I recently finished my third year as a volunteer at Royal Family Kids Camp, a weeklong summer camp that seeks to love and serve children caught up in the foster care system. Each year, I’ve left camp with a lot of various thoughts and feelings running through my heart and mind. It’s probably the most reflective week of my life. One thought I’ve had every year as the week winds down, though, is simply this: the beauty of striving together.

There is a sort of Band of Brothers effect that takes place at camp. When people go through hard times or difficult work or emotional strain together, a special connection takes place. It may not necessarily be better or worse than the connections you share with others in your life, but it is certainly different. Spending a week at a camp for foster kids with other adults, some of whom have sacrificed much to be there, will naturally create a deep sense of love and appreciation amongst one another.

This might come as a shock to others who have been at camp with me the past few years. I am a fairly awkward introvert who has hardly spoken to most of the people there. I don’t truly know most of them nor do they really know me. I just don’t do a good job of socializing. Because of that, it might be odd for some of those people who hardly know me to be reading that I feel a sense of respect, appreciation, love, and even connection with them.

In some sense, that is part of my reasoning for writing this. It is, in a way, a “thank you”. Though I don’t speak to many of the people there, I can assure you that as I look around the room during our big debrief at the end of camp every year, I feel such a deep sense of appreciation for those who have served with me during such long week.

This is how it’s supposed to work, after all, is it not? Hebrews 10:24 gives us this command, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works…” Part of the Christian life, a big part of it in fact, is meant to be spent with other Christians in a context that encourages love and good works. Weirdly, Scripture has proven right yet again, as this is the very thing that takes place when I go to camp. By simply watching the other people at camp during the week, I am encouraged and strengthened to live on in more good works. Good works will often beget more good works in others. It’s a beautiful thing when people work together towards a single unified goal that matters.

There is one last bit of encouragement I want to share about camp this year. This was an observation not initially made by myself, but by someone else during our debrief. However it struck me and convicted me and encouraged me so much as I’ve continued to reflect on it over the last few weeks, so I thought I should share it.

I spend a lot of my time being frustrated with the people in my generation (myself included). There’s a lot not to like about us, really. Perhaps I’m just being cynical and bitter, but in many ways this generation can feel so lost to me. There’s so much to lament. And at times it just annoys me. Perhaps I can save specifics for another blog post…

Nonetheless, I was struck with appreciation at the realization of just how many young people are serving at RFKC, not just this year but every year I’ve volunteered. People around my own age flood the camp and those kids with so much love and joy. It’s the kind of service that reminds me that this generation is not dead. Far from it. Though there are many who get lost in all the selfish pursuits that this world offers, there are still those who will make a sacrifice for something good. Camp is not easy. It’s not the kind of thing that someone does just so that they can feel better about themselves or check off a box. It’s hard work, and it so often requires sacrifice. It’s not my place to share their stories here, but you wouldn’t believe the kinds of sacrifices some of the volunteers make just so that they could be at camp and serve.

For all my cynicism about our current generation, RFKC has reminded me that this generation is no more lost than all those that have come before. The bad has always outnumbered the good. It’s the natural consequence of a sinful world. But there will always be a faithful few. Even in the exiles of the Old Testament, God always saved for Himself a remnant. Even in the lost generation of the flood, Noah and his family remained. It may be hard in our current day to overlook so much evil, with the news and social media constantly on attack, but RFKC is a yearly reminder that there are still people who do difficult things for the sake of others. Praise God!

Yahweh still works and moves in His people. So to all of you that have served at RFKC, thank you. You’ve been a tremendous encouragement to me each year, even if I’ve never spoken to you.

Michael Benz