The evening we had a potluck supper in the very large dining hall at the lodge at the CAMP OF THE HILLS where we are staying, the Mel, the Camp Director agreed to give us a presentation as to what the camp is all about. We were very impressed. This camp was built so that inner city homeless children who could not go to camp otherwise would be able to have a Christian camp experience. A senior man with a heart for this mission bought the property in the mid nineties and everything has been built and supported by volunteers. Mel brought to our attention that there are not only homeless men and women, but also HOMELESS CHILDREN, a concept we had not considered. There is a minimal charge for the children to come, and the camp is full all summer. The campers come with no sense of family, love, hugs, or hope. They come with hostility, anger, attitude, and hopelessness, and are loved to pieces all week. It doesn’t take long for the love of God to penetrate. All of the help is volunteer – from the camp counsellors, usually Christian university students who often come back from year to year, and some former campers - to church groups and youth groups who come and make the meals. The meals are all home-cooked and are eaten in a family atmosphere. It was noted that they could eat ALL THEY WANTED. They do all the things children at any regular Church camp do: fun things, swimming, games, sing-songs, fishing, you name it, plus get an education about the love of Jesus.
We had noticed and were wondering about the three crosses way up on the hill in a clearing, with a cave just below. We learned that on Thursday nights for each of the sets of campers, they have a drama, with the camp counselors whom the youngsters have grown to love and respect over the week, as actors, and re-enact the crucifixion. These children get a real view of who Jesus is and that it was not just like a TV movie or a fictional story. They go home with hope and a life-line - a knowledge of what life can be when you have Jesus in your heart. It was SO moving.
We were also informed that the first building on the left up the hill from our camp site is a hair salon where all the children have an appointment when they arrive – head lice is a terrific problem and must be treated so as not to multiply in the dorms. Can you imagine totally removed lice and nits from some of that tightly kinked hair (a good majority of the children are black American children)??? It would almost be to the point where you’d just want to shave all those heads!! Mel, the Camp Director, said someone is coming up with a new device to put over your head like a hair dryer which sends rays that will kill any micro-organisms, and they cannot do it soon enough for their purposes!!!
As we drive along the highway from Smithwick (which is the name of the local area) to Marble Falls, there are miles and miles of fence behind which is an exotic game farm which also has hunting. As we drive along, we strain our necks to see zebras, impalas, gazelles, some red-colored shaggy long-haired deer and whatever else there may be grazing in the fields.
On our first Friday off, we drove to Austin to collect John’s winter Canada jacket with his passport in the pocket, which we tracked down to the Quality Inn where we got dropped off coming from the airport.
As we drove along the highway between Marble Falls and Austin, there was a very interesting site. There was a bridge across very large river with big fancy houses on each side of the highway and on each side of the river. There were many very visible boat houses along the - practically empty river bed. It emphasized how dry Texas has been for the past couple of years.
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