In Acts 20:35 Jesus says that “it is more blessed to give than to receive” [NIV] but sometimes it is really great to be on the receiving end!
Many years ago, I was blessed to attend Camp Mishewah due to the gracious sponsorship of a couple, Marion and Harold Dyer, who attended Beachwood Missionary Church, the same church that I attended. I don’t know why they ever took it upon themselves to pay for me to attend Mishewah for multiple years, but I will always be thankful for their generosity. I grew up with a hard-working single mom who provided everything for me, but I don’t think that something as extravagant as an overnight camp would have been in our budget.
Attending Mishewah allowed me to build on my faith in Christ, and it gave me the opportunity to make some great friends and to experience activities such as sailing, canoeing, and kayaking that were new to me at the time. I continue to receive the blessings of my first years of camp through the ongoing friendships that I have with people I met over 40 years ago. Although the friends that I met lived at least 100 km away, the distance did not stop us from staying close. At a time before cell phones, texting, and FaceTime we made the effort to write frequently and phone each other on weekends (after 11 pm when the price of long distance calls were the lowest, 34 cents/min!) We also visited each other during the year and I would attend their Bible quiz tournaments when they were in town. Having Christian friends to reinforce things that I learned in church really helped to guide me through high school and University.
I have continued to stay in touch with some of my camp friends. My family and I make annual summer trips to visit with some of my Mishewah friends, it is one highlight of the summer that we can always count on. One of the greatest parts of having these Christian friends is that they have always been a beacon to me of God’s love and are people that I can always go to for Godly advice or to ask them to pray for me.
I continue to receive blessings from the generous sacrifice of the Dyers who sent me to camp more than forty years ago. I am not sure what their exact reason was to sponsor my camp attendance, but I know that the experience has enriched my life. I only hope and pray that maybe through following the Dyer’s example, who in their own way followed Christ’s example, I can enrich and bless a young child by sponsoring their attendance at camp. If any of the kids that I sponsor are awakened to the love of God and have even a bit of the fun and enjoyment that I had at camp, I will have experienced the full circle of how being on the receiving end of a gift can enrich me to be blessed and to be able to pass that blessing on to another.
Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Dyer and Camp Mishewah!
Our guest blogger has requested to remain anonymous, but we are so grateful to them and many supporters like them who contribute to our “Pay Their Way” Camper Sponsorship Fund. Both one-time gifts and recurring donations can be directed toward the camper sponsorship fund. Would YOU consider giving a child the life-changing gift of camp?