“ Our daughter, Devin, is unable to speak with words. At camp, Devin’s shining eyes and bright smile do the communicating. Seeing her wheelchair empty and watching her ride a horse brings joy to out hearts. We thank the Lord for your camp.”
~Dr. and Mrs. Mark Shepherd of Saltillo, MS

Dear Brian,

I am sure you are doing what you felt God wanted you to do with your life. I want to thank you again form a parents point for thinking of these special children. You know as well as I do, not many events are planned around special children. A child has to function totally independently or not participate; this list can just go on and on. I am sure you are very aware of this. I appreciate you not giving up during your battle over the last year or two. It would have been easy to have given up during that time, but you didn’t. I feel that God will continue blessing you as He already has. I am sure other parents are just as thankful as I am, but their thank you doesn’t cover for me. I know if Janice or whoever thought of Casey hadn’t of thought about him with this grant, he would not have been able to go. I am thankful for that as well. I hope he can get a scholarship this summer so he can go then as well. I am sure you know as well how much he enjoys coming to camp. I hope to graduate from the School of Education in May 2005 no later than May 2006. I hope at that time to be able to fully pay Casey’s way and help some other child that is in need. I know teachers do not make a mega salary, but it has to be more than I currently make. We have lived from day to day for the past 5 years. I can’t say I fully regret it because I quit a good paying job to put myself in a position to take care of Casey. Childcare for him became impossible. I have found my calling in life through that move and that is to work with special children. Maybe at some point I can help at the camp and participate there as well. May God always bless you for carrying on His work.

Love in Christ,
Wanda Keith

Dear “Touched By An Angel Family”,

I would like to thank you for what you are doing for our special children. They have to work so hard to accomplish the things that are easy for children who are not handicapped. It doesn’t take much to make them happy. They are naturally sweet and loving. Sevie love the camp last summer and is looking forward to this summer. He especially loved the horse show. Bro. David said he should have gotten the “spirit” award. The young people from West Point and Tupelo are to be commended for their help. This should make them appreciate their mental and physical health. I appreciated Phillip for taking care of Stevie. His attention span is short and he does two things at once most of the time. He certainly is hyper. Sometimes I have to ask why but when I see what Amanda has done for your family and Stevie for mine I see some answer to my question. May God bless and keep all of you. Just wish I was younger. I know I could help.
A friend of Children

Suzette Hollingsworth has been attending camps here with us from the beginning, when we had only a tent standing. Suzette loves the arts and crafts, horse riding, and getting to spend the night away from home. “She loves the independence of being away from mom and dad,” says Teresa, Suzette’s mom. “Having a one on one counselor devoted to her and just giving her someone to talk to is great.” Suzette has also made a lot of friends through the camp.

Suzette is the 23 year old daughter of David and Teresa Hollingsworth of Tupelo.



I sure did have fun this past summer at Touched By An Angel Camp. I loved playing ball, riding horses, throwing rocks in the lake, and playing with other campers and counselors. I am lucky I got to go to camp.

Will Rosa

Craig Moffet and I, Sarah Childers, went this past weekend to a camp called Touched By An Angel Ministries in Tupelo. Touched By An Angel Ministries is a special camp for people with special needs, whether they be physical or mental handicaps. This camp allows these special people to be able to do things that they are not normally able to do such as horseback riding, fishing, shooting fireworks, and other fun activities. It also brings for an opportunity for students, whether in high school or college, to come to this camp and attend to the needs of these people.

This is what Craig and I did this weekend.

The first night we were there, each counselor was assigned either one or two campers to care for over the weekend. After we were assigned our camper(s), we met them and became more acquainted with them by taking them to shoot fireworks.

The second day we were there, we took our camper(s) horseback riding, fishing, and had arts and crafts time with them. The campers also had a special visit by former super model, Kathy Ireland, and singers, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. That night after dinner there was a special show performed from the play Always Patsy Cline, performed by the Tupelo Community Theatre.

The last day we were there, we helped our camper(s) pack their things, and we said our goodbyes.

This was a wonderful experience for both Craig and myself. Even though it was a lot of hard work and sometimes not very pretty, it was a lot of fun. I would encourage anyone to go and become a counselor at Touched By An Angel Ministries. You not only get to see great shows and do a lot of other fun things, you get the enjoyment and satisfaction of knowing that you are helping someone else. This experience was very humbling, and I can truly say that “touched by an angel” hold a new meaning to me now.
Sarah Childers
Throughout the course of my life, I have had opportunities to volunteer with a number of organizations. None however, can compare to my experience with Touched By An Angel Ministries.

Before I began volunteering with Touched By An Angel Ministries, I had limited experience with people with disabilities. After my first camp week as a counselor, I had a new outlook on people with abilities and capabilities that are different than mine. Throughout all of the weeks during which I was a counselor, I began to see how God was using me to touch people’s lives. This new realization prompted me to pursue my growing interest in becoming a summer staff member.

Being on staff at Touched By An Angel Ministries was another truly life-changing experience for me. Not only did I grow emotionally and spiritually, but I created lasting bonds with the people who attended camp as campers, counselors, and volunteers. Being a staff member for Touched By An Angel allowed me to form relationships with people from all over the country; I now have friends in many different states.

Working for Touched By An Angel Ministries encouraged me to see each camper as a unique individual handcrafted by God. I have met many amazing campers who do not let their disabilities stand in their way. The way that each counselor cares for their camper is met equally with the love, compassion, and appreciation that each camper reciprocates to his or her counselor.

An experience like the one available at Touched By An Angel Ministries is very rare and very hard to find. Not only are you able to touch and change a person’s life, your life is changed in an even bigger way. This experience is one not to miss.

Morgan Welty



When you work at a camp you help people. At Touched By An Angel you do much more than just helping people, you are changing lives. I always loved going to camp, singing songs, making arts and crafts, riding horses, playing games, learning more about God, fishing, making new friends, and just having fun. We do all this and more for our campers. At this camp, everybody is equal. If you are ever a counselor, you are never JUST a counselor, you are a leader, a friend, and a role model. When I was a counselor, my favorite activity was One on One time. This is the time where the counselor would share the word of God with the camper. I can distinctly remember the week I had Martha as a camper. It was the first time for One on One and I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to talk to her about. The next thing I know she is telling me Bible verses and praying with me! At the end of the week I felt like I didn’t teach her a thing, but that was okay because I have never learned so much in that short of a time about God in my life, and for that I am thankful. For every person that has never been to camp, I simply tell them to just try for a weekend. I have never had anyone say that they didn’t have a good time.
Jennifer Coggins