Dear Friends:

The majority of the young people who come to Inner City Camp generally have visiting rights to nowhere. They’re stuck. Some have never had the opportunity to go anywhere outside the few city blocks that make up their inhospitable world.

When these same young people step off the bus at Quaker Meadow, and are greeted by a view of pine trees and rustic cabins, it’s a sight they almost never forget. The gift of a week at camp includes 3 meals a day, camp staff that surrounds them with love and acceptance, and fun activities in a safe environment where they don’t have to be looking over their shoulder in fear. This is the experience that has transformed many a young person through the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Occasionally we get so-called gang bangers; tough and street hardened. The bus ride and the isolation of the wilderness is a mind cleanser. They know they have no back-up. Camp is such a valuable ministry tool to counter the influence of the growing violence of the compressed urban street demeanor of the inner city.

I remember a particular banger came with his gang gear displayed. We asked him to put it away and he did. He quietly melted into the crowd for a week at camp, and there he gave his life to Jesus at the chapel alter. He went home. The next year at camp, a young man jumped off the bus and ran to a staff member to tell him that the banger came home and totally changed. Back at home he got right – submitted to the rigorous discipline of his football coaches, and ultimately received a scholarship to a major university.

This is one of the many stories of how a bus ride to Quaker Meadow Inner City camp has often been the first time that these young people have escaped from the madness of street life amongst the urban poor. Away from the noise and repression; the yelling and the abuses…the Lord speaks to hearts, drawing them into a personal relationship of love. Please help these young people to have an opportunity to receive the gift wrapped in Jesus.

Brother Fred