A boy who attends Midwestern Christian Academy in Chicago for school was at the Roughriders elementary age boys camp. This was his first time sleeping away from home and he definitely had some nervousness at bedtime the first night.
Shortly after 11 p.m., he woke up his Cabin Leader, Saul, who is an MCA alum. After sharing with him that he just couldn’t sleep due to his allergies (and his worries), they walked around camp, got some water, and checked in with the nurse. When the camper still couldn’t settle, Saul reached out to our Program Director, Dan Mayer.
Dan was up late finalizing scheduling details for the week, frustrated that it had taken so long. As it turns out, in God’s timing, just as Dan started walking home from the office at 1 a.m. he received Saul’s call for support. So Dan headed to the Buckaroo cabin.
Dan asked the camper, “Would you like to pray or do you want me to pray for you?” The camper wanted to pray. Dan told us he was blessed by the boy’s beautiful, heartfelt prayer!
After some more time together and prayer with Dan, the camper finally settled down and went to sleep. In the morning, he kindly thanked Saul for being there for him on that rough night.
This camper went on to fully engage in all that camp has to offer… chapel, Bible study, and games. He even overcame some other fears by learning to water ski with Olen! He had a great week and can’t wait to return next year.