Wheeler Mission is an inner-city mission in Indianapolis, Ind. Every summer the mission holds camps 45 minutes south of Indianapolis, at Camp Hunt, for underprivileged kids of all ages. I had the opportunity to serve as a counselor at the 10-to-12-year-old girls camp.

“It was the best of camps; it was the worst of camps. It was the spring of hope; it was the season of despair.”

This is a good description of my camp experience this year. As I have reflected on the camp, I have thought about how much it seemed like two camps.

The first part of the week was very discouraging. Several girls had to be sent home because of cussing, bad attitudes, and fighting. For the most part, the girls at the camp did not seem to be paying attention in chapel or devotions. Even some of the leadership girls (girls who have made decisions for Christ and are in a discipleship program) had bad attitudes and were disruptive. Everything seemed to be going wrong. Many of us wondered why we were even there.

On the next to last day of camp, we were going to a nearby park to swim in the pool. The weather was stormy but was supposed to clear by the time we made it to the park, so we decided to go. We took a bus and two vans; I rode the bus. Partway there the bus driver announced there was a problem and we needed to go back. Soon we pulled up behind one of the vans and found out what the problem was. The other van was a little farther up, and the front end was smashed and an electric pole had fallen. We found out later that the van had hydroplaned and hit the pole. Everyone in the van was OK. They were sore but nothing was broken or bleeding. We went back to Camp Hunt and swam at the lake there instead of swimming in a pool as planned. We had a great day in spite of the accident.

That evening in chapel, Pam, the woman in charge of the camp, pointed out everyone in the van could have been killed. The rescue workers were amazed that nothing more serious had happened. The driver had been able to steer the van back onto the road. If the van had gone completely off the road, it would have rolled down the embankment. The electrical pole had fallen right behind the van instead of on top. If things had been just slightly different, the passengers would have been hurt badly or killed (few had seat belts on). Pam told the girls, “I am not trying to scare you, but you do not know when you are going to die. What would happen if you died tonight? Would you die a friend of God?” (Friendship with God was the week’s theme). She invited them to pray or talk to their counselor if they had any questions.

Throughout the rest of the evening it seemed like every time I turned around someone was telling me another girl had accepted Christ. In all, God drew nine girls into a personal relationship with Him.

I think the main thing God taught me through this week is that even when I can’t see anything good happening He is still at work. Even when I become discouraged, He is still in charge, and everything He wants to happen will happen in His time.

Another thing I really saw was the power of prayer. In staff devotions every morning, we prayed for the girls, that God would do something mighty in their lives; and He did! It is not “normal” for nine girls from this age group to make a profession of faith. The girls by this time usually either have already made decisions for Christ or they don’t make them. But God decided to show that He was in charge and was planning more than we could ask for or imagine (Eph. 3:20).

My best memory of this week is of a little girl named Brandy coming up to me and asking shyly if she could tell me something. She told me that she had accepted Jesus that evening as Her Savior!

Hannah attends the Southside (Indianapolis, Ind.) RPC and is planning to attend Grace College this fall.