Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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Remember the blissful days you once spent at summer camp? The songs around the campfire, the hikes into the woods, the countless hot dogs and sandwiches you consumed, swimming until your body literally gave out…for those of us who went, I would venture that most of us can recall those memories fondly – and for those who never got the chance, I’m sorry to say that you definitely missed out.

The latter situation may have been the case for the amazing group of 16 individuals my team had the privilege of working with last week, had it not been for an organization called Higher Ground. You see, these amazing campers were just like you and me: wanting to experience life and, namely, an adventurous week at camp to the fullest. There was just one difference: they are all blind or partially sighted.
 
Campers and staff of January 2011 Higher Ground camp at Wortelgat
 
When my first team first found out that we would be working with blind people at a summer camp in South Africa this month, we were all pretty clueless as to what that would entail. In fact, we were all a bit puzzled when Emma, the director of Higher Ground, informed us that we would be taking the campers kayaking, horseback riding and practicing archery. Seriously – with blind people? Nervous laughter accompanied visions of dodging arrows, rescuing wayward swimmers, etc.
 
It turns out that the joke was on us (and people had to dodge the arrows that I shot during archery practice!). We were the blind ones. Blind to all the incredible things that God can do through people not just in spite of but sometimes even because of their disability – and that having a diability doesn’t have to mean being disadvantaged. I’m so grateful to all of the campers for opening up my eyes (pun intended) to a world which I have never experienced and for ministering to me. I thought I’d share a few highlights from our week at camp below:
 
– Serving the campers their meals every day (not because they couldn’t but because we wanted to), taking orders and trying to perfect how I made their coffee – it brought me back to my waitressing days!
 
– Hearing one camper, Reata, tell us how she “just had to prove to her sister that she could do it” as she kayaked like a champ accross the lagoon

– Seeing my teammate Will getting beaten at chess by Lynn, a blind camper who only had to touch the board for a second before making his move

– Watching Nadia, a camper, look out for her close friend and fellow camper Ilana, who is both blind and deaf by using sign language to communicate everything that was said into her hand

– Having Arne, a blind camper, teach me how to shoot a bow and arrow much better than I could explain it to anyone else as a sighted person
 
                                                                        Archery practice!

– Being given a beautiful bracelet by Desiree, a camper who didn’t realize that spending time with her that week had already been a gift

– Thinking I was doing a good deed by taking the three guide dogs running with me in the morning, only to find myself getting taken for a WILD ride by three energetic black labs

– Having ladies time everyday, where we all shared things like what we had wanted to be when we grew up, and learning that some of the women were held back much more by racism than by blindness 

 
Ladies time at camp

 
– Hearing Sarah, a 76-year old camper talk about how Higher Ground camp was her perfect holiday, that she experienced things she never had before, and that she will keep coming back for years! 
 

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I will never forget my week working with Higher Ground camp and the campers who inspired and taught me so much. I can’t help but keep hearing the lyrics to Amazing Grace in my head, and realizing that now I see what I was blind to before.  I thank God for ordaining our path this month so that we could be part of this ministry! Now it’s on to the Philippines for my team – we will be departing Cape Town on Wednesday for Johannesburg and then we leave the country Friday. Please be praying for safe travel and for a quick adjustment into life in Asia for the next four months!

I’d also like to take a moment to let everyone know that I am FULLY FUNDED and that monthly supporters may be released to support other missionaries and ministries as the Spirit leads. THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me on this amazing World Race trip – you have been such a blessing to me and I praise God for how he worked through you to make this possible!