Why Camp? Here’s my personal story…
By Peter Fraser
Read Part One: Why Camp? Camp is a vehicle for developing leaders!
This past summer, I volunteered for a week of elementary camp as a cabin leader and music helper. That particular week, we had 20 volunteers, five summer staff and about 60 campers.
This is my fifth summer volunteering at camp and it has been a fruitful experience – challenging, but wonderful. Cabin leaders are always paired up, so there are plenty of times when we need to collaborate and strategize, and there is a lot of modeling of how to be an effective leader that occurs.
For instance, over the course of a day I would collaborate with my co-cabin leader and L.I.T. (if we had one) over scheduling, activities we were going to do, how we were going to teach the day’s scripture lesson, music leadership (if they were helping out), how to play certain games, how to handle more difficult campers, health concerns, and good strategies for nighttime routines.
These conversations are so valuable.
And the leadership and learning goes both ways. As a cabin leader if there is a game I am leading that falls flat, or only takes up a few minutes, I will rely on my L.I.T. to help out, and I learn things from them as well. One of my co-volunteers this summer was a man in his seventies, and I learned a lot about different ways to interact with campers and how to be a more serving leader from his experience and demeanor.
I went to camp as a child and had an amazing experience. It was a place I felt welcomed and accepted. I am thankful for my time at camp growing up. Because of my experience as a camper, I knew that I wanted to emulate those leaders. I was trained as a C.I.T. (Counselor In Training) for two weeks of the summer in high school, and then I was hired as site staff for two years after graduating high school. While I often pushed the boundaries and tested the limits, it was an invaluable experience.
I went on to teach public school full time and now part time as a substitute teacher, and I help to lead music at my church and am now leading the Camping Board Of Stewards for the PNW Conference. My time as a leader in camping helped prepare me to be a leader outside of camping. There is a close-knit community that develops over the course of a week or a summer, and camping provides a wonderful way for people to grow into leaders and disciples.
I am grateful for my continued experienced with our PNW camps, but I am even more grateful that we have PNW Camps as an on-going means to developing leaders to further the gospel throughout our conference and all the communities our people serve.
