We, Chuck & Jodi Ferguson, hope to be used as the hands and feet of Jesus as we minister to our campers. This is our passion!
Chuck's Camp ResumeJodi & I would like to share more about ourselves. Jodi grew up in Houston and asked Christ into her heart in 8th grade. I became a Christian in high school while living in San Antonio. We met at Texas A&M University while participating in The Navigators Christian Ministry. College was a wonderful time of spiritual growth for us. Jodi got the opportunity to be a counselor for 3 summers at a Christian camp (loved every minute of it) and then graduated with a kinesiology degree and taught Elementary PE.
We married the summer after my first year of medical school. We rejoiced in the birth of Matthew during my fourth year and by all appearances he seemed like a healthy baby boy. About 18mos. later, we welcomed Mary Beth into our family while living in Tyler, TX, during my resident training. It was then that we learned of Matthew’s autism. Those were very trying times, to say the least. I was at the hospital 80-100 hrs a week and Jodi was at home with a very challenging toddler and a newborn. By God’s Grace, our marriage deepened and we learned what it really meant to depend on Him. Three years later, we received our third blessing, Anna, while living in College Station, TX. At present, our family resides in Tomball, TX and we are very active in our church’s ministry to those with disabilities. I continue to work as an emergency room physician and Jodi homeschools the girls and Matthew attends a private school for children with autism.
For the past five summers, we’ve taken Matthew to a Christian camp for children with disabilities and their siblings in southern Missouri; Camp Barnabas. Our family got to stay at Camp as I served as one of the camp doctors. We cannot adequately put into words how the Lord ministered to us while at Barnabas. We were changed. All along, Jodi & I were feeling as though the Lord could be calling us to commit ourselves to just such a ministry. It seems that the Lord had brought us through our dark days with Matthew and placed within us a genuine love & passion for people with disabilities and their families.
Jodi & I feel that camp ministry is quite powerful for such children because the rest of the year, some of these kids live a fairly restricted life. We believe that the Christian camp environment provides a unique opportunity for our campers to “get away” and experience the love of Christ in fresh, new ways. Also, parents can receive physical, emotional and spiritual refreshment while their loved ones are away. In addition, siblings can come to camp, have fun, feel special, and not feel responsible for their sibling. The Lord has called us to provide this type of ministry. It’s so much more than “just going to camp”.
Why does the Lord seem to be leading us to this work in the Houston area? Aren’t there more beautiful areas of Texas? Perhaps He wants us to be conveniently located to the people we will be serving. So, here we are, on this grand adventure; trusting God for great things!
Chuck & Jodi Ferguson
“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever.” Psalm 16:11
