Rise and shine and pass out the animal crackers

The summer before I started eighth grade, my sister Shaileen decided to start a Bible camp at our parish, St. Pius X in Rodgers Forge. She needed permission from the pastor and the archdiocese, especially since it would be teen-run, but – with the commitment from two very kind mothers-to-be on site – she managed to get the green light. Then we were off and running.

The next thing I knew, I was a member of a Bible-camp-running household. We were designing T-shirts, learning hand signals to Bible songs, and taking calls from parents who were only too happy to let us teach their children during 10 half-days of Bible camp for a mere $25.

Those two weeks each summer were a Bible camp frenzy. No one slept much, as we stayed up late into the night cutting wallpaper into scraps for paper-bag coats-of-many-colors and using hole punches and scissors until our hands were blistered. We helped the children make horses out of toilet-paper tubes and fish from confetti, each craft carefully tied to the Bible story for the day.

We carefully counted out craft materials and animal crackers and Goldfish crackers for each age group. We designed a curriculum for the children and made crafts and mopped up the gallon of apple juice that was spilled on the Penguins’ classroom floor. Sometimes I wonder whether that classroom is still sticky in the corners.

When Shaileen went on to college, I took over the reins, and we kept the Bible camp running. It was a tremendous amount of work, but it was also incredibly rewarding. The volunteers gained as much from the experience as the children did. We shared the Catholic faith with youngsters and learned how to capture their attention and help bring Bible stories to life.

This summer, I find myself looking at my own rising ninth-grader and marveling at the responsibility we took on at that time. My son’s life would almost certainly be enriched by a couple weeks of carting gallons of apple juice to the parish school each morning and calming volunteers after a child eats part of a bottle of glue. And nothing teaches you self-confidence like singing, “Rise and Shine,” to a lawnfull of 100 children, while doing all the hand motions.

Being part of that Bible camp experience gave me insight into the role you can have as a teacher and guide to children. Many years later, as a mother, I realized yet again not only how you can deepen a child’s faith, but also that witnessing a child’s encounter of our faith can beautifully enrich your own. We shine a light on our Catholic faith for each other.

“The joy of children makes their parents’ hearts leap and opens up the future,” Pope Francis tells us. “Children are the joy of the family and of society.” May the summer days offer you a chance to connect with the children in your world and discover something new about our faith with them along the way.

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