The morning air is cool and crisp, yet it will give way to a sweltering day. Cabins are filled with sleeping children on the brink of another fun day at camp. Counselors tiptoe around the cabins, avoiding the creaks, and prepare themselves for the long day ahead.
Attending camp is a staple for many children during the summer, and it leaves a lasting impact. Yet camp is not affordable for every family. That’s why Prison Fellowship® launched Angel Tree® camping, which provides scholarships to children with incarcerated parents to attend camp.
The first Angel Tree camp was hosted in 2002, and since then camps around the nation have partnered with Prison Fellowship to change the lives, hearts, and summers of children with an incarcerated parent.
Kerri was one such child.
A SUMMER AWAY
In the summer of 2003, when she was 5 years old, Kerri attended Lake View Camp, an Angel Tree partner camp. She didn’t smile much that first summer. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy her time away, but her life circumstances had left her sad. Her father was in prison, and both her parents were often in and out of her life.
Slowly, year after year, an impact was made on Kerri’s heart. She enjoyed the activities, the camp setting, and most of all, the counselors. During the early years, Kerri would return to camp the same quiet little girl she was in 2003. Her counselors always welcomed her back with open arms.
“They just waited until I was ready [to share],” she says. “They showed up year after year.”
Those first few summers, Kerri recalls her counselors would just sit with her. They didn’t fill the silence with words but instead let her know she was safe with them. And slowly, the wall she had built up began to come down.
A STEADY PRESENCE
Kerri remembers getting into trouble when she was younger. Her grandparents, the only real Christians she had in her life, would often have to discipline her. Her bad behavior arose from feelings of lack—everything Kerri tried her hand at left her unfulfilled. Her counselors were there to point her to the only thing that could fill her: a relationship with Christ.
Summer wasn’t the only time Kerri interacted with her counselors. Her camp hosted Angel Tree Fun Nights, which provided her with an opportunity to see her counselors throughout the school year. Those regular moments of contact helped to build relationships that would impact Kerri throughout her lifetime.
In addition to the Fun Nights, Kerri’s counselors also checked in with her each week to ask how her time with the Lord was going, what she was reading, and how she had honored Christ that week. At first, Kerri hoped her answers would impress her counselors. She didn’t receive much affirmation growing up and wanted her counselors to be proud of her. But in time, she learned that her counselors loved her no matter which answers she gave. The counselors at camp became the most influential faith role models in her life.
Kerri’s faith started to develop into something more real during her high school years. It was no longer just about making her counselors proud, but about her relationship with God.
Her counselors were there to point her to the only thing that could fill her: a relationship with Christ.
JOINING THE TEAM
Kerri continued to attend camp until she graduated high school, and then she returned as a counselor. For Kerri, joining staff was a “no-brainer.”
Now, she works at a local school in Pella, Iowa, during the school year, which allows her to continue working at camp during summers. She loves seeing the campers return year after year and knows the difference an experience at camp can make in a child’s life.
Just like her own counselors did with her, Kerri maintains active relationships with her campers throughout the year. She can relate to them in a unique way because of her own upbringing and is able to mentor the children with a greater understanding of what they go through.
Without her own counselors, Kerri knows she could have taken a very different path in life. Now she appreciates the role she gets to play in her own campers’ lives—especially helping them identify beliefs and behaviors that are not aligned with God’s truth.
“Sometimes we’re not planting seeds,” says Kerri, reflecting on the work she does with Angel Tree campers. “I think most of the time we’re pulling weeds. If you’re planting seeds where there’s weeds, it’s not going to grow.”
Kerri reminds her campers that even though their parents have made some unhealthy choices, they don’t have to make the same ones. These interactions don’t just encourage the campers; Kerri often leaves feeling encouraged herself.
Recently, Kerri’s father was reincarcerated. During one of her phone calls with an Angel Tree camper, she shared about his situation. The camper quickly gave her verses to read from the Bible and shared personal advice for dealing with the situation.
“I think one thing that is special about Angel Tree counselors is your childhood and your past doesn’t leave you when you turn 18,” Kerri says. “You’re still going to be going through those things. … I don’t think counselors or Angel Tree kids realize how much you learn from kids.”
“Sometimes we’re not planting seeds. I think most of the time we’re pulling weeds. If you’re planting seeds where there’s weeds, it’s not going to grow.”
—Kerri
A SPECIAL TRADITION
For Kerri and her campers, there are many reasons to love Lake View Camp. One such reason is a special tradition the camp upholds. When campers are checked in, they receive a care package of items they may need during the session, including a Bible. As a special gift, local churches in the Pella area provide campers with a homemade quilt.
When the children receive this gift, the counselors make sure the campers know it’s not just a quilt—the community members who make them commit to praying for campers throughout the summer. The campers get to take the quilt home with them at the end of the session. Many of the children Kerri encounters run to check in to receive their quilt, and they have a treasured collection from previous years.
“We tell them when they wrap up in it, it’s like a great big God hug,” says Kerri. “Especially when they’re not at camp and they’re feeling sad, or they’re missing camp and things are hard, they can just wrap up in their quilt and know that God is with them.”
Growing up, Kerri cherished the Bibles she received at camp. She started her own personal tradition of returning each year with the Bible she had received from the previous session of camp. Prison Fellowship camping provides Adventure Bibles to campers, so they can read the Word of God in a child-friendly and engaging way.
Kerri has both seen and felt the difference that a week at camp can make in the life of a child with an incarcerated parent.
“If it wasn’t for camp then I would not be the person that I am today, and I would not be where I am today, for sure,” she says. “Kids adapt so well to the environment that they’re in.”
Camps like Lake View cultivate an environment that is one of open arms, faith, healing, and hope.
THE LEGACY CONTINUES
Camp changed Kerri’s life. Today the staff at Lake View Camp are still pouring into her, providing both wisdom and a safe space for her to retreat. They help her to set healthy boundaries with her family, teach her life skills like changing her oil, and walk with her in her faith journey.
Kerri’s advice for new campers coming to an Angel Tree camp: Find a counselor and be their buddy. Many Angel Tree counselors were once campers themselves and have a unique perspective and insight into the lives of Angel Tree children. It’s these bonds that make Angel Tree camping so special. For campers at Lake View Camp, one thing is sure: Kerri will be there, smiling, to welcome them to camp each year.
“[Angel Tree camping] gives you an opportunity to change a kid’s life,” says Kerri. “Not just one time, but forever.”
“[Angel Tree camping] gives you an opportunity to change a kid’s life. Not just one time, but forever.”
—Kerri
