Team Teddy Tuesday

  vitalmagazine.com
royalfamilykids.org

My source today comes from an article, "A Family Mission," in Vital magazine, issue two, March/April 2015.
 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "an estimated 686,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect nationwide" in 2012. "In other words, on average, a child is neglected or abused in America every 46 seconds. Approximately 78.3 percent of these children suffer neglect, 18.3 percent physical abuse, 9.3 percent sexual abuse and 8.5 percent psychological abuse."

The article introduced Wayne and Diane Tesch, who started a camp for children in foster care back in 1985. I knew great foster parents when I was growing up, my parents being one set, but that was many years ago. I conclude from reading abuse cases, that being related or not, does not stop an abuser. Many times it is the mother's boyfriend, as in Teddy's case.
These camps, Royal Family Kids camp, provide a haven for five days from any short comings of foster care. A website in the article provided more information on this ministry. I just started to explore it, but I am please to see there are local camps to our area. One in New Castle, PA, and several in the Canton and Cleveland, Ohio, vicinity.
I will explore this more this coming week and post information and my thoughts next Tuesday. Right now, I see it as another vehicle to pray for relief from the abuse children suffer. I read horror stories of the foster care system. I met some of the children, teens mostly, as a teen myself, when my parents worked at the Children's Aid Society in the seventies. I encourage my readers to investigate this themselves, as well. If God lays it on your heart to support this ministry, I hope you listen to Him. We need to help children any way we can.