Don't we get to READ this morning?

By Mary Jane Amick

Each evening of South African Reading Camp, we gathered in the Chapel. Bishop Sauls began conversation by asking children and adults, “Where did you see God today?” This is what my Holy Glimpses will describe.

I first saw God in South Africa Reading Camp over a year ago when I met the “Grahamstown Four,” Hilton Adonis, Bro. Daniel Ludik, Kary McConnachie and Ntombekaya Myeki, and they described their resolve and their faith that the children of Grahamstown’s townships would receive the benefits of Reading Camp. And, as appropriate upon glimpsing the face of God, I was startled and even a bit fearful, by the quick realization that this meeting was, in some yet unknown way, going to change my life. The path and journey to South Africa was intensely personal for each of the participants, perhaps in a way most of us hadn’t anticipated.

I saw God immediately upon arrival at the Camp site when, within minutes of meeting, the South African counselors and their Kentucky counterparts, Drew Eclov, Connor Egan and Vibh Forsythe, began sharing music and teaching each other their own songs. This joyous and spontaneous interaction led to immediate and strong cross-cultural bonding. God sings, plays the drum and dances with joyous abandon!
I watched God in Ginger, an original birther and nourisher of Reading Camp, as she became its grandparent, contentedly letting the next generation take over. While generously offering her wisdom when asked, otherwise she enjoyed playing with and reading to the young ones. What better model than our Maker at setting a beautiful creation in motion and then stepping back and letting it grow?

Traveling by van into the townships with Kary to pick up the campers, I saw God over and over in the faces of neighbors and extended family members gathered along the dirt roads awaiting our arrival, the numbers increasing as we neared each house. The whole township was excited by and invested in the adventure their children were about to begin. God was clearly seen in the amazing courage of the mamas and grannies who, though a bit fearful and uncertain, took giant leaps of faith and packed off their precious little ones (most of whom had never spent a night away from home before) wanting this opportunity for their children. God reaches out for and gathers the little children with love and tender care.

The van at first was very quiet, with little bodies slunk down in seats and uncertainty the emotion of the moment. Slowly, voices strengthened and little ones sat taller in their seats as they met us and each other. Smiles widened and minds opened as they laughed genially at my efforts to pronounce all their Xhosa names correctly, trying to get all the clicks just right. God has a wonderful sense of humor!

It is impossible not to compare and contrast cultures and values to some degree in this type experience. In Kentucky, the day before Reading Camp often finds camp directors calling to remind all the children and families that camp begins tomorrow and even then we have spots go untaken as some forget or decide at the last minute not to participate. The saddest duty of the South African staff the first day was to call the children on the waiting list, each packed and hopeful, to tell them there was not a place for them this year as every child invited was attending. Instead of Kary calling to remind campers, we heard God in the multiple phone calls we received from mamas and even some campers as we drove: “Today’s the day isn’t it? Are you coming? How soon will you be here? You haven’t forgotten me, have you??”

The concentration and determination of the children as they immediately immersed themselves in the Reading Center activities was impressive. They moved quietly and quickly between centers, not wanting to miss a moment of the fun. Brother Timothy, abbot at our South African partner in Reading Camp, the Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery, described seeing the face of God one morning in the form of little Cheslyn. Greeting all the children as they came in for breakfast, he said to Cheslyn, “You must be so excited…you get to go to the Game Reserve this morning and see all the animals!” Instead of the happy, anticipatory response he expected, Bro. Timothy said Cheslyn instead looked crestfallen and asked sadly “But what about the Centers? Don’t we get to READ this morning?” Cheslyn was assured that he would go to some of the centers before we left and the rest when we returned, and that not one moment’s reading would be lost. Amen. Alleluia.

