I want to let you in on camp. What I’ve been able to experience, and what situations I’ve been apart of. The place that explains it best is my journal. So here are a few blurbs that I feel like I needed to share.
10/12/17
We were supposed to start at 4 and we started shift at 2 yesterday. They received 200ish new arrivals, and it was an “all hands on deck” situation. The camp was already at max capacity but they really can’t say no. We instantly rushed in and briefed. We got to work housing people, building tents, moving people from tents to ISO boxes, and made sure the new arrivals were cared for. We were ready to serve where we could. Because of this, my heart broke but rejoiced all at the same time. I helped around 10 families move into tents. Whether they be 6 by 6 squares of space in larger tents or a measly 4 person pop up tent, we had to put them somewhere. But here was the thing that wrecked me. These families were so thankful. It brought me so much joy knowing we could help them and they were so grateful, but it killed me knowing we couldn’t do more for them. We couldn’t give the children enough space to learn to walk or just play by themselves, we had to give them enough space to sleep and store their stuff. Surrounded by hundreds, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that, of other families in the same situation. I got to be the bearer of good news for those families, and the bearer of not-so-fun news for others. I was the one who had to tell them another family was moving in, taking up some of their already limited space. This brought a lot of emotion from everyone. I got yelled at, multiple times, I got begged to not let this happen and I got my heart broken.
Yesterday, I was the reason that a fight broke out. I witnessed a man have 3 seizures walking 200 feet. I made friends with a kid that followed me around camp for a solid 2 hours, even with people yelling at me. Yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life, but yesterday was one of the best days of my life. I felt like I made a difference. I felt like I did something that was changing people’s lives. It was 10 straight hours of doing something, but it was worth every second.
10/15/17
Two days ago I was on section B gate, the unaccompanied minors. This day that started out boring quickly became one of my favorite days. These kids are incredible. They love to hang out with Americans to practice their english and hang out just because. A few stay longer than others, but they all wanted to know my name and where I’m from… These kids are something special.
Yesterday I was asked to guard level 2. After sitting there for a few hours a man walked past and said hello. I said hello back and I don’t know why, but he wanted to sit next to me and smoke. He wasn’t even from level 2, but he seemed sincere so I let him in. He was from Syria, spoke Arabic, and lived on level 3. He didn’t speak any english, but we somehow made conversation with hand gestures and little we knew of each others language. The man pulled out a piece of paper that broke my heart. On the paper it talked about the scars and wounds he had on his body from the bombings in Syria. It went on to say that his wife and son were still in Syria while he was here. I looked up to what I thought were tears in his eyes. He pulled up his sleeves and pant legs and showed me the scars. Small ones and big ones covered arms, legs, and neck. All he could say was, “Syria, bad,” and did hand motions that I made out to be a bombing. We then went on to talk about his wife and child, and he pointed to his wedding ring and said, “Family.” I can’t imagine what he is feeling or what he is going through. I could tell all he wanted to do was hold his family and there was nothing I could do to help.
I know these journal entries are not perfect, and they may not even make sense to you, but they will be close to my heart for a long time. They may be sporadic, but this is the best I know how to explain it. The experiences here are unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed.
Continue to pray for these people. These refugees who are just looking for hope. These people who are trying to provide for their families, but don’t have much say in what happens. These friends I have gained, and these seeds that God has been planting.
In Him,
Caleb
