The saying, “Everyone sign up for camp! It’s the best weekend of your life!” was always my favorite thing to hear. Throughout my four years of high school, YoungLife has always been one of my biggest blessings. I attended weekly club on Monday nights at 7:27 to hang out with my school friends and my leaders. I get to have dance parties, hear the gospel, and different stories of how people’s lives have been changed as they grew their faith. Camp, however, was a completely different experience.
Camp was the highlight of the school year and summer. My area, Auburn-Opelika YoungLife, went to Sharptop Cove in Jasper, GA for a weekend every December. We got to play games, do a ropes course, ride horses, and so much more. I am a very outgoing person, so one of my favorite parts of camp was meeting people from other high schools. However, the real deal at YoungLife camp was club and the food. Club was just like how we have it at home, except with around 300 people instead of 20, more games, more dance parties, and the camp preacher is always amazing. The food was top-tier and the best camp food you could ever have. The servers walked out to a song called “Bring Em Out” and everyone cheered as we were about to get the best camp food ever. I felt like everything was perfect, almost like heaven on Earth.
In my junior year of high school, my best friend did work crew at a YoungLife camp, and she recommended that I should also do work crew at a camp. She stated, “You would be so good at it and you get to meet so many amazing people!” I loved the idea. She continues, “You learn so much about the Lord and how to truly serve people your age.” She went on and on about how it impacted her so much. It was the hardest but best three weeks of her life. I thought it would be good for me to be the one serving campers instead of being the camper. I love sharing the gospel and helping people, so how hard could it be? Overall, I was just mainly excited to go to camp. If I get to be at YoungLife camp longer than one week, I’m so in.
I got placed at a camp called Carolina Point in Brevard, NC. My days were spent at camp waking up at 6 am, devotional, cleaning and setting the dining hall for three meals, and preparing food. My team and I did this on repeat every day. I worked all day and only had two hours of free time. It was the most tiring thing I ever did. However, it got me thinking about what it means to truly serve. I wasn't at camp for me, I was at camp for the campers. I was the one setting up activities, I was the one bringing the food out to the song “Bring Em Out”, and I was the one on the stage at club as I shared my testimony. I learned what it truly felt like to serve others.
Serving is more than just doing things for others. You receive this amazing gift of bringing joy out of someone and knowing how much it means to them. These campers were too busy having fun than thinking about who put everything together. However, I got to stand proudly as I know that I helped a camper build their faith. Giving is something that I always cherish, and always being grateful for what I have. Even though I had the best times being a camper at YoungLife camp, I know what it means to serve others.