I have come to realize that Camp Hope truly is a special place. Seventeen of the children we have cared for this month return to a Casa Hogar, or orphanage, at the end of the day. My team had the opportunity to visit their home and I was very impressed. Their home was beautiful- it was spacious and clean, with tile floors. Each room was brightly painted. Every child had their own bed and closet. Each room had an adaptive bathroom so that even the children in wheelchairs could recieve a full warm bath. Even more remarkable was the love and care of the staff.
Every day, at the end of the day program at Camp Hope, after all the other children are picked up by their family or caregiver, the seventeen children are gathered together and one by one are carried or placed in a large van and driven to the Casa Hogar. They are greeted warmly, and once again unloaded one by one. During our visit, we joined in on an indoor game of hide and go seek. Screams and giggles echoed the hallways as we ran and pushed wheelchairs to various hiding places. We played a few rounds and the children loved it. As we were wrapping up and getting ready to return to the main room, Raul, a boy who uses the assistance of a walker was paused in the door way. I asked him what he was waiting for and he motioned to a girl named Marisol who had been wheeled into the bathroom by another child and was accidently left behind. My heart! These kids watch out for one another.
We also began to learn the stories of some of the children. Marisol had been born to a family that was from a tribe in the Amazon Rainforest. In their culture, it is believed that a child born with a disability is a curse from god, and she was abandoned by her family.
Fernando was abandoned at the hospital as an infant when his parents realized that he was born with hydrocephalus- a condition where fluid builds up on the brain resulting in an enlarged head and developmental delay.
Jessica was found on the streets as an adolescent. She is cognitively three or four years old. Her actual name and age are unknown. After being taken in to the Casa Hogar, to everyone’s shock, it became evident that she was pregnant.
You would never know the evil and horror some of these children have experienced as they radiate the love they have received. Camp Hope embodies Romans 12:21- “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
I watched as the staff cared for another boy named, Ronaldo. He is another child who had been abandoned and requires 24/7 care as he was born with multiple severe birth defects. He carries the scar of a once cleft palate, wears a helmet due to seizures, and has a tracheostomy- an incision made in his airway so he can breathe. He can’t spend as much time around the other children because he is very susceptible to illness. At times, staff have to restrain him because pain in his body causes him to act out aggressively. I watched as he sat calmy in the director’s apartment at the Casa Hogar recieving a breathing treatment. He actually lives with the director. I got a peak at his room and the first thing I noticed was his blue Hot Wheels car bed. Ronaldo has been in the care of staff for over fifteen years. Before they had their facility, the staff took turns caring for Ronaldo in their own homes. The current director goes to medical school by day and cares for the children in the evening. Her dream is to one day adopt Ronaldo as her own son.
I was amazed at the devotion and love of each staff; they were all-in for these children. It was beautiful, it was Jesus, and it got me thinking, where can I be all-in? God has allowed me to be a part of several different ministries in various states and countries and it has been nothing short of amazing. I don’t know where He is going to take me after the race, but He’s got me asking, and I know He will reveal it.
