Aslan Newsletter of July 9, 1997
How would you like to spend 5 days and 4 nights in the middle of the beautiful Pennsylvania hills camping out in tents with 11 Aslan kids (and 50,000 other people) and listening to Christian recording artists and speakers? I know I lost some of you at the "camping out in tents" part, others at the "11 Aslan kids" part and most everyone else by the time you read the "50,000 other people" part. Creation Festival (now in its 18th year) provides Aslan with a great opportunity to get some of our youth out of the hustle and bustle of New Jersey life. This year was absolutely wonderful - in spite of the fact that Beverly & Melinda (two key Aslan volunteers) and Lynn Ann and I only averaged about 5 hours of sleep each night!

The lives of Aslan youth are filled with noise and distraction, so a trip to the quite woods of Pennsylvania is a welcome relief. Take Cara**, for example. Her mother is in jail, so Cara and her brother have lived with a cousin in Red Bank for the past 3 years. The cousin has 4 children of her own (with a fifth due soon). Counting her live-in boyfriend and a grandmother there are 9 (soon to be 10) people living in the house. When Cara calls us, there is so much noise in the background that we often cannot hear a word she is saying.

Abused (both physically and sexually) from a very early age, Cara's self-esteem is among the lowest of any of the kids Aslan has ever worked with. Last summer, we gave her "I Am Somebody," a booklet published by the American Bible Society. After reading it, Cara wept and wept as she talked about her feelings of inadequacy. She simply could not believe that there was any possibility she could be worthy of God's love. After the love and joy Cara felt at Creation Festival, she said, "How can I go back into that terrible house and face all those problems?" Lynn Ann put her arms around her and said, "God will help you start each new day with hope in your heart. He will be here for you every step of the way and so will we."

Perhaps a better and truer saying than "Love helps those who help themselves," is "Love helps those who cannot help themselves." There are times in all of our lives when we need for someone to pull us in and rescue us. Thank you for giving us the privilege of reaching out to these hurting children - to love and care for them until they can stand on their own . . . until one day they can reach out and rescue others. May God bless you for your prayers and gifts!

Most sincerely,

** Cara's name has beeen changed to protect her privacy.