The Joy of Camp Ministry

• SA Engages

May 3, 2024

As summer quickly approaches, many students will be leaving Liberty for three short months. Students will depart campus and disperse across the nation and even the world. For some, summer means spending time with family in their small hometown. Others may have an exciting internship geared towards their career or an interesting part-time job. But perhaps one of the most popular summer jobs for Liberty students is working as a camp counselor.

Camp ministry is popular on Liberty’s campus and for good reason. Who wouldn’t want to spend a summer playing fun games, spending time outdoors, and sharing the gospel with kids? Camps know this and spend almost the entire school year recruiting new hires for the summer.

Working at a Christian summer camp is a great way to spread the Gospel and live out the command Christians have to make disciples. However, the job doesn’t come without its challenges, and it truly takes a reliance on the Lord to make it through the summer.

Calleigh Wilson, a rising senior at Liberty, has some camp counseling experience under her belt. Last summer, Calleigh worked at Merriwood Christian Camp in Clemmons, North Carolina. She served as a camp counselor, and this upcoming summer she will serve as the camp photographer and social media intern. When asked what her favorite part about working at camp was Calleigh said, “My favorite part of working at camp would have to be the relationships you build. You get to create a family out of the team that you’re working with all summer and build lifelong friendships. Beyond that, you also get to build relationships with the campers each week and see them grow in their relationship with God and their relationships with each other.”

When asked what advice she would give to a future counselor Calleigh had this to say, “I’d say the best piece of advice I received would be the “upside down funnel method” which basically means on the first day you have your campers be strict with your most important rules that you are going to enforce. And then throughout the week, you won’t have to be yelling at kids for breaking rules you didn’t enforce at the beginning. Then you can loosen up and have more fun with the campers throughout the week because they know you’re not only their friend but also their counselor!”

Camp ministry is a special and unique experience many college students are able to take part in. Good luck to all of those who will be serving the Lord this summer!