The 2014 Special Needs Serve Experience

The anticipation mounts on Saturday afternoon. A flock of green-shirted teenagers and young adults hover around the main doors.Vans roll into the parking lot. Sliding doors are pulled back.  

The participants climb up the front steps, followed by parents with an armload of bags, to be greeted by their mentor for the week.

A week full of activities, community service, fellowship, and times of worship and teaching, the sixth annual Ottawa Special Needs SERVE camp will soon kick off.

Sponsored by Youth Unlimited, the camp is hosted by a team of volunteers at the Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Ottawa, Ontario. This year, SERVE welcomed 19 special needs participants and 22 volunteer mentors from Ottawa, Hamilton and other cities in Ontario, and even from as far away as California.

While the week may have only run from July 4-10, the planning began well in advance, with the host team beginning preparation in January. Most of the host team has been involved with the camp since its creation in 2008, some as past mentors, drivers, or parents of mentors.

 “The sense of community that develops with SERVE has compelled me to come back each year,” said Annette Brinkman, prayer-partner and devotion coordinator, and mother of two mentors at this year’s camp. “This year I was really struck by the beautiful model of community that SERVE represents. There are so many volunteers giving their gifts to this community.”

For three days, the participants spent two and a half hours at different SERVE sites across Ottawa. The sites included past worksites at the Ottawa Mission, Ottawa Food Bank, Jericho Road, Starwood Extendicare and Bibles for Missions. This year, the Carlington Community Chaplaincy was added, welcoming the participants to play games and serve coffee with visitors.

To prepare for the week, the mentors met a day ahead of the participants, enjoying a few hours to get to know one another through mini-golf and go-karting.

Many of the mentors have served at previous Ottawa camps, their passion and love for the participants driving them to return.

“I love spending the week helping and leading the participants, but the greatest part is really getting to know them. To me their disability doesn't matter,” said Niesje Bassie, returning mentor.

Specific qualities, while not necessarily demanded, are important in a mentor.

“I think to be a good mentor you have to have a lot of energy and patience,” said Christopher Berti, a three-time mentor who was introduced to the project by his elder sister, who has also been a mentor. His younger sister joined him as a mentor this year.

“You also have to just enjoy being friends to people.The goal of the mentors is to have fun with the participants, to remind them that they're special and to help them help others.”

These qualities – energy, patience, love of the participant – are evident in the mentors who dedicated the entire week to their participants, sometimes facing and overcoming challenges.

“My favourite moment has to be coming down the stairs, and there in the middle of the stairs was our quietest mentor, sitting with her participant, who is a big, strapping young man that can be loud and difficult to understand. She was quietly listening to him, and sharing a moment that for me, embodies the calm dedication that our mentors have for their participants,” said Bea Vandermeer who has been with the host team since the beginning as the small-groups coordinator.

Moments were made on the stairs, in worship, at the SERVE sites and even in the dining room where the large group shared numerous meals together, overseen by long-time food coordinators.

“Funny thing is, that I really do not like cooking, but God has a great sense of humour and put me just where all the cooking happens,” said Annet de Boer, who started SERVE as a driver but now is one of two heads of cooking.  Her addition to the kitchen, along with cook Anne, does not go unnoticed. 

“Meal time is awesome because the food is amazing, but it’s also the time that I get to sit and talk with someone different,” said Joanna Janssen, who is now in charge of participant registration and needs on the host team.

The Wednesday night talent show, celebrating the diverse talents of the participants was also a time for moments and memory making. Host team member Janine Lingrell was especially moved by the performance of one of the participants: “One of my favourite moments was seeing Ryan play the piano during the talent show. I was reminded that although the participants have limitations, they were created in the image of God and given their own set of gifts and talents.”

Amidst all the community service, talent show, group-time and in-between moments, one of the favourite times of mentors, host team and participants continues to be the time after dinner – worship. Into the sanctuary everyone went for five or six uplifting songs that usually drew half the participants onto the stage to join in with tambourines, guitars or ribbon dancing. 

“I remember looking out at the sanctuary from my place behind the piano and realizing that most of the people were not in the pews but on the stage,” said first-time SERVE worship leader Christine Admiral. “They all had big smiles and were praising and singing without inhibition. What more could a worship leader ask for?”

After worship came teaching time, led by speaker Mark DeVos, who has been with SERVE for two years. His messages contained wisdom and humour, every night involving different participants with large handmade props to go along with the theme – “Journey through the Kingdom.”

“I lived with a young man for one year who had cerebral palsy. During that year my greatest joy was putting his shoes and socks on in the morning. I wanted to continue to serve people with special needs and this was the opportunity placed in front of me,” said DeVos.

De Vos has built relationships with so many of the participants, their friend as much as their speaker. He was even challenged to participate in a foot race with himself, Pastor Ron Hosmar, first-time mentor Adam, and participant Mitchell.

Mitchell came out the winner.

While the focus of SERVE was to give the participants a fun week of learning, friendship and volunteerism, the second audience the camp serves is the parents. 

“We often don’t realize that these families don't always have it easy raising their children. We give them a safe place for their children so they can spend a week really relaxing and rejuvenating,” said Hosmar. “I had a couple of families comment on how appreciative they were for the ministry we offered in their own personal lives.”

Knowing their children are safe goes a long way for the parents.

SERVE’s impact in the lives of everyone involved is apparent throughout the week and the year after, as Amy Greve, long-time participant said, “I learn at SERVE that it doesn’t matter how different you are, God will still love you no matter what. It so powerful, the message, it helps me remember that I am important, too.”