Hadlock, Camille
Serving the Lord with Teen Missions in Uganda
Hadlock Herald
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.— Galatians 2:20
My name is Camille Hadlock. I was born on August 25, 1949, in Long Beach, California, USA. I am considered part of the “baby boomer” post WW II generation.
My parents were born-again Christians, and I was carried to church from the time I was a baby. As I grew, I loved to go to church and joined in all the activities offered. I sang in the children’s and youth choir, enjoyed the active youth group and went to camp each summer in the high Sierras. It was at camp that the Lord showed me my sinful nature and need for a Savior. I was nine years old when the camp speaker invited those who wanted to receive Christ to come forward. I went very willingly and gave my life to Christ. When I met my parents after the camp, my first words were, “I got saved!”
Throughout my youth I was active in Christian ministry even at the secular high school I attended. I had many opportunities to attend seminars and conferences where I was taught scriptural truth and how it should apply to my life. I had good Christian friends and a good youth group to keep me accountable as a Christian.
I attended George Fox College in Oregon, but I didn’t have much direction, and found college life very exciting socially. I met my husband, Bob, there, and we married after I had completed two years of college. After a few temporary jobs we received a call asking if we would work with Youth for Christ (YFC)/Campus Life in Yakima, Washington. We told them that we weren’t sure if we were qualified, but would be glad to go there and meet with them. They received us as we were, young and immature, and they said that we would receive training after we came. I was eight months pregnant by then, and our first daughter, Tracy, was born a month after we moved there.
We spent four years working with YFC/Campus Life doing weekly clubs for teenagers in several different schools in the Yakima Valley. During that time, we grew spiritually and in maturity. Two more daughters, Carrie and Jodi, were born to us during our time there. The Lord led us to Grants Pass, Oregon, next, where we began YFC/Campus Life ministry in the high schools there and our fourth daughter, Heather, was born. After only two years a call came from Walla Walla, Washington, asking my husband to fill a position in a church as youth pastor. From there the Lord took us back to Grants Pass for another 10 years. Altogether, we served YFC for 18 years.
In 1984 some friends of ours went on a summer missions trip with Teen Missions to Mexico. They came back and talked about their experiences for months, and we were interested enough to attend a leader seminar to see what we thought about it ourselves. I was impressed by the spiritual principles they were teaching, and the emphasis on prayer and faith and spiritual disciplines. We had an interview with the staff members who taught the seminar and we agreed to try it the next summer. We could take a sabbatical leave of absence for the summer months. We decided to make it a family affair, and our four daughters began to get excited when we shared the plans with them. The older two were old enough to go as team members. So they chose the places they wanted to go, and we waited for Teen Missions to tell us where they wanted us to go as leaders. We would take the younger two girls with us as leader’s kids. That was another thing we like—it was family oriented.
We were asked to go to Norway on an evangelistic bike team. We didn’t see how this could be a “real” mission trip, but we agreed and went to the Lord’s Boot Camp in Merritt Island, Florida. There were many “first” during that Boot Camp and on our different teams, and it was a bit overwhelming, but we saw the power of God change lives and do incredible things in answer to prayer. We also shared our experiences with others when we returned home, though we weren’t sure we would do another trip. Teen Missions sent us an invitation to lead another team and we prayed about it seriously, because we believed in so many aspects of the ministry. The Boot Camp was absolutely necessary for training and experiencing culture shock before taking the teams of teenagers overseas. The length of participation time was also a benefit. Several weeks were necessary for changing bad habits and implementing good ones. Daily quiet times with God and memorizing scriptures each day were also life-changing practices. We led a team to Kenya that next summer, going without salary for the months we were away. It was well worth it. We were drawn very definitely to the continent of Africa.
In subsequent years we led teams to Tanzania, Malawi, and Uganda feeling very much “at home” in the African culture. We also led team to Guatemala, the Philippines, Nepal, Austria, and to several countries in Europe with a choir team. Each team was unique and precious, and each country and missionary were very special. Uganda was where the Lord seemed to be directing specifically, and in 1992 I helped establish the Overseas Boot Camp (OBC) there, and have continued up to now. It has flourished through the years, and well over 10,000 Ugandan teens have participated on teams.
In early 1988 the Lord impressed on my heart that we should join Teen Missions staff on a full-time basis. Shortly after, Bob had the same impression. The Lord led us to go through First Step, the potential staff training. After raising support we moved to Merritt Island, Florida, and began working at the headquarters. Each summer we led teams.
In 1995, my husband, Bob, died suddenly while we were in the country of Nepal with a Teen Missions summer team. It was a traumatic experience to go through, and the Lord was very comforting and helped me to go on. Because I was called to the ministry individually, as was my husband, I had no thoughts of quitting. Since that year, my life has been a roller-coaster of losses as well as encouragement from the Lord, and the direction he showed me in 2002 was to go to Uganda full-time to coordinate the Teen Missions BIBLE, MISSIONARY & WORK (BMW) Training Center that had begun in 1999.
I am extremely blessed with the family God has given me. Tracy and her husband, Dwight Hensler, are missionaries with Wycliffe SIL in Tanzania, East Africa. Their son, Andrew, was born in 2003. Carrie and her husband are also in ministry. Jodi went to be with the Lord on January 1, 2001. Her husband, William, works for NASA. Heather served with Infinity Sports, going to countries with sports teams and the Gospel.
Prayer Requests
- That I may be a loving, faithful, obedient child of God
- That I will always be hungry and thirsty for righteousness
- That I will faithfully take time to listen for God’s guidance and instruction
Birthday
- August 25
