Today I was doing some research on the state of our great province and the reality is it isn’t that great. We have a serious issue here. I have read article after article talking about the poverty rates in Ontario. On the low end 20% of kids are living below the poverty line. That’s 1 in 5 kids. 1 in 5 kids don’t know for sure if they will be getting a meal, won’t be able to join a sports team or even go to an overnight camp.
Interesting enough is the fact that 20% of kids in Canada are living without a father figure in their lives. Right away you can see a correlation between fatherlessness and poverty. When I dig deeper in the numbers I start to find out more disturbing facts.
Father-deprived children are:
1) 72% of all teenage murderers.
2) 60% of rapists.
3) 70% of kids incarcerated.
4) twice as likely to quit school.
5) 11 times more likely to be violent.
6) 3 of 4 teen suicides.
7) 80% of adolescents in psychiatric hospitals.
8) 90% of runaways
So as you can see from these numbers the circle of poverty will continue to spin.
Our goal with Camp Grace is to show these kids that even though they may not have a worldly father in their lives, there is a Father in heaven who will never turn His back on them. He will continue to love them through thick and thin. He will always be at their sides and His grace and mercy is enough.
When these kids can learn that they are loved, and will always be loved, there is a chance that maybe, just maybe, they might not be on the wrong end of these statistics. That they can find self worth and grow into the people God wants them to be.
Our goal here at Camp Grace is to plant a seed. God willing this seed will be planted in the good soil and will produce great fruit for these kids.