About 10CAMELS
Submersed in Story
Storytelling is older than once upon a time. Storytelling is more enduring than happy ever after. Stories exist. Stories thirst to be told.
We all have a story and are part of a collective story. Sometimes we need to connect with another’s story to fully understand our own.
10CAMELS is wading in the water of life. Inviting others to join. Sharing and stirring stories for individual hope and collective healing.
A Well of Hope and Healing
Water ushers us from the womb into the world. The world, like our bodies, is composed of water more than any other element. And yet, thirst—literal, metaphorical, physical, political, and spiritual—is a common human experience.
An untold story leaves us dry. A story told has unlimited transformational potential. 10CAMELS makes space for stories by pouring out hope and promoting healing. Within each of us is a stream of experience and a fountain of wisdom ready to flow forth. Sometimes we simply need a nudge to turn it on.
Why 10CAMELS?
Christianity and religion are not the whole of Rebecca’s story, but are chapters that cannot be omitted. Rebecca was baptized, confirmed, commissioned and almost ordained in the United Methodist Church.
Just before examination for full ordination, realizing she was called to live authentically and no longer deny her queer identity, Rebecca made the decision to come out as lesbian and surrender her provisional credentials due to the denomination’s anti-LGBTQ+ positions and policies. The decision was the most difficult and liberating of her life. It came with profound loss and even greater possibilities.
Navigating a dry and barren season, water sprung from an unexpected source. Wandering along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, certain of nothing and questioning everything, a mentor invited Rebecca to meditate on this story from Scripture,
When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. Genesis 24: 19-20 (NRSVUE)
Enlightenment rolled in like waves at high tide. Washing over her. Leading her to a deeper imagination.
10CAMELS was birthed from the story of Rebekah and the water she poured out to a thirsty traveler from an ancestral aquifer flowing since the dawn of time. This name honors when, where, and why 10CAMELS began and anchors Rebecca’s work to a bigger story.
Callings and stories are universal. The church’s rejection cannot quell them. Institutions cannot control how we live and share them.
10CAMELS is a fountain of imagination, where creativity is cultivated and stories are flowing. Not a pulpit but a wellspring, built on love and belonging, where Rebecca is pouring out words that sound like hope and healing.
Wednesdays at the Well on Substack.
Weekly reflections on the things that cause and quench our thirst.
Meet Rebecca
Queer poet, storyteller, cultivator of creativity.
Rebecca Wilson (she/her) is a proud Michigander, rooted in Flint and grounded in Detroit. She is driven by an upbringing in the Vehicle and Motor Cities. Her words weave together unique life experience, faith, spirituality, identity, and culture. She began writing poems and stories as a child as a way of exploring the world around her and expressing imagination. Creativity was a tool for navigating the anxiety and depression brought on by trauma.
Her educational journey shows the power of resilience, being unafraid of failure and undaunted by others’ assessments. She finished an Associate Degree 11 years after enrolling in her first course, an accomplishment that fueled her commitment to continuing education. In addition to an Associate of Arts, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies and a Master of Divinity. Most recently she became a Certified Listener Poet with The Good Listening Project.
When the denomination she faithfully served told her she could not be ordained and openly queer, she chose authenticity. She regularly looks back, not with regret, but rather with a deep desire to journey with others seeking liberation from the beliefs, institutions, and systems that deny our humanity and bind our spirits.
After years of pouring out messages about a man turning water into wine, in 2022 Rebecca founded 10CAMELS, where she travels the country turning words into water for individuals and communities thirsty for hope and healing. Humble and witty, she is uniquely gifted at bringing people together, tending gently to harsh realities, and stirring transformation.
Through poetry, speaking engagements, keynote addresses, podcast guest appearances, sermons, workshops, and retreats Rebecca cultivates creativity in others by planting seeds of authenticity, curiosity, and introspection. She writes weekly reflections on the things that cause and quench our thirst at Wednesdays at the Well on Substack.
Her debut book of poetry, Unraveling: Coming Out and Back Together, was published in 2024 and her second, Not My Grandmother’s Hymnal: Composing a Curious Faith will be published in March 2026.
When she is not writing or creating, Rebecca is likely wandering near water with her rescue pup, Ruby.