DJ, Michael, and Drew managed to carve a bit of time out of their busy schedules to visit two local barbershops for their annual “Camden cuts.” Brooke and Julie came along for the ride to the Classic Barbershop and were thoroughly entertained while Drew struggled to stay awake (so what else is knew?). This time the boys opted for traditional haircuts, with no artistic designs. Drew was afraid his hair might look “strange” as it grows out – he didn’t want to take any chances because he heads off to college in three weeks! The best part about the trip was not the haircuts, but the fact that the barbers were so friendly, immediately recognized us after a year, and asked, “Where have you been?” and “We’ve missed you!” Who ever said Camden is not a friendly town?
It was great to meet up again with our friend, Darvion – not once, but twice on this trip to Camden! The seco
nd time we had the pleasure of meeting his mother, Sharine, for the first time at the Tortilla Press in Collingswood, NJ. We had a great evening eating nachos, spicy quesadillas, fish tacos, and more, as we took over what seemed to be most of the restaurant. Much of our group m
et Darvion two years ago, while visiting the 7-11 at the foot of the Rutgers dorms and our friendship has remained strong ever since! 
Yesterda
y our camp director Tony talked about having pride in Camden and especially camp Freedom. Inspired by this, we decided to take a page from the book of the camp kids and exercise some of our own pride in camp Freedom.
We decided to try and tackle the invasive weeds that were growing out of the sidewalk, pushing the bricks out of place. Despite the heat we asked Dwayne if we could work on the weeds for our work project for th
e day. After a couple more hours of picking, shoveling, and poorly dancing to music bumping from a ten dollar speaker purchased at a local store, the sidewalk was weed free.
After our work was complete we stepped back and admired our work, taking a well deserved drink of water, as we realized that we had a tremendous amount of pride for the work we had just done. Yeah… the weeds will probably grow back by the end of the summer, but for the time that the sidewalk remains clear, in our heads we will know that we played a part in improving camp Freedom, and strengthening the pride that the camp kids, street leaders, and our group feels for camp Freedom.
#CampFreedom
After camp activities have finished for the the day camp Freedom has closing prayers. This consists of belting songs, silly games, and skits. It also often has some sort of lesson that the street leaders and camp directors try to communicate to the kids through stories
, games, or skits.
Today, Tony, the camp leader, talked to us about having pride in Camden and especially camp Freedom. He told us how he came into camp before every summer to paint the peeling walls again so that it could look just a little better for the upcoming class of campers. And then he asked, “now why on earth do I do that?” and from the looks of camps Freedom that is very good question. Camp Freedom is essentially a rundown, converted side shop turned urban promise center for 30+ kids. There are weeds growing out of every crack in the side walk. The grass behind the center is up to my wais
t, and you could probably fill a trash bag with garbage just by walking around the street that surround the camp. Not to mention a bathroom that will make you wonder if you really have to go.
This was yet another time where the people of Camden and especially the kids of Camden surprised me. Every single camper in camp Freedom has more #CampFreedom pride that we do for our favorite sports team. How they manage to feel such a connection to a place is beyond me, and I’ll probably need a couple more mission trips
to figure it out. But for now, I know that we could all take something from Tony when he says that even if what you have is broken, whether that be the the city you’re from, the house you live in, or even the life you live, you’ve got to have pride for what you do and what you stand for, even when it seems past repair. Because without it, how could things ever be fixed?
#CampFreedom
I had another amazing day at camp Freedom today spending time with the kids and in the afternoon participating in a work project. However,
quite honestly that is not what stuck with me most from today. First, I saw two things that I felt that I should not have: two things that I had not seen over the last three trips to Camden. The first was in the day at camp, while walking to the park, I saw that cops had broken into a house on the street. A woman was standing at the door and was yelling inside the house (I’m assuming at the police). I was a little rattled by this because I ha
d no idea what this could have been about. Then one of the camp kids who I had become close with told me the story. The house is abandoned and the woman who I had seen in the doorway and others, including her children, consistently would use the house as a place to stay. According to my camp buddy it is routine for the police to break in and arrest her and take her kids away, then the next week she would be back in the house with her kids once again and the same thing would happen repeatedly, almost routinely. Apparently the swat team invaded the house just a week ago, so I’m assuming it was more than just a woman living in an abandoned house- there had to be more going on here.