I saw God’s face in the transformations in all the children, but several examples must be shared. Sivenathi came to us very quiet and uncertain, especially socially. She sustained third degree burns on her entire face and both hands as a very small child, and from the moment we picked her up in the bus on Sunday you could see how tentative she was...”will I fit in?...will I be accepted?” It was such a joy to watch her open up over the week, discovering that only momentarily did anyone even notice her scars, and that everyone was able to accept her exactly as she is and see all of her beauty. By Tuesday before lunch she was laughing out loud with her new friends and then joined in with the boys in a game of rugby...and certainly held her own. Delivering Sivenathi back home was heart wrenching, as perhaps more with her than any of the others, Kary and I sensed real and present danger in her environment. We couldn’t help but wonder and fear what awaited her that day and what tomorrow would bring. The following day we received an unexpectedly joyous answer. Having left some materials out of the children’s packets, we returned to all their homes to deliver them. No one, of course, knew we were coming and we weren’t even in the car Kary usually drives, so it was total surprise. We found Sivenathi outside her house in her Kentucky sweatshirt and KY blue ball cap. Sivenathi waved with a huge smile when she saw us. As we drove away she was surrounded by other children and was proudly showing them her things and explaining what they were to an obviously impressed audience.

I received this message from Kary recently: “Just wanted to share with you that Sivenathi’s principal is over the moon about the effects Reading Camp has had on her!! She is apparently bursting with confidence and is becoming a real little leader amongst her fellow pupils.”

Little Siyanda has a beautiful face that is full of curiosity, but at the same time, hesitance. I saw him a number of times at camp as he arrived with a serious cut on his foot from stepping on a glass bottle. This had happened over a week before, but was far from healed. I would imagine 20 or more stitches would have been used had he been to an Emergency Room. During a night hike he accidentally stepped in a large (and cold) puddle and walked all the way back without complaint, but was later seen crying. His foot was icy cold and the cut was burning; he hadn’t wanted to miss out on anything, so he stuck it out, even though it must have hurt badly. I saw the transformation overnight from the saddest little face as we cleaned and re-bandaged, to one of complete involvement and sheer joy, laughing at the wonderful puppet show put on for the children after lunch the next day.

Nolovuyo arrived at Camp with a real hesitance to express herself in written English. The third morning we had a visiting teacher whom Nolovuyo had never met. As Kary was showing the teacher around she asked if Nolovuyo would like to show Rosario her journal. Nolovuyo at first said “No!” with what Kary interpreted as total reluctance; she soon realized her mistake. Nolovuyo was extremely excited about what she had done in the writing station earlier and THAT was what she very much wanted to share, enthusiastically, both with Kary and even with someone she didn’t know. This was an amazing transformation in this little girl.

Similarly, Charmaine came running to me at full speed right before lunch one day to ask if they were going to do painting soon. I told her that I thought they would be painting again the next day. Immediately she launched excitedly into a story about something she had read that morning, ending her tale with “But Mary Jane, I have to paint it NOW!!” Arrangements were made, of course, and you can imagine my surprise and absolute delight when later that afternoon she presented her paintings to me as a gift. God is a beautiful artist named Charmaine whose work I will see on my walls forever.

We will all, of course, know more later as we receive reports and see how these transformations continue, but there are 18 such stories of the changes in each of the children, and as always, just as much joy and transformation in the adults who were been blessed to have been there and saw, over and over, the face of God in them.
I’ll close with an experience from the last night in Chapel. All the children were gathered around listening intently to tales from the Bible told by Stacy about God’s complete love for and need for them, for all children, each and every one of them. I watched as every child, even those in big bodies, smiled quietly with delight as they envisioned this wonderful truth:”On the day you were born, all the angels sang for joy!” May all these little ones always have that absolute knowledge and the confidence to continue the transformations we saw begun in one short week of Reading Camp. And may we all be blessed with such Holy Glimpses to strengthen and transform our lives as well.

Nurse Mary Jane Amick is a member of St. Martha's, Lexington and is a member of the Reading Camp Steering Committee.

*This article first appeared in the September 2008 edition of the Advocate.