A boy's answered prayer named "Mister Junior"

It was 2011 and I was paddling down the Edisto River in South Carolina with two other chiefs and ten campers from Cameron Boys Camp. Little did I realize at that time what big things God had in store.

We had set out on a 12-day river trip that would help prepare us for a longer trip on the James River in Virginia later that summer. The excitement was high as we looked forward to a great adventure. But as with all trips, we were a little nervous—it turned out for good reason.

We soon realized this wasn’t going to be a trip where we knocked out a lot of mileage at the beginning of the day, allowing us time in the afternoons for swimming and exploring. On this first day, we were stopped by a major obstacle—more than a dozen trees had fallen across the river, completely blocking our way. We pulled the canoes from the water and while the group problem-solved the best course of action, a powerful, but seemingly unimportant, conversation began between a boy and his chief.

One of the campers had been struggling. He listened to the chiefs talk about a god who cared about him and the other boys but he was skeptical. His life, up to this time, cast a shadow over his heart. So, Chris decided to test the god that the group had been talking about. He would pray a prayer to see if God really cared about him.

His prayer went something like this: “God, if you really care about me, I want my group to meet a man who drives a big truck, wears

bib overalls, has gray hair, and gives us deer burgers.”

No one laughed. Some of the boys nodded, while one camper said “amen.” The prayer was not mentioned again until day three—the toughest day of the whole trip.

The river narrowed. As we turned the bend, we were confronted by more fallen trees. We were in and out of the water, hacking dead