Life is a Low-Rope! (My Camp Story)

A few years ago, I was walking through my campus and saw a booth in the student union for this Christian Camp called Deer Run. I thought to myself that I have never been to a Christian camp, but I should give it a try. I walked over, got the information, applied, interviewed, and a few months later found me in the midst of this valley training to lead children for half the summer.

The first night was spent having a meal with our families before we were gone for the summer, playing games to get to know each other, and for me getting my camp nickname. We spent the next few days being treated as campers, as we did every activity the camp had for us. I was able to overcome my fear of heights and falling and be able to overcome my overly arrogance through low-rope games. We became a team that would conquer tasks throughout the week and learned to trust each other. We spent so many hours with each other, that when we had to be a part it was like family was missing. The following week we began learning how to run everything, do our bible studies, become qualified on all the different child protection policies, and get ready to hit the ground running. On one of the mornings during training, we were woken up early. We all met down at the pavilion and got ready to go on a hike. As we walked, we were encouraged not to talk, but to take the moment and began meditating on what God had for us that summer. We as we walked through the forest, we began to see light. We walked out into this massive field as the sun was rising over the horizon. We began to pray and have our moments with God. Then, our leader spoke. He told us of how the camp started and the vision God gave him the first time he stepped on property. We were told of the long line of staffers that were and were to come, and how God had blessed us and would bless us for following the path God laid before us. We prayed as family groups and as a staff and began our hike back to camp with a whole new outlook. Then, camp started.

Throughout the summers I worked, I always knew that I was not just taking care of kids for a week, I was being taken care of by my superiors. It was a philosophy that I adapted to my own ministry and was one of the most impactful days of my life. I became competitive with my staffers and always wanted to strive to have fun, but to teach my campers about what it meant to be a disciple and how to take care of God’s creation. I strove to win Spirit Deer as many times as my kids could, and my kids were amazing. I had the bumps and bruises along the way both physically and on my ego. It honestly changed me from the boy I was acting like to the Man of God that I hope I am today. I made some of the best friends I could ever have and helped lead some of the best teenagers I could ever ask for.

 

Since my first summer, I was able to serve another year, help a few weeks here and there, preach one day for an organization that was close to my heart, and then preach and serve a full week this past month. Throughout all of this experience, my favorite part was coming back and seeing my high school campers and volundeers be summer staffers again. They have grown immensely in Christ and I am over joyed for who they have become and that I can be a part of their lives.

It seems that even to this day, when camp calls I can’t help but go.

So, why should you serve at camp? I would say because of who you become afterwards.

When you work at camp, you dive head first into an environment that takes all the things that kept you from focusing on Christ and the ministry God has called you to. You have an opportunity to experience God and to be able to minister in an environment that is there to build you up instead of tear you down like the world does. Camp is where I felt comfortable to first lead someone to Christ, it is where I first preached to a crowd over a hundred, it is where I gave my testimony unashamedly, it is where I knew God loved me more than I have ever been told. It became a place where you were free to worship the Almighty and I love it so much.

Camp is not easy and may not be for everyone, but when you get the opportunity and feel led to go I encourage you to give it a shot.  Life truly is a low-rope and it does take a team to get through it.