Dear Friends and Supporters,
It’s been a long time! I was at camp in Ghana over the time of our last newsletter, so I skipped a month. I am happy to now share some of my first-hand experiences from my time at camp just a few weeks ago!
Over the past year, many hours were put into our 2021 camp. It takes a great deal of fundraising and organizing to pack up a camp for nearly 600 campers and take it across the ocean. And while we were busy with the planning here, our team in Ghana was also working hard to prepare the facility and food needed for our large number of campers. I remember our first meeting with our team where I laid out all of the possible things that could go wrong due to travel restrictions. We knew it was risky, but we had no idea at the time that every one of those scenarios would actually come to pass. Along the way, our airline cancelled our tickets and we had to repurchase for an additional cost, Covid tests were difficult and expensive to line up, half of our team decided not to travel due to a vaccine mandate, and then three of our team members were delayed in Ghana and were not able to return as planned, costing us even more money.
Through it all, we kept our eyes fixed on our calling. God chose us to make this camp happen, and obstacles and difficulties won’t stop what God wants to do! Our vision for our camps is to build encouraging relationships with our Arm of Hope students and show them who Jesus is through our words and actions and our camp activities. Camp is something our students look forward to all year long. It is a time for them to get away from the stress of home, eat good food, build relationships with friends, and grow in their faith.
After the fact, someone asked me if I thought it was God’s will for us to go to Ghana. Of course, I can’t answer for others, but for myself, the answer is an emphatic YES! It has always been a fact that anything in life that is worthwhile is probably not easy. This trip was just another example of that fact. And just because something is hard, definitely doesn’t mean it’s not right! I feel like the enemy tried to stop us at every turn, but with God’s help, we persevered! So YES, there are no regrets, and following God is a joy even through the difficulties. Seeing lives changed makes it all worthwhile!
This year’s camp theme was “Applause from an Audience of One”. Our focus was on the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 and the real meaning of blessing. We learned that God’s blessing isn’t based on material possessions or on our human abilities. God’s blessing comes from living a life fully devoted to Him. When we seek God’s blessing, the only applause we are looking for is the applause of God, and it’s completely different from the world’s applause. God applauds us when we mourn over our sin, when we are merciful to others, when we are peacemakers, and even when we are mistreated for doing what is right. Every aspect of our camp centered around this theme from the teaching, to the movies, to the small group interactions on our teams.
New for this year, we focused on a country each day. Each team took time to read about the country, find it on a globe, pray for the people of the country, and make a Christmas craft from that particular country. We also watched a movie focusing on a missionary in the country of the day. The students said these activities were the highlight of their camp this year.
The highlights of my trip were seeing our Arm of Hope students grow, mature, and lead. Since our US team was smaller, it gave more opportunity for our 65 volunteer leaders to step up. Many of the young leaders led teams of students for our camp rotations. One of our students stepped up to help Brother Philip teach. Several of our girls joined the worship team to sing and lead with the song motions. Our students who are studying catering helped in the kitchen. Others led games and crafts or provided service and maintenance to our camp. One of the college students told us that it’s very important to him how he lives his life, because he is an example to the younger students coming along behind him. I saw so many of our student leaders doing just that. Leading by example was evident each day of camp. As our older student leaders grow in their faith, they are passing what they learn on to the younger students.
Each night Erika and I invited the girl leaders to come and pray. They could have just gone to bed after a super hot and tiring day, but each night nearly 20 girls gathered on the floor in our room to pray for their teams of kids, to encourage each other, and to share their hearts. It was a precious blessing to pray with these beautiful girls and to see their strong faith and trust in God through the difficult circumstances of their lives.
As we left the slum community on our final day in Ghana, one of our college girls walked to the car with us to say good bye. I hugged her and said that I hoped she would be ok, because I know things are very hard for her. She told me not to worry, because camp is such an encouragement to her and the encouragement she received will keep her going for many days to come. I have tucked that comment away in my heart, because it spurs me on for next year to know that camp lifts our students up and helps them carry on. What a privilege to play a small part in encouraging these incredible young people and pointing them to Jesus where our true hope is found.
To all of you who supported and partnered with our 2021 camp trip, thank you! Your gifts brought many children into a relationship with Jesus this year. Lives were changed because of you!
Here are a few upcoming Arm of Hope events:
February 13: The Arm of Hope camp team will be sharing about our trip at Hope Community Church form 9-10 a.m. downstairs in the multi-purpose room. You are invited!
February 14: We will be holding a “Valentine’s Day Charcuterie Box Fundraiser” to cover additional expenses from our trip. Each 8 inch box serves 2 and is filled with an assortment of crackers, meats, nuts, cheeses, and fruit as well as a mini cheeseball, two homemade chocolate truffles, and 6 homemade valentine sugar cookies. Pick up is at 1708 Ridge Road, Elizabethtown on February 14 from noon to 9 p.m. in the garage. We are not charging for the boxes, but are instead asking people to give a generous donation to cover our extra camp expenses. Please find the event on Facebook or reply to this email if you would like to order.
May 21: Stay tuned for more information on our annual Arm of Hope 5k!
It is an honor to partner with you!
Cheryl Zimmerman, Arm of Hope Director