Baked Oatmeal
“I was born in Jamaica and moved to New York as a child,” Natica said. “My parents sent us to church, but they were too busy with work and life to go with us. Although I participated in church activities, I never surrendered to Jesus as Lord. As I moved into adulthood I experienced strong feelings of abandonment because of my relationship with my father. I became angry and bitter and made some bad decisions in my life. My childhood friend, Michanne, always invited me to hang out with her. During my college years she kept reaching out to me, praying for me and checking up on me.“
In 2007 I was in a destructive relationship when I had an encounter with Christ. Even though I had accepted Jesus as my Savior, I was completely caught up in the craziness of my life. When Michanne invited me to attend a women’s retreat at Camp Deerpark, I was ready. I knew I couldn’t afford the retreat and, honestly, I don’t know who paid for me to go to camp. That weekend the minister spoke about God being enough. We were in the chapel basement and I remember God’s love overflowing me. I began crying and confessing my sins. I felt God’s love flow over me with every sin I confessed. I felt God telling me, ‘I am enough.’
“The next morning at breakfast they served baked oatmeal. After a prayer was offered, I poured milk over my oatmeal and started eating. An overwhelming feeling came over me. It was like God was saying, ‘I love you.’I began to cry. My friend asked me if I was OK. I said yes, but kept on eating and crying. For the first time in my life I felt that no matter what my sins were God would not abandon me. God was saying, ‘You need to be held? I will hold you.’
Baked Oatmeal (Camp Deerpark secret recipe)
INGREDIENTS
6 cups rolled oat
2 cups brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1 cup melted butter
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups raisins
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract. Stir in raisins. Spread into an oiled and floured 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
[Serves 9]
“In 2016, after many years of marriage, my husband left me. I saw my daughter experiencing the same feelings of abandonment that I had felt as a girl. I remembered how comforted I had felt at Camp Deerpark, when one morning I had eaten baked oatmeal. I decided to try and make the dish for my daughter. I followed some recipes I found on the internet, but the recipes never came out right. I knew it was God’s love, not perfect baked oatmeal that really touches our lives, but I really wanted to find a recipe that reminded me of camp and God’s love that I experienced there. I never found a recipe that tasted the same.
Joy Fellowship Church is located in the Bronx, N.Y., and was founded by Martin and Ethel Bender in 1979. On May 6, 1969, Camp Deerpark (then called Mennonite Action Program) borrowed $49,600 from Goshen Savings Bank. Martin Bender’s signature, along with those of John I. Smucker, Dale Stoltzfus and Glenn Zeager, appears on the loan documents.
“In November of 2016 I found myself back at Joy Fellowship and again invited to a women’s retreat at Camp Deerpark. I attended the retreat, and amazingly, one morning they served baked oatmeal. A server kindly gave me the Camp Deerpark recipe when I asked for it. I was able to go home and bake it with my daughter. Since that weekend, we have made the baked oatmeal recipe together many times. As we work together we talk about God’s love.“I am so grateful for the encouragement that I received at the camp retreats. I learned that God is a restoring God.”
—Written by Ken Bontrager, current camp director.
Natica Apau, retreat guest with Joy Fellowship.
Michanne is the daughter of the associate pastor at Joy Fellowship, William Campbell.