Should we leave this church?
January 31st, 2010 | by admin |My family isnt poor but we are lower middle class. My husband teaches at a comunity colledge and i dont work because i have 4 children, two have severe special needs. We live in a semi-wealthy area and my 2 children who dont have special needs go to a private school but we can only afford it because my husband teaches a class there so we get a discount and the school was kind enough to give us and additional 40% tuition break so we only pay 10% of the regular tuition. My two daughters that go to school are in 5th and 9th grade. My 5th grade daughter is "obese" according to doctors but she has a good personality. My 9th grade daughter is very shy and socially akward. There is a camp in the summer that several hundred youth groups go to in Panama City called Bigstuf. I got help from the church to afford to send my 9th grade daughter to it. When she got home, she said she liked it but signup started last week for this summer and I told my daughter i was going to sign her up to go to it and she begged me not to. After a little prodding, I got her to tell me why. She said all the other kids were rich, snobby, stuck-up, and just plain mean. I was shocked because it took a lot of saving to get enough money to send her to that camp and me and my husband had to give up a few things we wanted to do because we thought it would be an opportunity for her to get away from all that because thats what she faces at school. She said all the girls in the room she stayed in were private school cheerleaders and she tried to make friends with them but all they wanted to do was tan and meet boys. At Bigstuf, everyone in your room is in your youthgroup which I am now thankful for. She said the group time was kind of fun because there were adults around but during the several hours of free time each day where you can go swimming in the pool or ocean or play on the beach etc. was terrible because the chaprones werent around for most of that time. She said all the kids there wore name brands like Abercrombie and Hollister etc. and most of them had those Apple cell phones but they all had cell phones and ipods and videogames and laptops to use on the bus ride there. She said she didnt go swimming once because she knew she would get make fun of because she in not tan and she has a modest swimsuit. Im not sure what to do but im very mad about this. We were saving up for a family vacation but we spent it on this. I want to go talk to the youth minister and the paster about this. Should I? What else should I do about this? Me and my husband are thinking about leaving this church. And why do middle and high school kids need cell phones? I dont even own one and my husband uses a pre paid phone
Stay at your church. Snobbish kids and discrimination by the rich kids at camp are insufficient reasons to leave your church.
You may mention the incident to your youth pastor, as they always want ways to improve their camp. But he may tell others who may interpret it differently and ostracize your daughter.
I’m sorry about what happened to your daughter at camp, but she would have been bound to have this experience at some time. Forget about the incident, build up your daughter’s self esteem, find something better to do with your money, ignore the rich and what they do with their kids and how they spend their money. Stop being flustered about it and consider this incident as experience and move on with your life and family.
All the best to you.
2 Responses to “Should we leave this church?”
By Ceecee on Feb 1, 2010 | Reply
First of all, don’t leave your church unless the whole church thinks the same way. I am a christian and have seen how children in church can be cruel. Definitely talk to your youth pastor about the problem and ask him what he thinks of the camp. I feel that he should talk to the youth group at your church about being mindful of others and their situations. I’m guessing beccause the teens at camp have lived a privlegded life, they probably don’t see what they do is hurting your daughter. Its not exactly wrong for the camp kids to act that way and wear the clothes they do. One thing you said that was not right was when you said all the girls wanted to do was meet boys. That is not the focus of camp. Camp should be on God.
Is this Bigstuf camp a church camp or just regular for teens? Because if it is a church camp, it shouldn’t be held like that. At my youth camps we are not allowed to bring electronics, except cell phones, because it distracts us from God. Also, we are not allowed to wear revealing bathing suits because we know God does not want us to temp the flesh. Chaperones are almost always with the teens and even get involved during free time.
Unless the financial aspects of your life is preventing you from serving God, I suggest you stay at the church. But if you are unhappy there, God might be calling you to another place. Pray about it!
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By esuz on Feb 1, 2010 | Reply
Stay at your church. Snobbish kids and discrimination by the rich kids at camp are insufficient reasons to leave your church.
You may mention the incident to your youth pastor, as they always want ways to improve their camp. But he may tell others who may interpret it differently and ostracize your daughter.
I’m sorry about what happened to your daughter at camp, but she would have been bound to have this experience at some time. Forget about the incident, build up your daughter’s self esteem, find something better to do with your money, ignore the rich and what they do with their kids and how they spend their money. Stop being flustered about it and consider this incident as experience and move on with your life and family.
All the best to you.
References :