I spent this past summer serving on the Summer Leadership Team at Warren W. Willis United Methodist Camp in Leesburg, Florida, near Orlando. It's an overnight camp where kids between 4th and 12th grade come for a week to put down their cell phones and all the distractions in their life and grow closer to Christ, and have a lot of fun doing it. The campers are able to do all sorts of activities, such as ultimate frisbee, canoeing, tubing, rock climbing, zip lining, and more, in addition to worship and small groups. Throughout the summer I also led a workshop for the middle school age level that discussed academics and the ways in which students can keep their faith centered in the midst of school and all the stress that comes with it. By far the best part of the whole experience was the interactions I had with campers as I got to know them throughout each week. Some campers have been coming for years, and were super excited from day one to come back to a place where they saw God so clearly. For others, this year was their first time and they didn't know what to expect and may have been nervous or missing home. I started to enjoy watching the first year campers as they grew more comfortable around others and came out of their shell as the week went on. I had been a counselor last year as well so it was really great being able to check in with the campers I had met last year and see how they've been. It's been such a privilege to be able to be a part of so many campers' walks with Christ and live life with them.
