EXHAUSTING WORK, ETERNAL REWARDS

Note: This story is part of a four-part series about CentriKid that will be published throughout this week on the B&R website.

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Abby Sells says that two of her favorite things are serving the Lord and working with children.

For the past two summers, she’s been able to do both at the same time.

Sells, a rising sophomore at Union University, worked last summer as a “TA” (teen assistant) at CentriKid camp at Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center. This summer, she moved up the ranks, serving as a full-time CentriKid staffer at Campbellsville (Ky.) University.

“CentriKid has been an awesome opportunity for me,” said Sells. “One of the main things that drew me to it is that I want to work with kids — and what better way to do that than sharing the gospel and playing games all day long every day? It’s awesome.”

Sells is from Finger, Tenn., which is barely a thumbprint on the map. She is a member of Old Friendship Baptist Church in Finger and graduated from Chester County High School.

She is one of hundreds of Tennessee Baptists who are involved with children’s summer camps, either in a leadership capacity or a support role (through financial help and/or prayer). Many college-aged students, like Sells, serve as camp counselors.

Sells did not attend CentriKid while she was growing up, but got her first taste of camp last summer at Linden, where she helped chaperone the kids from Friendship.

“I guess the best way to put it is that TAs are a level under the (full-time) staffers,” she said. “I was really just helping out.”

This summer, though, she’s gone headfirst into the water.

Rather than just spending one week at camp with the kids from her home church, she has spent three months at Campbellsville, working with kids from all around the South — and well beyond.

“It’s been amazing,” she said. “I applied last year (to be a full-time staffer) … and now here I am.”

At Union, Sells is majoring in social work, and has a passion for helping special-needs individuals, especially children. For now, she said she doesn’t necessarily have a plan in mind for what life will look like after college. She is letting the Lord handle those details.

“I’m open to anything right now,” she said. “I haven’t felt a call to ministry, but I am leaving that door open.”

At CentriKid, Sells was the “volleyball leader” for the children who chose that sport as one of their afternoon activities. Other options include everything from swimming to whiffle ball to drama to Lego building.

Each activity either begins or ends with a devotion, which demonstrates CentriKid’s philosophy.

“The gospel and God’s Word are incorporated into every single aspect of what we do — and you really can’t find many places like that,” she said.

Sells said the campers aren’t the only ones who experience God in a new way during the week. “I have definitely grown in my faith, and I’ve seen God move in ways that I did not expect at all,” she said.

“Working with these little ones — especially when I’m with the ‘yellow teamers’ (second and third graders) — you think that they’re so little that they don’t understand. But they are the ones that usually are the most open about what they are thinking about. Seeing God move in their little hearts is just so awesome.”

Working as a staffer has also helped Sells solidify her personal spiritual habits, she said.

“I’ve grown in my own discipline,” she said. “I’ve learned that I have to prioritize my time with God in the morning and things like that.”

Perhaps most importantly, Sells said working at CentriKid has helped her gain a new perspective on trusting God.

“I have learned to lean on the Lord because this can be a truly exhausting place,” she said. “You literally cannot do it on your own strength. You can’t. There’s not enough caffeine in the world.” B&R