The 2010 CCC Camp Directors
Adam, Maylin and Pierson Cline
Hey Macarena!
Krista & Taylor
Rob Neill & Adam
Thank you to everyone who helped, donated, danced, and dined at the 2010 Charity Ball. We raised $2,500 and had a great night of celebrating the past, present and future of CCC. Adam Cline, Executive Director, had the pleasure of introducing his expanded family (note the beautiful Taiwanese children, Pierson & Maylin, as well as neice, Darcy from China in pictures to come!). CCC Development Administrator, Krista Petty, shared thoughts from her first few months on the job. Here are some of the stories she shared about CCC:
When I took the job here about 4 months ago, I thought I had a really good idea of what this ministry was about: home repairs and summer camp. But things are not always what they seem… In the short amount of time I’ve been blessed with working at Carolina Cross Connection, I’ve some to see that CCC is home repairs, summer camp but so much more. We called this year’s ball the Blue and Gold for a reason. CCC really does chase the blues away for people and gives them hope and sometimes, it helps give them purpose as well. In my first month at the office, I’ll never forget talking with Joseph. Last summer, CCC campers from Camp Carolwood painted at his house…but more than paint on the walls, Joseph really got to know the group serving with him. CCC went to serve him and he, in turn, served our campers. One of the campers serving at his home was a teen mom and she was actually nervous to admit that. While talking with Joseph, she shared her life story with him and he accepted her, encouraged her and prayed for her. Joseph called me in January, not because he wanted us to come back out to do more work, but he wanted to find out what church she was from so that he could send a scholarship for her to come to camp again, in case she couldn’t afford it. At CCC everyone has an opportunity to give hope and share Christ’s love.
CCC also offers people a golden opportunity to learn how they can affect change and use their gifts not just for a summer, but for a lifetime. With God’s blessing, this will be our 23rd summer of service. If you look a little deeper, you will see even more than 23,000 campers and over 13,000 home repair projects completed in those 23 years…you will see hundreds of staff people learning servant leadership skills and thousands of adults and students gaining a true understanding of what it means to live in community with one another and love people different than themselves.
I think one of my favorite things to be a part of at CCC thus far has been staff interviews. I have seen how Carolina Cross Connection has spurred students on to love and good deeds well beyond the summer. Like Jenna Holoman…She is going to serve as a Program Coordinator at CCC this summer. She gave me permission to share a little of her staff interview with you. When we asked this 21 year old sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill what experience she has had working with teenagers and leading her peers, this is what she said. “I am in leadership with Relay for Life at my school. In this committee, it is my job to help hold fundraising events for cancer research.” Also, on her own, Jenna organized friends to go work for a lady who was unable to do home repairs on her own—an idea that was based off her CCC experience. Jenna says, “This one-time project has turned into a relationship between her family and ours and we often take them groceries and pray with them.”
I don’t know about many of you older adults in the room, but that is NOT what I was doing at 21. Jenna is just one of many CCC staff and leaders making a difference beyond the months of June and July. Our staff, alumni and campers go on to lead campus ministries, start their own Christian service camps, are youth directors around the country and missionaries around the world. They have interned on Capitol Hill, are teachers-of the year (2 of them in Cabarrus county this year, in fact) led groups like People Fighting Poverty, and run their own nonprofit ministries. They are worship leaders, benefit concert organizers, Angel Tree coordinators, sports camp leaders in Harlem, sorority chaplains, and financial supporters. Carolina Cross Connection is not just a summer home repair nonprofit…it is a catalyst for even greater Kingdom ministry to come. So thank you. Thank you for supporting it with your ticket tonight, with your auction purchases and especially your prayers. Here’s to 23 more summers of service and beyond!
