Surprisingly enough, we had breakfast, loaded up the vehicles, and left on schedule, followed by the frightened glances of the elderly vacationers and businessmen with whom we had shared the hotel overnight. It was a short drive to Messiah College, where we marched the kids into a chapel and held a short church service for them, although unlike any one would usually imagine. We started with a few games: Categories, Go Get It, and a simple who can yell the loudest contest, all, of course, boys versus girls. Then we led them in a few songs: Big House, Lord I Lift Your Name on High, and I've Got the Joy of the Holy Ghost. I broke my pick during the first song and my fingers were bloody from strumming by the end. I also definitely opted for yelling over singing throughout, but it was a lot of fun trying to raise the kids' voices up to the Lord. After the songs, Boston, one of the directors, gave a short message about how, even in Camden, there was both a responsibility and a rich degree of possibility to help others with even less. This was followed by a spontaneous offering, where the kids proudly marched up and gave away what their parents had managed to give them to spend on the trip, to go towards an ongoing penny drive we've been holding to build a basketball court in Kenya. Over twenty dollars was raised from that unplanned offering of love, modest in its monetary value, but not its meaning.
When the service was over, students from Messiah College took over, splitting the kids up into groups to go on a scavenger hunt tour of the college which exposed them to some of the structures and culture of college life. We all ate lunch together in the cafeteria, which was, unfortunately, also a literal taste of college life, and then they took the kids to spend some time hanging out while we were given a couple of hours' respite.
When everyone came back together again, we loaded up the buses and headed back to Camden, where we delivered the kids, some of whom were finally crashing, back to their homes.
The trip was crazy, busy, fun, and tiring for all of the staff, and I hope as much so for our kids who went. Pennsylvania was beautiful, as we drove through hills tinged with green, red, and gold and the silvery wisps of elm and oak flanked the highways to and from Hershey. Our kids couldn't stop talking about the roller coasters, and when someone asked Michael about his favorite part of the trip, he immediately answered, "the hotel room--we had fun," although he told me I was a punk for not letting him turn the TV back on.
The trip cost $20 per child, although we used what funds we could to allay this if possible whenever needed. Still, as Tony, a director from an affiliated program in South Camden, pointed out, many of his kids were from social services, and didn't have parents who they could ask for money, whether they could provide it or not. As a result, even the money raised specifically for the trip wasn't enough to bring all the kids who might have come. Other kids didn't come because of their parents' concerns about safety sending their children in such a large group to a far away place overnight.
Regardless, I am very grateful for the kids who did come and the time we got to spend together, screaming on rides, shivering in the rain, running around parking lots, making faces through bus windows, jumping on beds, and just hanging out and talking. I had some anxieties about the trip and there were a lot of aspects about the trip that were draining or difficult, but it was definitely one of the more satisfying and encouraging experiences I have had as an intern so far and hope it was equally as worthwhile for the kids I got to go with.
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