cabin.
One of the responsibilities that Emmy took on during the week was working the Canteen twice a day. Canteen is the snack shop where the kids can purchase cokes and candy bars and other treats for a very small price. She worked Canteen with Aaron, the directors son, every day.
Watching a game of skeet ball.
Emmy playing with Joe.
Three of the girls from my cabin. Two are sisters and one is their cousin.
Logan and Camden with some campers.
Emmy and a camper.
Houston, Kenjie, and some of the boys.
One of the girls from my cabin.
Natalie and Mackenzie in our cabin.
Ally on her bed in our cabin.
The kids had an hour of pool time every afternoon. Girls and boys swam at different times.
My friend Allison taught the girls chapel every morning.
Allison used a gift of money from someone at our church to buy watercolor paints and brushes so the girls could paint during chapel. For some of the girl's it was the first time they had ever painted anything and for some it was the first time they had ever used watercolor paints.
Some of the girls painted their faces.
On the last day of camp, we walked the girls down to a shady grassy area where they could paint God's creation outside during chapel time.
Some of the wild flowers the girls painted.
Ally with two of the girls from our cabin.
Ally and the girls from our cabin, painting.
Houston with one of the camp boys.
Pushing the kids on the merry go round.
The TIC workers stayed in one of the worker cabins and every morning Annie would come down to my cabin to braid the girls hair for them. They loved it!
Ally with one of the campers, CeCe. She could pass as a twin to our neighbors daughter. We couldn't get over just how much they looked alike.
We received the award for cleanest cabin one day! Of course we left Snoopy, the mysterious cabin checker, a little bribe of candy with a note and he took it. *grin*
Annie with Jo in the dining hall one day.
A game of tetherball.
Gracie and Jenna
Houston and I in dining hall one day.
Matt & Mr. Randy
Houston & Emmy in dining hall
My friend Regina was in charge of crafts each day. The kids made this water bottle holder that they could attach onto back packs, their pants, or other things.
Fox, one of the girls from my cabin working on her craft.
The kids had recreation time on the basketball court in the evenings. They were split into 5 groups for rec time and competed in games.
Jenna and the girls from her cabin.
Josh and the boys from his cabin.
Saying goodbye on the last day.
Mr. Travis, the current camp director, and our youth pastor Dean who lead this mission trip for us. They know each other from Deans time growing up in Louisiana.
Emmy comforting Rita on the last day when goodbyes were being said. Rita was one of the girls that accepted Jesus as her Savior during the week.
From all outside appearances so many of these kids would appear to be normal kids by just looking at them, but the majority of the kids come from broken families and most of them had very difficult and sad home situations. Two of the girls actually didn't know where they were going home too or if they would even have a home after the end of camp. One of the girls had a mom that was a prostitute. Some parents were in jail for drug trafficking. Some kids came from abusive situations. Many were being raised by their grandmothers. Two of the girls in my cabin had been abandoned by their mother at a very young age. As a result, so many of the kids didn't want to return home at the end of camp. It was truly heartbreaking. This camp for so many of them was their one refuge of peace and fun that they had each year. They come knowing that they will be loved and cherished and feed and taken care of for the week they are here. It's what makes this camp so important.
Annie and Terri from our cabin.
Annie helping some of the girls with their luggage on the last day.
Saying goodbye.
Saying goodbye to two of the girls from my cabin.
Saying goodbye to Fox.
The kids left camp that Friday morning and our group stayed over until Saturday morning to clean and prepare the camp for the group that would be coming in that Sunday.
Some of our youth in the big van.
Our suburban ended up having issues on the drive back home and we broke down completely in Mississippi. We were there for about 4 hours while Mr. Randy, Houston, and Josh worked on the issue. We didn't arrive home until around 2am, but we were just glad to have made it safely. It was really obvious to us how God had protected us and helped us all the way home.
This picture is their zombie faces after 14 hours in the van. Oh, and the air conditioning in the big van, which the youth were riding in, went out in Arkansas. They were all such good sports, though!
Here are a few more pictures taken on the road.
At a McDonald's.
Ally and Joe playing on a stop.
Josh and Houston pulling off the old fuel pump and installing the new one.
Broken down in Mississippi but my boy was still smiling big!
The week was truly an amazing week of seeing God work through so many people to reach out to so many that are hurting and need to be shown His love. The ministry that happens at Bertram Bobb really captured our hearts and we look forward to returning again to serve next year. Emmy in fact, will be working at the camp this next summer for the entire camp season. She has stayed in touch with some the girls that she got to know this summer and they call her often just to talk. Please be in prayer for these precious kids as God brings Bertram Bobb to your mind.
