Summer camp goes beyond the summer. Full time staff say that kind of thing a lot between August and June (the 9 months between) but that becomes especially true when the staff that we have been recruiting since October actually come to camp the first week of June. Recruiting 65-70 high school and college students is no easy task. They represent so many different backgrounds – socioeconomic, ethnic, location, denomination. Our staff learn about camp from all kinds of different places – in person recruiting events at high schools, colleges, youth events; social media or our website; or our favorite – word of mouth from their friends who had the best experience here and can’t wait to share that.

To give you an under-the-hood look at what countries and states are represented, here are just a few from this year alone. For countries, we have the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Mexico, and the USA. For states, we see staff from Washington, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, and Wisconsin.

Back for round 2 is Jude (Beatle) Wood. Here is what he had to say about why he wanted to work at camp again “Last summer, I enjoyed coming to camp so much. The culture that was surrounded by is so welcoming and encouraging. But this was also the most fulfilling summer job that I have ever had. I gave up my entire summer to work at camp as a counselor, and I would do it over and over again if I had the chance. I want to help others this summer and grow in my faith but also be able to help others grow in their faith as well. I thought I was not able to come to camp next summer, but I realized that I need to prioritize this job opportunity. I want to come out to camp this summer and not be stagnate in my faith, I want to encourage others and be as helpful in the ministry of camp as I can.”

Many of our new staff express a desire to help campers grow in their relationship with God because their life was impacted when they were here. Of our summer staff hired, 18 were summer campers before they became staff members. It’s so fun to watch campers grow to staff members where they want to recreate that life changing experience for another kid.

Emmarie “Coach” Moon

Director of Discipleship and Recruiting