The Power of a Workcamp

As a Red Shirt staff member, you hear God Sightings that are out of the wazoo! Some are silly and some can seriously touch your heart.

This is what happened to me here in Tioga County, NY. It was a Wednesday and during program we had our usual God Sightings where about 10 youth come down in the front to share their stories. A young man came down and shared a story that made us realize that we are actually making a difference in our community. 

Crew 8 got to their sight to start working on the half-finished porch they started. About halfway through their work day, a Child Protection Services (CPS) van came to the house. The kind woman said hello to the crew and proceeded to walk inside to talk with the resident. The crew got kind of nervous that they were going to watch something tragic. About an hour later the CPS woman came out of the house with the resident and started to walk around and talk to the youth and adult. They talked about how much work they are getting done and how great they are working. The CPS woman told the entire crew that because of the work that they are doing on the house, it is bringing it to code and the resident is going to be allowed to keep her 4 children. 

Wow. Talk about impact. Because of the work that 5 youth and 1 adult are doing this resident gets to keep custody of her 4 children. This touched my heart and made me realize how rewarding this job can be. Workcamps makes an amazing difference on a community and sometimes we just need that affirmation. This was it. God is working in so many amazing ways to make our hearts humble.