CAMP BRAVEHEART
Children: The Overlooked Grievers
What can the church do to minister to grieving families, including the children?
Camp Brave Heart
@ Ridge Haven
July 18 – 23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTKFt7-vgsw
If you saw them scaling the climbing tower or flying down the 40-foot slide at the lake, you would have never known anything was wrong. If you saw them playingBritish Bulldog or capture the flag, or heard them singing rowdy worship songs, you’d have assumed they were just like any other kids. But, back in the meeting room, huddled around a table, these 25 students from all across the country told stories that would make your jaw drop-stories of suicide and car wrecks, cancer and heart attacks. Only then would you have realized this wasn’t just any old summer camp. This was Camp Brave Heart at Ridge Haven Camp and Conference Center in Brevard, N.C., a grief camp for kids who have lost loves ones.
On June 18-23rd of 2011, about 25 kids participated in Camp Brave Heart. There, they enjoyed all the Ridge Haven property has to offer-hiking trails, mountain biking, waterfalls, a high ropes course, A “Wet Willie” water slide, a rope swing, the “Lilly Pads,” and the pools. However, they also walked through numerous hands on exercises which were carefully designed to help kids deal with their own pain and foster emotional support among the students. The kids also looked into god’s word each day, exploring what the Bible says about death, grief and the comfort God offers.
Martha Furman (MAC, LPC,) a Licensed Professional Counselor at Total Life Counseling and Gentle Shephered Hospice in Roanoke, Virginia has been putting her 30 years of grief counseling experience to work by offering this transformation camp for students who are dealing with grief. At Camp Brave Heart, Martha walks the students through the grief process using a simple grief cycle chart that she and Dotti Luci developed specifically for kids. Her goal is to help children understand their loss learn skills to help them cope with their grief at home.
Brave Heart is offered every summer for students grades 3-12 and is now open for registration. If you or someone you know needs help sorting through a tragedy or loss, you go online to www.ridgehaven.org to register for Camp Brave Heart to find out more.
Camp Brave Heart is a Christ-centered camp designed to meet the unique spiritual and emotional needs of youth who are walking the journey of grief after the death of someone they dearly love. Ridge Haven Camp and Conference Center is offering a week of summer camp to support children and teenagers, 3rd through 12th grades, with these diverse needs at this time in their lives.
By understanding the grief process, the campers learn how to identify their feelings and how to express them in healthy ways. The feelings of being all alone and no one understanding are defused when, not only do they realize God’s presence in their lives, but they are with others in similar circumstances. Being fearful, anxious, angry, exhausted and paralyzed by guilt and loneliness are all overwhelming, but normal emotions of grief.
Many life lessons and healthy coping skills are learned through the challenges of camp experiences such as, the ropes course, climbing wall and even white water rafting. Trained camp counselors are prepared to walk alongside and listen to the camper.
They will have the opportunity to make memory boxes in honor of their loved one and share about the person with one another. There are many activities that are used throughout the week to teach coping skills and provide ways to express their grief.
Youth grieve more in the future. It is important for them to be prepared with tools to manage the grief during all of the times their loved one should be there but isn’t. The wedding day of a young girl will be the happiest day of her life and also, the saddest because her father is not there to walk her down the aisle. When sad and happy events in life collide, we call them “SAPPY” moments. There are so many changes in their lives that require adjustments and newly acquired strengths.
God heals broken hearts with His love and assurance of His presence. One camper said, “I now know God is with me no matter what bad things happen in my life. I know He has a plan and a purpose for me.” No one “gets over” the heart breaking loss of a loved one, but the goal is “adjustment” and realizing God’s plan and purpose for their life.
Camp Brave Heart’s Theme Verses
Zephaniah 3: 17
“The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Isaiah 43: 2 – 3
“When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
And when you pass through the rivers,
They will not sweep over you,
When you walk through the fire,
You will not be burned;
The flames will not set you a blaze.
For I am the Lord, your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Martha M. Furman is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Marriage and Family Therapist. She has been in private practice for over 25 years and presently resides in Roanoke, VA. She is a graduate from Clemson University and received her degree in counseling from Covenant Theological Seminary. She developed and facilitates Camp Brave Heart.