Camryn Pickerell scanned the grounds at Orange County Academy as students scampered among the campus visitors. She hoped to etch into her mind every detail of an experience she never wanted to forget. The then-college sophomore spotted the 5-year-old who witnessed his uncle’s murder. There was Michael, beaten regularly by his father, but who tried to minimize the abuse by convincing himself that others have it worse.
Having it worse in this neighborhood — where needs are deep and varied — was relative, Camryn learned. Little Amy’s only prayers were for food since receiving a daily meal was never a given, while Dominic was on edge after his house was sprayed with bullets. Carl, a young teen, struggled with third-grade math as his classmates, a group of siblings, coped with suffocating numbers at home: eleven children living with their parents in a run-down trailer, sharing a bed and two bunks.
“The stories are things I didn't think I would ever hear from 5-year-old kids,” said Camryn, who just concluded a three-day sports camp at the school with her college friends.
She was heartsick, overwhelmed by the knowledge the students’ chances at success were hampered by extreme poverty, low graduation rates and rampant drug use throughout the community. And yet, Camryn found joy and a sense of hope in a most unlikely place.
“When our group was leaving, everyone wanted to take home a kid, but I wanted to take home 54-year-old Tina,” she said.
Camryn first traveled to Orange County Academy in 2022 from Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio, where she is majoring in biology and sports management. Instead of heading to Florida’s beaches, a mecca for spring-break partiers, she booked a flight to Orlando where she enrolled in Urban Immersion™, a ministry outreach sponsored by Cru® Inner City.
"I didn't think there was a place in the United States that didn't have clean running water."
Through Urban Immersion, Camryn and her peers volunteered for the children’s sports camp, assisted with tutoring, distributed food at an extended-living motel, and conducted Point-in-Time homeless surveys for the federal government. The surveys are used to gauge the number of unsheltered individuals across the country. The weeklong ministry effort was focused on Bithlo, a mostly forgotten enclave devoid of basic infrastructure despite being 45 minutes from Disney World.
“Shocked is an understatement,” Camryn said. “I didn't think there was a place in the United States that didn't have clean running water.”
When Camryn met Tina, the older woman was just six months sober after receiving assistance through Transformation Village, an ongoing ministry project of United Global Outreach, which also operates the not-for-profit academy for at-risk children.
Not long after the women met at the academy, Tina confided she spent more than a dozen years in prison for auto theft and drug-related felonies. The consequences of her crime didn’t dissipate with her release. Like many former inmates, Tina was legally free but restrained by the dual barriers of a criminal record and limited work experience. Without options, she spent her nights curled up under a truck, where she lived for two years until meeting Timothy McKinney, CEO of United Global Outreach.
Each spring, Tim and his parachurch ministry host the missions team from Urban Immersion, one of several deployed across the United States. The Orlando-area outreach is a collaborative effort between Inner City, its Cru sister ministry, Athletes in Action® and Transformation Village.
“Tim just wanted to help her out and offered her a job so that she could live on the campus of Orange County Academy. That's basically what saved her life,” Camryn said, adding Tina ultimately turned her life over to Christ but still was taking baby steps in her new faith.
“She made a decision to follow Him but it took her a while. Tim had to convince her that God was real. She finally caught on to that and said that's the only reason she's still alive. She bought into following exactly what (Tim) asked so that she wouldn't get in trouble, but also says she'd have a place to live that wasn't under a box truck.”
During Camryn’s time at the academy, she and Tina developed a deep bond.
“She had sad stories,” Camryn said. “I am a true believer that even when you're old and you've been through stuff, you can break the domino effect that your family carries.”
After Camryn returned to her studies in Columbus, Ohio, the pair kept in close contact through texting and Facebook messages, with Tina sharing she landed a full-time welding job though she still volunteered at the academy. Their relationship prompted Camryn to return to Bithlo last spring break for her second Urban Immersion experience.
“A year later, she is now 18 months sober and has a job and a license for the first time in 15 years, all while living in an apartment with a roommate,” Camryn shared last spring.
Because of Tina’s work schedule, the two friends were only able to spend a few minutes together, but Camryn relished the time.
“I just can't believe how God's blessed me and allowed me to create that connection — a forever connection — with a (now) 55-year-old woman that, really, with the things she's been through, probably shouldn't be here,” Camryn said. “She had a choice to make. She could go her own way.”
Instead, Tina opted to do the hard work to change her trajectory.
“Tina was making an active effort to not be homeless anymore, to get a job, to do the right thing,” Camryn said. “I think other people can look up to her. I was hopeful that she was saving her own life.”
Over the past two years, Camryn witnessed Tina’s transformation through the content of her text and Facebook messages. Stability and joy progressed throughout the months.
“Good morning beautiful,” read one text to Camryn, which Tina sent at 4 a.m. as she headed to work.
"I just can't believe how God's blessed me and allowed me to create that connection — a forever connection — with a (now) 55-year-old woman that, really, with the things she's been through, probably shouldn't be here ..."
Now a senior on the university’s women’s basketball team, Camryn is hoping to return for her third spring mission this March. Still, travel is dependent on how far her college team advances through its tournament schedule. Either way, she is committed to her relationship with Tina while also helping young at-risk kids.
“How can I help her continue to save her own life and set this example for these kids that maybe can't break the cycle right now because they're still living at home with a family that's making poor choices?” Camryn wondered.
If she’s not able to return through the annual outreach, Camryn still plans to return someday. In the meantime, Camryn now recognizes the significant needs in inner cities across the country.
“Without the Cru Inner City opportunity, I would assume that interacting with the underprivileged would just have to happen outside of the United States,” the college senior said. “I didn’t realize how much drug use there was in the inner city of Orlando, let alone how much is surrounding me in Columbus. Urban Immersion allowed for more perspective than ever before. I didn’t realize how many people were homeless and trying to find a way to make it. I didn’t even know long-term hotel stays were a thing, but that was a big part of our initial experience from both years.
“It's definitely made me realize that I'm living life on mission every day,” she said. “I don't just have to go on a mission trip to Orlando in back-to-back years.”
Lori Arnold serves as the senior writer for Cru's inner-city ministry.
©1994-2024 Cru. All Rights Reserved.
