Redeeming the Trauma

After years of suffering horrific abuse and neglect during childhood, the prospect of Samantha Orr achieving academic success seemed unlikely.

In 2002 at the age of 8, the girl had been removed from her home of origin in what family services workers termed the worst case of child abuse in the history of Greene County, Missouri. Samantha suffered third-degree burns to her head, right shoulder, and back; went days without being fed; sustained daily beatings by her mother; and suffered repeated rapes by her father and later her stepfather — who held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

Officials placed the 8-year-old girl in kindergarten because she had never attended school. Despite developmental delays connected with abuse, Samantha went on to become valedictorian and student body president at her high school. She graduated from the Evangel University with a bachelor’s degree, master’s in educational leadership, and, earlier this year, a doctorate in educational leadership, curriculum, and instruction. This fall, she became middle school assistant principal at her alma mater.

Samantha’s plight began to turn around thanks to attending a Royal Family KIDS Camp, the ministry founded by AG minister Wayne Tesch, and his wife, Diane, 40 years ago. Now under the umbrella ministry For The Children, Royal Family KIDS Camps allow kids in foster care to experience a week of Bible-based teachings, fun activities, and enjoying the outdoors.

Through her church, Evangel Temple in Springfield, licensed psychologist Jean Orr has been a Royal Family volunteer for more than a quarter century. She connected with Samantha at the girl’s first week at the summer camp.

“She had scars because of skin grafts from burns,” recalls the compassionate Jean, who teaches a variety of courses at Evangel University, including one on abuse and neglect and another on abnormal psychology. “My heart went out to her. I saw potential in her.”

Jean and her husband, Daryle, soon began fostering Samantha on weekends, adopting her at age 11. The Orrs also have four other biological children.

Samantha, now 31, says attending her first Royal Family KIDS Camp transformed her life.

“I realized other kids had similar stories of being hurt by mom or dad,” recalls the self-confident and poised Samantha. “I realized I wasn’t alone in the world. I no longer felt weird.”

A schoolteacher told the Orrs that Samantha, who had a speech impediment as a child, would never be more than an average student. But Samantha became a voracious reader in middle school, positioning her on the path of overachiever.

“God had a much bigger plan,” says Jean, now 61. “There is no other explanation for success other than God intervened in her life.” As adults, Jean and Samantha remain close, often sharing stories of their experiences as teachers. “She’s one of my best friends,” Jean says. “I can call her and talk. She is level-headed and wise.”

Samantha received much godly training through AG ministries such as Sunday School, Girls Ministries, and Junior Bible Quiz.

Yet even beforehand, because of Scripture instruction at Royal Family KIDS Camp, Samantha knew she must forgive her tormenters.

“When I forgave my parents and asked Jesus into my heart, a weight was lifted off my heart,” Samantha recalls. “I knew that God would take care of them and me. I felt free.”

While still a teenager, Samantha began giving back as a volunteer at Royal Family KIDS Camp. She has gone to 15 camps.

“I know from experience the impact a camp has on creating an environment where a timid kid feels safe to open up,” Samantha says. “Knowing I understand helps relieve some of the fear, stress, and anxiety kids feel.”

In May, Samantha became the first “camper” alumnus elected as a For The Children board member. Wendy McMahan, president of the Santa Ana, California-based For The Children, says Samantha proved to be a natural choice because of how she overcame her experiences, her gifted way of relating her testimony, and how her education dovetails with the organization’s mission.

“Samantha is a picture of resilience and restoration,” says McMahan, who has been involved in child abuse prevention, foster care, family reunification, and adoption for 23 years. “Once she discovered she was made in the image of God and that He loved her — and that she was worthy of love from other people — she just blossomed.”

The effervescent McMahan, 49, calls Samantha a powerful speaker and an incredible trainer who teaches volunteers how to understand the mind of a traumatized child. In Samantha’s case, she arrived at her first camp distrusting adults and without any childhood friends. By the end of the week, she felt valued and loved for the first time.

“In high school, I knew I wanted to be a teacher so that I could be a safe person for kids,” says Samantha, who taught middle school math before her promotion to administrator. She is able to recognize potential warning signs of neglect and abuse.

Samantha is one of the more than 3,250 Royal Family KIDS camp alumni to return in the past 15 years, giving back to the programs that impacted them in childhood.

“Kids can’t overcome everything they’ve gone through, they can’t recover the years that have been lost,” says McMahan, who with her husband, Tim, has adopted two of the 13 children they’ve fostered. “But when campers move from believing they are inevitably bad and that everything will be a disaster to a life of hope and restoration, they are transformed and want to pour into others.”

McMahan says while Samantha remembers the abuse, she has been able to move past it.

“Many people who come out of a traumatic experience just want to get as far away from it as possible, and that’s understandable,” McMahan says. “But Samantha has chosen instead to come back and continue helping children who are in circumstances she found herself in.”

“I can’t change my past, but I can help change the future of some of those kids,” Samantha says. “I’m trusting God to use my story to ultimately help others.”

John W. Kennedy

John W. Kennedy served as news editor of AG News from its internet inception in 2014 until retiring in 2023. He previously spent 15 years as news editor of the Pentecostal Evangel and seven years as news editor at Christianity Today.