Save My Sumatanga

I got 5 million chigger bites standing in the Chigger Bowl in a ring of candle-light after a powerful evening program. I know right where the jar of soggy cotton balls are that will take the itch out.

Jesus lives at Camp Sumatanga and every time I am there I feel like I am closer to Him. The view from the Chapel is more breathtaking than can be described in even the most beautiful poem. I hiked that trail up the mountain every year, and I have scars from all the rock bites I got along the way. I can't even count how many times I sat in that primitive stone Chapel looking out over the lake while enjoying a soggy peanut butter and honey sandwich and weak pink lemonade. Up there, the air is different.

I can still taste it.

I traded warm fuzzies. I waded in the creek. I painted on rocks and sent them home to my little sister. I waited to find mail from home on the pool table after lunch in the air-conditioned Dining Hall.....mealtimes were some of my favorite times. I sang my blessings and now my children sing all those old songs when we sit down for meals at home.

"Thank you God for giving us Food!!!"

I played four square in the breezeway and softball in the chigger bowl. I got sent back to my cabin to get my nametag before they would let me into the dining hall for a meal. I bent down to feel the cool spring water air on my face after a sweaty hike to Air Conditioned Rock.

I rehearsed interpretive dances to perform at evening program. I sat on the cool concrete floor in the Assembly Hall and listened to Nina Reeves (our son's namesake) say "Whammity Bang, Whammity Bang...". Oh the stories she could tell.....and the lives she touched. Seeing her at Jenny and John Paul's wedding brought tears to my eyes. What a beautiful soul (and tough one) she is.....

I danced to Buttercup and Alley Cat and Amos Moses till I could do it in my sleep.

I prayed and prayed and listened and learned sooooo much about my Sweet Jesus. I got to share my faith with boy-crazy 13 year olds and prayed that they would "get it". I think about a few of them still and wonder how they are doing. Some of them are still my friends.

I get my best night's sleep on a top bunk in Cabin 7. I can still feel the dirt on my sheets from sandy concrete floors. I can still hear the hum of the massive fans that circulated the heavy Alabama night-time air. I prayed that there wouldn't be a spider in the shower and that the two toilets shared by 30 squealing 12 year olds would not stop-up.

I listened to great and powerful music and was introduced to David Wilcox.....my most favorite musician of all time. The sweet sound of music filling the woods would bring tears to my eyes.

At Camp Sumatanga.....I met my beloved.

This is My Sumatanga.

And it is in great danger of closing. I can't imagine my life without it, and I want my children to grow up there like Chris and I did. I want others to find Jesus there. Please pray for Sumatanga....

If you live in Alabama and are looking for an amazing place to have a retreat for your church (every denomination is welcome), I URGE you to introduce your leaders to this amazing place. You will NOT regret it.....and if you visit there or you have your own memories of Sumatanga, I would love to hear your stories. What is YOUR Sumatanga like??

And if you feel led to give to Sumatanga.....well that would just be amazing!

...."Let no one say, and say to your shame, that this was a place of beauty till you came."