Meaningful Memories: Night OWLS Family Camp Provides Outdoor Retreat

HPUMC Belong Disability Ministry’s Night OWLS (Out With Loving Sitters) program is a monthly faith-based program for children with disabilities and their siblings that provides respite for parents. From Friday, October 20 to Sunday, October 22, Night OWLS Family Camp brought families together in a refreshing weekend outdoors for the first time since 2019.

As Night OWLS Family Camp attendee Jacob Bahta jog-hops through the trees, his right arm swings in a high arch again and again. “When you see his arms swinging like that, he is really happy,” his mom, Jerri, said. “He loves open fields and spaces.” I stand next to Jerri as we continue to watch Jacob joyfully jog-hop and swing his arms in the freedom of the great outdoors. Jerri smiles as she watches her son. Her daughters and husband play with chalk and a life-size Connect Four game with other kids nearby.

Jacob and his family joined us at Night OWLS Family Camp for the first time this October, but it’s not the first time their family has experienced camp. Jacob’s three sisters are Girl Scouts and have been to Girl Scout camp several times. Jerri is one of their troop leaders and loves camping with her girls, while Jacob and his dad, Jonathan, hold down the fort at home. So this is the first time the family has ever been able to camp together.

“When you are bogged down in your daily routine, you forget to look…,” Jerri said. Her sentence was interrupted with a smile as she watched her kids dance and play together with new friends; “ … this is really special,” she concluded.

For the Bahta family, the connection to Night OWLS and the Belong began as many things do for families affected by disability, a resource list. Jerri remembers seeing Night OWLS on a list of local church programs that offer respite to families affected by disability. She filled out the online application, spoke to me over the phone, and brought Jacob to Night OWLS for the first time in June.

Night OWLS is our respite program for families affected by disability, where kids from six months to 13 years of age who have a disability and their typically functioning siblings get to come to the Tolleson Family Activity Center on the second Friday of each month for a fun-filled evening, while mom and dad get an evening to themselves. In 2000, Night OWLS hosted its first family retreat at Camp John Marc. Family Camp offers an all-inclusive, spiritually rejuvenating weekend with accessible facilities and uniquely designed activities. For many families like the Bahtas, Night OWLS Family Camp is one of the few places where the whole family can experience the great outdoors together, grow and bond, and connect with other families who are also living with disabilities.

This October, we were able to bring nine families to camp. With breakout sessions for moms, dads, and siblings, Family Camp promotes connectedness and belonging for families that often feel isolated and detached. Volunteers come alongside each family as an extra set of hands and help to make the weekend one of joy.

During Family Camp’s closing celebration, Allison Foster-Letico, MCLN Outreach Fellow, shared Matthew 18:20, which reminds us that “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” This was a wonderful reminder that Christ chooses to use his church, individuals, and families to share his love with the world. Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, brings about healing, restoration, and belonging in our communities.

At Family Camp, Christ’s love was shared through the smiles of the children, the joyful swinging of arms, the laughter of parents, the embrace of new friends, and the helping hands and agile feet of volunteers.