
It was great as always to see Sr. Kitty and to see her excitement at having a large group of BASE Camp young people to be at her service throughout this week. I know this sort of thing energizes her a great deal and I know it gives her hope for the future - a future where understanding will help to break down the barriers that separate people from one another.
There were a number of interesting moments today, but one struck me especially as the epitome of how small gestures can reap great rewards. Early in the day as we were preparing to move off in different directions we were scrambling a bit with deciding which tools to send where because we had a tool shortage. The shortage being that all of Sr. Kitty's tools had recently been stolen out of her back yard. But we worked it out and divided up our groups and began the work. At the Poppleton St. site where we had groups weeding and picking up trash I noticed a pile of trash laying in the middle of one of the alleys. As I walked closer I could see that this small pile of trash was the end of a trail that ran behind a house where there were literally hundreds of books, papers, articles of clothing and a wide variety of "knick-knacks" strewn about. When I reached the pile in the middle of the alley I realized that laying there amongst the trash were about a dozen bottles of prescription medications. Since there were small children about I immediately called over two of our young people - Megan and Joey - and asked them to clean up the trash in the street and especially dispose of the medications.

Answered prayers. In his homily Sunday morning Fr. Marty Demek talked of how this week these young people were going to be the answer to someone's prayers. And we saw it today, a ripple effect that began with picking up some prescription drugs in the middle of the street. Perhaps a mother whose prayer was her child never get started in the drug trade had her prayer answered when we removed that temptation from the middle of the alley. And perhaps Tom's prayer was answered for a relief from the stress and anxiety he was feeling because of what happened to his property. And perhaps Sr. Kitty's prayers to have her tools replaced was also answered.
Ripples... answered prayers... we all have the opportunity to be someone's answer to prayer. I saw it tangibly today, at BASE Camp - Day One+.
1 comment:
Wayne,
Thanks for finding the time and energy after a busy day to share the days events. It was a very moving story and shows that God's watching over your camp and campers.
The 'ripple effect', never quite thought of it that way. Reminds me of that movie 'Pay It Forward'.
We really appreciate all you do.
Chester Kukwa
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