My second experience was more of a sight than anything, but it shook me. We were driving home from dinner just as it was getting dark and I saw a woman absolutely passed out, sprawled on the sidewalk looking lifeless. Part of me was terrified and wanted to drive as far away as possible, but the other side of me was curious. We figured it was most likely a drug overdose, but it made me wonder “What could cause someone to disrespect themselves to the point where they are so hopeless that they end up on the sidewalk in that condition?” I was itching to know what had happened leading up to that low point in her life. What did she not have in her life that made her turn to that? I can’t even imagine.
I had not seen anything like this in my first three trips to Camden. I feel like I had been shielded from reality by the security of the Rutgers Camden dorms and the Urban Promise main campus. I still can’t even begin to describe the amount of hope in this city of Camden, but my two experiences today made me realize that the journey to changing CMD is going to take time.
We have a busy week ahead of us at camp Freedom, starting with a trip to the pool today. After dealing with a moody GPS that tried take us down one way streets, and into construction sites Jeff, DJ, Drew, Mike, Phyllis, Denny, and I arrived at camp Freedom. We were warmly greeted (as always is the case anywhere in Urban Promise) by an excited group of street leaders. 
We were the first work group to be assigned to Freedom since week one, and after going four weeks without having another work group, they welcomed the extra help and energy with open arms. After eating with the kids, we drove to the pool (or as we like to call it, the YMCA on steroids) to swim with the kids, all the while hearing the familiar chants of the kids on the bus.
“You can’t ride in my little red wagon the front seat in broken and the ankle’s dragging!” they screamed till their voices went hoarse.
This boundless energy carried on into the pool where splash fights and dunks under water were never in short supply.
We can only hope that the kids have as much energy for the rest of the week as we look forward to going rollerblading on Wednesday and the basketball tournament on Thursday.
#CampFreedom 
Going into today, I didn’t know what to expect. When the word “camp” comes up in my mind I think of a big place with activities and kids running around everywhere. Camp Freedom was different from my idea. It was on a street corner and the building itself looked a little run down, but I liked it. I felt safe and it was going to be a new experience for me. I was a bit anxious yet nervous about meeting the kids. The first kid I met was going into 5th grade. It took me a while to get him talking and for him to feel comfortable around me. We talked as the day went on, and by the end of the day he felt comfortable enough to say,”Goodbye DJ,” and give me a hands
hake. The pool was a lot of fun, but tiring. For an hour and a half it was constant splashing and being tackled by 
the younger kids. I guess my red hair acts like a target because it stands out. I really enjoyed the pool because it acted like an ice breaker. The kids who were quiet around me at first are now trying to dunk me underwater. At the end of the day, I will say this: it is easier to interact with the younger kids than the older kids. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a hypothesis of why that is.
Here to get us off to the best possible start on Day One was UrbanPromise “lifer” Marcus Bell. We LOVE Marcus, and always look forward to seeing him and hearing him give us a Word! Today he spoke to us about connec
ting with the kids in camp, engaging with them and just loving them, and what a transforma
tive difference that can make in the lives of these children, showing them the wonders of God’s love in a besieged city. Direct, funny and real, Marcus always keeps us entertained with and often moved by his bottomless store 
of camp kid stories.
Some of us thou
ght we were done with this long ago! Some of us are in training for this fall. And some of us still have some time before we need to worry about it. But ALL of us appreciate the safety, the showers and the air conditioning after a long, hot day! 
St. Andrew’s United Methodist 
Church in Cherry Hill gave us a warm welcome and quite a feast! Hot dogs were accompanied by soft pretzels, a
variety of tasty homemade salads and some wonderful desserts. We missed the presence of the interns, StreetLeaders and African fellows, who were getting some 
well-deserved and much-needed R&R in Ocean City, Maryland.
Founder and President Bruce Main was on hand to greet us, having himself just returned from a trip to UrbanPromise Internationa
l’s African ministries in Malawi, Uganda and Kenya. After sharing some stories with us, he introduced us to Soley Berrios, our Workgroup Administrator. There are 3 groups on-site this week, making it the week with the largest workgroup participation all summer. We’re the smallest of the three groups at 16 participants, and are joined by a group from Annapolis, MD with about 27 and another from Alberqueque, NM with about 32. We’re already enjoying getting acquainted!
In a surprise presentation moment, our young men presented Bruce with a check for over $300 raised during a special “UrbanPromise Day” at Cream King. Through connections made during one of our Pennington Market canning days, Cream King’s owner, Phil Volpe, became aware of our trip and scheduled the day on Cream King’s calendar, committing 10% of the day’s total sales as a donation. The servers that day donated 10% of their tips as well. One of the miracles of UrbanPromise is that they raise the vast majority of their $4 million annual budget through countless such offerings, creating many such stories that never fail to touch Bruce’s heart!
team camden VII 