Camp shares hope, love with the children of inmates

By Sandra Brands*

CABOT, Vt. (UMNS) -- When they arrived, the children were fearful, withdrawn and silent. By the time they left the weeklong summer camp, they were just a bunch of kids who had a great time.

The 21 children, who attended Camp Agape at Covenant Hills Christian Camp in Cabot, all had something in common: at least one parent was serving time in a Vermont correctional facility.

"It's a tough population of kids," said the Rev. David Murphy of Shelburne (Vt.) United Methodist Church and director of Camp Agape. "The first night, I was watching the children at dinner, and I wondered what had we gotten into -- it was pandemonium. By Wednesday night, dinner was going well. It was great to see that happen."

Of the 27 children who arrived Aug. 20, only six had to be sent home, "some because of health issues, some for behavior issues," he said. "Even the ones who went home benefited from the experience.

"We know they're going back to where they came from, and some of those environments may not be good, but our hope is that they would have this kernel of warmth or hope or a sense of God's love - whatever they came away with - that would be a sustaining piece," he said.

Ultimately, that is the purpose of Camp Agape and others like it. Aimed at children 8 to 12, the camp provides a positive experience to youth so that they learn they are part of the community, that there are alternatives to violence and that there's more to life than survival.

"We are doing this to be an intervention for these children," said the Rev. Joy Lowenthal, pastor at Waterbury (Vt.) United Methodist Church and a member of the camp planning committee.

"Camp Agape is designed to help break the cycle of generational incarceration and to help children discover Christ."

Changes evident
Murphy said every night, he and wife, Judy, carried glow sticks as they visited children in their cabins. "There were no lights on," Murphy said, "and some of the kids were uncomfortable, so we went around every night to say, 'Hi, how's it going?'"

At the beginning of the week, the children were reserved. None of them thought of offering hugs to anyone, Murphy said. That soon changed. After seeing David and Judy hug their daughter, a counselor at one of the cabins, the girl campers started asking for hugs.

"By Thursday, all the girls wanted a hug and were hugging each other," Judy said.

"One of the campers was very shy," David said. "By the end of the week, he was getting up in front of everyone and singing a song he wrote."

Though camp started off a little ruggedly as the children adjusted to their new surroundings, the counselors and camp leaders quickly learned to deal with emotional anxiety, depression and rainstorms. On the second day of camp, the staff gathered to pray for guidance.

"I felt things start to change," Judy said. "It was very powerful. You could feel God's presence with us."

Even the weather improved, she said.

"The coming together of the staff was an absolute miracle, and we really had to depend on God and each other," David said.

Outgrowth of Kairos
This is the first year the camp has been offered in Vermont. The first Agape Camp was held 12 years ago by the Episcopal Church after the Rev. Jacqueline Means, then a prison chaplain, called for a camp catering to the children of prisoners.

Now the criminal justice officer for the Episcopal Church, Means cited statistics that showed a child with a parent in prison has a 70 percent chance of also ending up in prison. There's a 90 percent likelihood that children with two parents in prison will end up incarcerated.

The Agape Camp idea caught on, and camps have been offered in dioceses and at ecumenical campgrounds in Mississippi, Oklahoma, Maryland, Connecticut, North Carolina, Texas and New Mexico.

Though inspired by the Episcopal model, the basis of Camp Agape in Vermont is rooted in Kairos, the international prison ministry.

"In Vermont, we've had to stop doing the Kairos program because long-term inmates have been sent out of state to places like Kentucky," said Chris Kapsalis, a member of Shelburne United Methodist Church and lay leader of the Green Mountain District of Troy Annual (regional) Conference. A member of the Vermont Kairos ministry, Kapsalis said the transfer of long-term prisoners out of state led to efforts to find new ways to serve the prison population.

Some of the members of the Kairos group belonged to the Episcopal Church, and they had heard about camps being offered to children of inmates. They brought the concept to the group in fall 2005.

Three denominations cooperate
Though the Episcopal camp near Burlington was unable to host a new camp in 2006, there was space available at Covenant Hills Christian Camp, a joint program of the Troy Conference of the United Methodist Church and the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ.

With help from the Roman Catholic diocese, the three denominations spent the next few months raising money for the camp, transportation for campers and supplies. Working with the Vermont Department of Corrections and other social agencies, the committee offered children the opportunity to attend the August camp without any costs.

Each child received a backpack filled with supplies donated by Troy Conference United Methodist Women. They also received sleeping bags and Camp Agape hats, sweatshirts and T-shirts.

"These kids feel abused by the system," Kapsalis said. "It's like they're incarcerated along with their parent. The children are part of our community and the objective of (Camp Agape) is to provide a place where they can experience love."

"I think everyone sees the problem with generational incarceration and wants to help change it," Lowenthal said. "They do know (these camps make a) difference in the children's life. They are just glowing at the week's end. They've received love -- it just overwhelms everyone."

The camp was so successful that plans are under way to offer it twice next summer. The Murphys are looking forward to it.

Said David: "We don't know if we'll be directors - we haven't been asked - but we'll be involved."
*Brands is director of communications for the United Methodist Church's Troy Annual Conference.