The girl plopped down next to me on the cement step, head hung low and shoulders hunched. She peered up at me through dark, fringed bangs and sighed, “Pastor Debbie, it sure is hard to love your enemies, isn’t it?”

For the past five years I have volunteered one week of my summer vacation to serve as camp pastor at Camp Cedar Falls, trading my classroom responsibilities for wide open spaces, mountain ranges and a different type of ministry. As I looked down into the agitated face of the small camper sitting next to me, it seemed incongruent that someone so young should be using so serious a word as “enemies” to describe her situation. Once again I was struck with how quickly children perceive and wrestle with the hardest issues of life: injustice, pain, loneliness and loss.

I listened as the girl talked about cabin rivalries and the angry words she had exchanged with several girls in a different cabin. Bitter feelings were squeezing out the fun and joy of summer camp. I nodded in sympathy and said, “Not only is it hard for each of us to love our enemies, it is impossible for us to do it all by ourselves. That is why Jesus came down to earth—to show us how to love and then to give us the power to do it.”

Led by the Spirit, I suggested that she might try turning her “enemies” into her friends. “Be the first to say ‘Hi,’ to share a treat, or give a compliment. Use the power of God’s love to change your situation.” We prayed together before she raced off to join her cabin for the morning activities.

Later in the week she came running up, grinning broadly. “It worked, Pastor Debbie, it worked! We’re not fighting any more; we’re friends!” Celebrating together, we laughed and hugged. I know how God’s love has changed my life and now this young camper had experienced that same power in her life. We rejoiced and gave thanks.

I travel to Camp Cedar Falls each summer because girls and boys are there, eager to hear stories and sing songs. I teach them about the God I love, the God who first loved me. This year, my theme was, “God’s planning a party, and He wants you there,” but with every theme the central message is the same: We can trust that God’s love is real because He sent His only son, Jesus, to die for our sins.

My theme for the week always includes an evening worship talk about Calvary and Jesus’ suffering: the beating, the nails, the struggle to breathe, the words of grace that He spoke as He was dying. As we strain to comprehend Jesus’ suffering and death, something miraculous happens. We move from the loneliness of our own troubled lives into the hope that comes from believing our God loves us “THIS MUCH.” Each summer I witness the power of His love touch a child’s life and change it.

I’ll be back at Cedar Falls next summer (unless God’s plans are otherwise). There IS a party being planned that is literally out of this world, and the invitations need to be sent. That is what summer camp programs like Cedar Falls do, they spread the invitation. So that is where I will be, where the boys and girls are.