Stories of Blessings From Camp and Beyond

The teen campers I got to know this summer made a wonderful impact on my life! Now that they are back in your local areas, please hear their stories and share yours with them. Help build the community of support we all need.

Camp was set up, and we were finally ready to welcome our girls. As my co-counselor and I waited anxiously in our dorm, we talked and learned more about each other. As we joked around and shared our stories, our girls began to arrive one-by-one. Laughter, hugs and screams filled the air as more and more campers came into the positive, caring environment that was Camp Sequoia.

As soon as our dorm family was complete, we once again shared our stories about where we are from and who we are. This would set the trend for the week—sharing stories while growing closer and being tremendous blessings to each other.

A coincidence?

Throughout the Bible we are told stories about people and their lives, to the extent that we can feel like we know some of these people personally. Story after story, example after example, we learn about how they lived their lives and how God expects us to live.

Is this just coincidence, or did God record these stories for a reason?

Jesus Christ taught using many interesting and memorable stories.

We also see that older women are admonished to teach and share their experiences with the younger women (Titus 2:3-5).

Sharing in the blessings

As I sat and listened to the amazing dorm parents who came into our dorm and shared their personal stories with us before bed, I watched awestruck as our dorm grew as a family. A wonderful bond was forming, a deeper bond than I had ever before seen in my history of serving at youth camps.

We listened to others at camp share their personal stories of accomplishments and struggles through the Life Skills class, Compass Checks and through heart-to-hearts, and we shared our own stories as well. I never before realized how much of a blessing our personal life stories could be to others and witnessed the blessings that our girls received from each other.

The Bible tells us that, as the family of God, we should look out for each other and encourage one another. Through this, I’ve learned that we can grow and learn as much from our younger sisters as we can from our older sisters. As counselors, we formed a bond with each other by sharing our struggles and accomplishments, and we were thrilled to witness that bond carried down to our younger sisters in our dorm.

Support network

The last night of camp, as I sat looking around the room at the amazing young ladies we had the privilege of caring for that week, I realized how blessed we were to be able to come together and share with them our stories. But even more so, how blessed we were as counselors to hear their stories and learn from them.

That last night as I thanked God for blessing us with the opportunity and responsibility of caring for these phenomenal young women of God, I also asked Him to look after them as we sent them home.

Our hearts swelled with love and admiration for these beautiful young women of God; and in the sadness of saying good-bye, we realized that our girls had a wonderful support network that we had built throughout the week—and not only in us, but in the Church as a whole.

Ladies and sisters, please remember to look after our amazing girls who are now back in your local congregations. Listen to their stories, teach, admonish and encourage them through your own stories. Share your lives with them; I’ve learned it’s the best way we can grow and help each other to grow into the people God wants us to be.

For more about the camp program, see the COGWA Youth Camps page.

Kathleen Giza is a legal assistant who attends the Houston, Texas, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. She is missing the wonderful girls in her dorm at Camp Sequoia but is excited to see the awesome plan God has in store for them.