{"id":650,"date":"2011-06-01T09:34:48","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T13:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=650"},"modified":"2011-06-01T10:30:10","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T14:30:10","slug":"i-am-somebody-because-god-loves-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/06\/i-am-somebody-because-god-loves-me.html","title":{"rendered":"I Am Sombody Because God Loves Me"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What do 200 people with special needs, their pastor, area directors and volunteers do after a four-day weekend at a rustic retreat?\u00a0 There is only one option&#8211;collapse. \u00a0Thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ladybugphotography\" target=\"_blank\">Ladybug Photography<\/a>, here are few of the pictorial highlights of our week at Life for Youth Camp in Vero Beach, Florida.\u00a0 This year our participants ranged from the age of 18 months to 80. \u00a0Our theme was &#8220;I Am Somebody Because God Loves Me.&#8221; \u00a0So many of our volunteers brought their children that we had to provide a children&#8217;s cabin.\u00a0 We had Vacation Bible School for the 13 children.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-007_11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-653\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-007_11-685x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"685\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Smiles all around. \u00a0Everyone is happy to be back at Retreat\/Camp Agape. \u00a0It&#8217;s a family reunion.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-021_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-654\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-021_1-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"685\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Brian and Julie are ready for their special time together.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_655\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-655\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-028_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-655 \" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-028_1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-655\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Chicken Walk?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_657\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-657\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-051_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-657 \" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-051_1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-657\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">More chickens?  Or Elvis?  Either way, loads of fun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd>\n<figure id=\"attachment_659\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-659\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-032_11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-659\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-032_11-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-659\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Is this a chicken or Tim?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/dd>\n<dd>\n<figure id=\"attachment_660\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-660\" style=\"width: 685px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-056_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-660\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-056_1-685x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"685\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-660\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rev. Richard Stimson, Special Gathering Executive Director.  He is not mean.  He is only focused.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd>\n<figure id=\"attachment_661\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-661\" style=\"width: 685px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-212_2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-661\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-212_2-685x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"685\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-661\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Together worshiping the Lord<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd>\n<figure id=\"attachment_663\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-663\" style=\"width: 685px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-151_2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-663\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-151_2-685x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"685\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-663\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">While I&#039;m not a craft person, EVERYONE else is.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd>\n<figure id=\"attachment_664\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-664\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-098_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-664\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-098_1-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"685\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-664\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Their mothers came to Camp Agape when they were this age.  Now the moms are volunteers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/dd>\n<dd>\n<figure id=\"attachment_662\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-662\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-100_1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-662\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-100_1-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"685\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-662\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My niece, Tarah, had the privilege of shadowing Matthew.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ladybugphotography\" target=\"_blank\">LadyBug Photography by Tarah Risher<\/a> for the great pictures.<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n<dd> <\/dd>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do 200 people with special needs, their pastor, area directors and volunteers do after a four-day weekend at a rustic retreat?\u00a0 There is only one option&#8211;collapse. \u00a0Thanks to Ladybug Photography, here are few of the pictorial highlights of our week at Life for Youth Camp in Vero Beach, Florida.\u00a0 This year our participants ranged&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,20,3,40,61,10,16,11,127,120,28,85,12,1],"tags":[690,697,21,688,696,7,699,701,691,13,128,707,19,689,57,692,129,700],"class_list":["post-650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-humor","category-inspirational","category-intellectual-disability","category-intellectually-disabled","category-ladybug-photography","category-memorial-day","category-mentally-challenged","category-prayer-2","category-religion","category-uncategorized","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-camp-agape","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-inspiration","tag-inspirational","tag-intellectual-disabilities","tag-ladybug-photography-2","tag-memorial-day","tag-mental-retardation","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-prayer","tag-religion","tag-retreat-agape","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>I Am Sombody Because God Loves Me - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/06\/i-am-somebody-because-god-loves-me.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I Am Sombody Because God Loves Me - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What do 200 people with special needs, their pastor, area directors and volunteers do after a four-day weekend at a rustic retreat?\u00a0 There is only one option&#8211;collapse. \u00a0Thanks to Ladybug Photography, here are few of the pictorial highlights of our week at Life for Youth Camp in Vero Beach, Florida.\u00a0 This year our participants ranged&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/06\/i-am-somebody-because-god-loves-me.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-01T13:34:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-06-01T14:30:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/06\/Camp-Agape-2011-007_11-685x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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