Hollis

My first week of day camp coordinating took me all the way to Hollis Renewal Center in Bonner Springs, Kansas.  This place is known for being basically the best day camp ever, so I was pretty excited to be sent down there.
The kids at this camp were incredibly wonderful.  Every single one.  The coordinator here always extends the invitation past the churches and into the inner city (Kansas City) transitional homes and development centers.  Many of the kids came from great families who were really involved with their churches, but the other half came from centers in KC.  At least three of the kids in my group came from a center, and I was told that they live in the most drug and crime filled neighborhood in KC.  Broke. my. heart.

Hollis has trails, worship sites and campfires, so it really wasn't that far off from my home at camp.
Instead of living with host families, we lived in a little cabin in the woods.    

I always know that I am going to miss the kids when I go home, but these kids I cannot get out of my head.  It makes me so sad knowing what they have to go home to each day.  I wanted to bring them back to Carol Joy and let them live there all summer long.
Perfect first week of my real job.