How She Refused to See It as Impossible

Randall Murphree The Stand (Print) Editor Emeritus MORE

^{I think this would be a great story for us in the AFA Journal,” my staff writer said.}

^{“What’s that?” I asked.}

^{“Camp Ichay on the Israeli-Syrian border. It’s a refugee camp where Christians and Israelis are bringing food, clothing, and medical care to Muslim families who’ve been devastated by civil war in Syria.”}

^{“Yes, great idea,” I agreed. “But who would you call to interview?”}

^{“Oh, I’d go there and do interviews.”}

^{“Sure, of course, you would.” I tried to control my sarcasm and let her down easy. “Sorry, Anne. It does sound like a great story, but there’s no way AFA could afford that investment in one single story.”}

^{She went silent, and I thought the matter was settled. But a few days later, she subtly snuck it back into our conversation. Again.}

^{“Well, what do you think about the Camp Ichay idea?”}

^{“What camp?”}

^{“You know – Camp Ichay. Israel.”}

^{“Oh, that. No, sorry. It just isn’t gonna happen. I’d be embarrassed even to ask the boss for approval. ”}

^{I thought she’d given up. The dream had died. Reality won. I shoulda known better. The next week, here it came. Again.}

^{Dream resurrected}

^{“What if I could find a source for most of the expense?”}

^{“What expense are you talking about?”}

^{"Camp Ichay!"}

^{“And how are you gonna do that?” I know I must have slumped my shoulders. By this time, our dialogue had crawled along at a snail’s pace through several weeks. I was ready to put an end to it, and the best way I could figure to do that was to play along with her impossible dream of finding money to make the dream reality. It would die quickly.}

^{“Just let me work on it,” she persisted.}

^{“OK,” I said.}

^{But you’re wasting your time, I thought.}

^{Perseverance rewarded}

^{A few days later, she was back, her perseverance rewarded.}

^{Dear reader, you’ll be moved and challenged by Anne Reed’s account of her visit to Camp Ichay.}

^{Yes, she was back, grinning ear to ear. Money in hand, so to speak – meals, accommodations, half the airfare. Packing her bags.}

^{My conversation with boss Tim Wildmon was brief and to the point. I filled him in briefly on Camp Ichay (pronounced e-shy), which is operated by Friend Ships, a U.S. based humanitarian aid ministry. He interrupted even before I could tell him our … uh, Anne’s plan.}

^{“Let me guess,” Tim said. “And you want to go over there and get shot at?”}

^“No!”

^{“Well, who does want to go?”}

^{“Anne Reed.”}

^{“Oh.” Short pause. “That explains it.”}

^{Anne’s story from her visit to Camp Ichay paints a stunning picture of the gospel at work, of the hands and feet of Jesus serving others in His name.}

^{Camp Ichay reflects the words of Jesus when He encouraged His disciples:}

^{I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was homeless and you gave me a room. I was shivering and you gave me clothes. … I’m telling you the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me – you did it to Me (Matthew 25:35, 40, MSG).}