One of the things I've learned about marriage, is that you don't just marry the person, or even the family, but you also marry into some ways of life.
The big thing in the Kroeker's way of life is Royal Family Kids' Camp. Back in the mid-1980's, my mother in law was a part of a group who wanted to help the abused and neglected children of Nebraska and became connected to RFKC out of California. The camp is specially formatted for the needs of abused and neglected kids.
Our camp is coming up in a week! Last minute preparations are in full (and desperate) swing.
We have rules that protect the kids and the staff. We are never alone with a child; we always "buddy up" with another trained adult. We eat ALL. THE. TIME. Neglected kids have often been denied food and not eating becomes a trigger for them. Thusly, we eat about every 2-3 hours.
We are also a high energy camp! We move all the time. This helps keeps the highly ADD kids from getting out of hand. Mostly!
Camp is at a secure location and only trained staff/counselors and invited guests are allowed. We don't take our own pictures, but have photographers who take photos and an amazing team who puts together photo books for the kids to take home at the end of the week.
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| Worship team on a tropical themed year! |
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| Nathaniel's first camp experience. |
Each day we have special events. During the day we usually have some dress up theme like crazy hair, animal masks, ninja, pirate, or (this year) intergalactic super stars. When I figure out what that is, I'll tell you! Evenings each have a special event. Monday is some sort of large party a certain amazing church puts on. It goes with our theme for the year: this year it will be a road rally with boxcars the staff/counselors have made with the ladies in poodle skirts and the men in white shirts.
Tuesday is our tea party. The girls spend all afternoon getting dressed up. The guys spend about 8 minutes doing that after fun afternoon games! But we then have a fancy meal and a special evening of performances. Often it's a talent show, which is pretty cool to celebrate these kids' talents and to just have fun.
Wednesday is cah-razy! It has involved go-karts or 4-wheelers, making homemade ice cream, obstacle courses, wild game tasting, pig chasing....it's a nutty, awesome night! Also, often a night for storms. One was even featured on "Storm Chasers." (I watched the show and couldn't figure out how I'd missed this massive tornado by Grand Island...then I realized it was heading for camp! God protected us and it went around.)
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| Staff roasting marshmallows on Ninja Day. |
Thursday is the birthday party. Often kids in foster care do not get birthday parties. They don't get gifts just for them. They aren't celebrated. Thursday is THEIR day. They get their own birthday cupcake and birthday boxes filled with birthday gifts. They also get grab bags from their awesome party. Usually it involves candy and/or noise makers (both of which we ask the people to NOT include).
Actually, one of my favorite camp stories was on a Thursday night when I was putting boys to bed after they opened their gifts. Another staff coming out of the cabin I was just entering decided to use our walkie talkie system (for important communication and emergencies) to ask everyone with a radio (which is everyone all over camp) why the people put candy in the grab bags. "Why don't they just put crack in there instead?!" David. Like, the best storyteller EVER.
Camp stories are the BEST. We have some amazing story tellers who can relate the fun, sad, touching times we have with the campers. The campers. They are...amazing.
I know these kids have been abused. I know they have suffered through things I can not, dare not imagine. But I put that aside during camp because I cannot handle it. Who can look at those beautiful, funny, sweet children and hurt them? I don't get it. It makes me angry. So to cope during camp, I push those thoughts far away.
Once in awhile during the day, it comes back. I push it away. Then there's Thursday afternoon. We have what we call a "reclaiming" ceremony, when the kids write or tell an adult what people have done who hurt them. Some kids tell a lot; some nothing; some something in the middle. But the abuse becomes real then.
And I hate it.
I want to pretend that it isn't really real. But I can't. I can't push those thoughts aside.
But that's why we're there. That's why we spend months ahead of time planning, preparing, contacting, fundraising, recruiting. That's why we work hard to be creative with our ideas, decorations, events. That's why we pray and sing and laugh and play.
We do it for these kids. We do it so they will know the love of Christ in their lives. So they will have experiences that kids have. We do it so they can be...kids. They can be normal for once. The camp is for kids just like them, and they know it.
The most amazing thing is watching the kids come out of their shells, grow and develop. We've seen autistic kids change more than we ever thought possible. It's a testament to love and the grace of God.
I leave you with the words to our theme song that we sing at the end of each singing session, arms around each other. It's a promise from God to each one of us, especially to those who are brokenhearted:
"I will change your name.
You shall no longer be called wounded, outcast, lonely or afraid.
I will change your name.
Your new name shall be confidence, joyfulness, overcoming one, faithfulness, friend of God, one who seeks My face."
May we remember the new names God has given us.
-Lisa
