From Leading at LID camp
This summer I returned for my 9th year as a counsellor at Leadership Development Camp. After so many years spending 2 weeks or more of my summer volunteers 24 hours a day some might wonder why so many of us continue to return to camp year after year, even in a world where cost of living has skyrocketed and it’s harder than ever to afford volunteering. All I can say for me is that I’ve seen God at work time and time again at camp.
One of the biggest ways I’ve seen God at work is through the way not only my life but the lives of my friends and fellow camp staff have been changed by God at camp. Thinking all the way back to my experiences as a teenager I think about all the friends and colleagues I’ve met and served with at camp. Some of us came from church backgrounds with a positive experience, some of us from no church backgrounds, and some of us had negative relationships with the church, Christians and faith. And although our camps are not some perfect place detached from the imperfections of our world, I have seen so many lives changed for the better because of camp.
I can’t even count the number of friends who had their lives changed by camp. My experience as a LID camper was back in 2004 and to this day, I can remember that as one of the most fun and powerful weeks of my life. And now almost 20 years later I’m looking ahead to summer camp 2023. Since 2004, I’ve been back as a volunteer or staff person virtually every summer and I can’t wait till my nieces and nephew are old enough to go as campers themselves. The staff continues to be so incredibly well trained, not only in how to lead a safe and fun week of camp but how to support and care for every child who comes on site. Nothing beats the view of the sunrise after a campout night at site 3 at Ryerson camp, looking over the cliff onto Lake Erie, or the smell of the grass running through the field playing evening game at Silver Lake Camp. I think the majority of my best memories as a teenager and a twenty-something took place here more than anywhere else and it’s where I came to grow in my faith and know the love of God in ways I never could have imagined. Here’s to another summer ahead with God at camp!
-Adam
