This past week has been probably one of my most demanding, strenuous, rewarding, favorite weeks of the Race thus far. Team Healing Hurricane worked for a camp in Durban, South Africa for acquired brain injury survivors called “Higher Ground”. The eighteen campers ranged from 21 to 65 years old, and each moment was filled with effort and excitement.
Coming straight off of 48-hours of traveling, we went right to “work”. We smelled like dirty feet, had little clean laundry, and were beyond exhausted; however, God supernaturally gave us energy day-by-day.
Beginning the camp, we were each assigned to care for particular campers. I was a little apprehensive to be caring for two men—Jimmy, 62, and Howard, 59—seeing that I have virtually no experience in this department. Our care included anything they needed: getting in and out of the shower, dressing and feeding them, and providing non-stop entertainment. Some campers came with their own volunteers, while others might not need too extensive of caring. Thankfully, the most explicit caring I had to do was to put socks on and off.
Our daily schedule varied in activities. From conversational topics to exercise, and game days to talent shows—we kept our campers busy and entertained. But it wasn’t the coffee and tea, or the music that reeled me into these people, it was their stories and hearts because of their accidents that kept me going.
One camper, while riding in a car, had his head out the window as an oncoming car got too close and sandwiched his head between the two cars. Another camper was in a plane crash going 120 mph and almost lost his legs. Yet another camper had a stroke and was told that he would never walk again; however, he forced himself to practice each day to get out of his wheelchair and walk to prove to his parents that there is a God.
Most others at the camp had suffered from a stroke and/or had been in a coma for a series of months. Some campers said that they had died, gone to heaven, and that God told them they weren’t yet done on earth. But when they awoke from their coma, everyone’s stories were nearly the same: I have a purpose on this earth and I will praise God for it!
In telling us their stories, these campers could have focused on the fact that they cannot walk again, or that they can’t see properly, or that their brains will never be the same; however, these campers always told their story with a joy. “I was in a coma for three months, but now look what God has done…I can talk!”
To be able to possess an optimistic perspective on life is one gift that cannot be given. To constantly tell people of the love and grace that God has bestowed on one’s life is not easily acquired. Yet to experience something life altering and live to talk about it might be the silver platter.
This year for Christmas, we don’t have a Christmas tree, we don’t have a plethora of sugary or fatty foods to indulge ourselves in, but we all have been given a life-altering gift through these campers.
Praise God in and through EVERY circumstance!
