Serving Others Through Art

by Dale Reeves

Story Pastor

Last week at Christ’s Church was an incredible week filled with lots of loud laughter, learning, and love—all in the name of Jesus. Every summer our church holds a MAD Camp (Music, Art, and Drama) for children going into grades one through six. For several years I’ve been involved in leading the drama class for third and fourth graders. Today I want to focus on one particular class that is very focused on a specific mission—teaching kids how fun it is to serve others through the art that they create. For the past several years, this “Art Through Service” class has been facilitated by Michelle Weiss, who with her husband Dustin, have been an active part of Christ’s Church since 2014. They have two amazing children, Elise, who is eleven years old, and their very active son Blake, who is six years old.

Michelle begins, “I have a passion for serving others within our community. This year we made several items that will be gifted to various nonprofit organizations. We decorated birthday bags, fans, and cards for ‘Meals on Wheels.’ We made twenty-five tie blankets for ‘Family Promises’ in Warren County. We beat the previous year’s number, which was ten blankets. We made 106 dog toys and nineteen pet blankets for ‘Meals on Wheels’ and a local dog shelter. We learned that when the recipients are given their meals, many of them have pets that would appreciate a little treat too! We also stuffed sleeping bags, made toilet roll crafts, and first-aid kits for ‘Operation Christmas Child’ shoeboxes. The total of items collected for the shoeboxes was 390! Our classes also sorted what felt like a million bottle caps to make my favorite art piece to date. Our church’s children’s ministry, CCKids, has been collecting bottle caps the last couple of years for various projects. This past week, this art piece came to life, and it will be displayed for years to come at MAD Camp.”

A Passion for Serving Others

Michelle had two fantastic assistants in leading the art class, both former MAD campers themselves. They both said that they still have some of the items that they made in their days as campers. Avery Beismann will be a senior at Lakota East High School this fall! Avery comments, “Every year in the summer MAD Camp was my favorite way to see my friends and get to learn! One of my favorite memories was getting to choose my own classes with my sister and having the same schedule as her. We grew our faith together while still having a blast! Whether I was doing art, learning to sing, playing charades, or just having a dance party, I knew every day would be a new adventure. From first through fifth grade I attended MAD Camp. I was going to go for sixth grade but that was when Covid hit our country—I was devastated that I couldn’t attend my last year.”

When asked why Avery loves serving as a helper now, she responds, “A big part of why I loved MAD Camp as a camper was because of the great volunteers. Seeing how much fun they had while helping us inspired me to start coming as a volunteer. When I found out that I could help, I signed up quickly! Getting to connect my passion for volunteering with my faith while working with kids is something I will always be thankful for. This is the fourth year I have volunteered as a helper at MAD Camp. A lot of parents try to get their kids more passionate about following Jesus and MAD Camp is the best way to do so! Whether they are experimenting with it or are already devoted, the staff here knows all the ways to connect with kids on a different level. They make learning fun and motivate the kids to explore their faith in a way most parents struggle to do. All the learning is done in such a fun way that the kids don’t feel like they are being taught.”

When asked what the best thing is about MAD Camp, without hesitating, Avery replied, “The people! From the campers to the volunteers, everyone here is amazing. Campers love to be here and that makes the staff even more excited to be there. They come in excited to learn and have become my tiny best friends. The volunteers are also the best to be around, as I learn so much from them and connect with them around our similar passions. Everyone involved in MAD Camp is the reason I keep coming back!” 

Helping Others Experience What I Experienced

Lillie Irwin will be a sophomore in the Primary Education program at Miami University in Oxford. Lillie reflects, “I have been coming to MAD Camp since 2017—first as a camper in fifth and sixth grade, then as a volunteer ever since! My favorite memories of MAD Camp as a camper were the scrapbooking, duct tape, and photography classes, and of course graham crackers with icing for snack! As a volunteer, I have gotten to see an entire new side of this camp, which has allowed me to love it even more. I have been an assistant art teacher the past couple of years, and love watching the kids create unique pieces that can support our community. I want to help other kids have the same awesome experience that I had!”

Lillie agrees with Avery, “The best thing about MAD Camp is the people. You get to see so many new faces, learn new names, and grow real connections with these kids. This is a great place for kids to try new things, find new hobbies, meet new friends, and build a community. Every volunteer is amazing, sure to create the best experience for each and every child here!”

What God Has Called Us to Do

Michelle Weiss summarizes the week in these words, “We all start somewhere with our faith. This week is a great reminder of how we are called to have a childlike faith. I pray that for many of our campers, this week is just that—a place where their faith, passions, and God-given gifts start to bloom. A few of our campers asked me for scraps of fabric so they could go home and work on projects like we did in class. It reminded me that God is planting seeds through MAD Camp.”

In thinking about the young adult volunteers, Michelle concludes, “I love that they keep coming back! They are so excited and thankful that they were able to experience it, and now they want to see others experience that same level of joy. I love that they bring friends and family members to serve with them, and they also bring their younger siblings. The teen and young adult helpers are being great role models as they demonstrate what it looks like to lead. They learn how to work together as a team, how to lead and to have patience with those younger than them. And I love seeing them find joy in serving because it is not only a rewarding feeling—it is what God has called us to do!”