Gull Lake Ministries: Personal Experiences

As the week progressed and friendships formed between everyone, I realized the importance of the camp to all that were involved. To the counselors it was a learning experience, as well as a time to appreciate all that we would usually take for granted; to the campers it was a time to learn and make new friends, and for most of them, it would also serve as their only form of a summer vacation. So although we were all exhausted by the end of the week, we had a great time.

My first experience at Bridgetown church was very long overdue and very interesting. Most all of my friends and family all have been inviting me to Bridgetown specifically because they all really enjoy a specific pastor there that speaks on Sunday services. I never saw the need to go, mainly because of my night shifts are scheduled so oddly I was afraid of falling asleep at a religious sermon that I was not interested in embarrassing myself at and also not wanting to go out of my way to attend something that I was not particularly interested in. Bluntly writing I did not want to waste my time to go to something I wasn’t very excited about, especially when I do not know what to expect. This assignment did give the opportunity a bigger reason and I am glad to have been able to make such an insightful visit that I may not mind trying again in the near future.

Last summer I volunteered to be a camp counselor at a camp in Blowing Rock, North Carolina called Camp Sonshine. This camp is different from others in that they bring children ages 5 to 18 from inner city Memphis, Tennessee to the Appalachian Mountains. This

After arriving in Tennessee, my parents were very adamant about getting plugged into a church. I was raised in church but up until then, I went because I was told to. Usually I had to count ceiling lights or people in pews to keep from falling asleep during sermons. We attended countless services, but it wasn’t until one special Sunday that we found Sand Ridge Baptist Church. Unbeknownst to me, it would change my life.

For this assignment, we had to attend a meeting of a spiritual tradition that is not our own. As this assignment's due date approached, I became very anxious! I didn’t quite know where I wanted to go. In my sewing class one day my friend, Kelly Jorgensen, had asked if I had finished the assignment. I had not. “Me and Karlie Mortensen are going to the Baptist church over by Riverton Hospital this Sunday at 6:00 PM if you want to join us” she offered. I found this rather funny. The day before, as I was driving home from work, the Harvest Valley Baptist Church sign had caught my eye. I thought to myself that I should

(indent) In my region there is a Holy day called “Feast of Tabernacles we go camping,so i am going to share my 60 hour my experience.

It was my first time visiting this church, I was nervous yet anxious. The pews had beautiful burgundy cushions and plenty of space. I was just thinking in my head, ‘I hope this church is great and not boring’. Ramah Grove Missionary Baptist Church was my grandparents’ church so I was being introduced to everyone. It seems as if as soon as we sat down the choir started singing behind the pulpit. They sung a few songs that didn’t genuinely interest me so I started to daydream about starting a new school the next day and then I heard something that caught my attention.

Hume Lake is a Christian camp located in California and serves an important function and mission in the lives of their campers. This organization is specifically located in the Sierra Nevada, near Fresno county, in central California. Surrounded by a reservoir, Hume Lake allows their campers to feel connected in community as they spend time doing different outdoor activities such as playing football or jumping into the lake. This ties directly back to Hume’s function, which is to provide an exciting and engaging environment for campers through different outdoor and indoor activities alike that will allow them to grow in their relationships with one another. However, this is Hume’s function from a

In general, my Camp experience was awesome! I enjoyed working with my CSN Camp Mentor Leslie Levit. Her approach and spiritual preparedness for the day was evident throughout the week. Leslie and I reviewed the Crystal Lake staff handbook, visited all locations on the Camp where the staff keep the Camp care kits, organized and replenished

For over 50 years, thousands of young people have spent a week or a weekend growing spiritually, mentally, and physically as a camper or as camp staff at Camp Don Lee. The camp has a loose affiliation with the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church (NCCUMC). The Conference once owned the three camps within its geographic boundaries and provided a significant portion of those camps’ funding. In 1992 the Conference transferred ownership of the camps to a new non-profit, North Carolina United Methodist Camp & Retreat Ministries, Inc. (NCUMCRM). Today, the Conference provides logistical and limited financial support to

I felt so loved and deeply connected with God, and all I wanted was for others to feel the same way. In my heart I knew it was inevitable that in my life I would not always feel as free and loved as I did on this journey, but I hoped I would able to look back on my time at Kairos and be able to recall how much the retreat meant to me and be grateful for the time spent there. I decided that to live the fourth I would maintain this spirit of love and acceptance by understanding other’s stories and really getting to know people before I judge them. My first time back visiting St. Coleman’s after Kairos gave me a new perspective on all the people there, as people living in poverty are so often labeled as people who do not work or they must have done something to be in this situation, but in reality it is often not the case. This particular day in March that I visited Saint Coleman’s was the director of the meal program’s last day. The past twenty years that Eileen had worked at Saint Coleman’s she touched the lives of hundreds of people who walked through those doors on Saturday looking for a place to go and a hot meal to eat. Even I, who had seen Eileen work only the past three years, felt myself getting teary eyed as she said goodbye to all of the people. Eileen is an inspiration to me in my efforts to live the fourth through love and acceptance and she always

By serving this youth retreat with my counterpart, we knew this camp was not about us, and

“Dear mom and dad, camp is the worst, I am not coming back next year”. This is an excerpt of a letter I wrote back to my family from camp. I was a dependent, scared eight-year-old at the time. One of my first memories about camp was my dad pulling the car over so I could vomit because of the nerves, I repeatedly asked them to not send me to camp right in front of what seemed to me as the gates of hell. I felt alone, I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know what sleep away camp would be like. After those two horrid weeks at an unfamiliar place I learned a lot about myself and continue to do so. Three years later I took a leap of faith and returned to that scary place I once hated, summer camp.

Upon arrival, our first activity was to work in the trailer park. While these people were not homeless, they were in quite severe poverty. However, they were nothing like one may expect. One was a very friendly older woman who had worked and gone to college in her younger days but she had been abducted and hurt severely in her twenties. Even though that happen, she was cheerful and had poetic talents. Another was a family whose screen door we replaced because they could not afford a new one. The father was hard working and was made sure all of his children had an education and a roof over their head while the mother cooked and cleaned. Each was doing their part to make the best of their lives. The last was a middle aged couple who needed their trailer badly cleaned. They not only were thankful but they prayed over our group before we left. We a blessing to each of their lives but, they were to ours as

In examining my experience during the recent Cohort Intensives held at Payne Theological Seminary (PTS) in Wilberforce, Ohio; I was quite intrigued with how all of the scholars and guest speakers reinforced many of the initiatives I have already implemented in the context of my own ministry. Likewise, my time spent in class with my Cohort mentors Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie and Rev. Dr. Kenneth S. Robinson was both scholastically and spiritually invaluable. During the week-long Intensive class sessions with my mentors, I learned a number of new things about myself that I was not previously willing to address. In short, I had a moment of self-actualization that required some personal omissions on my part regarding my faith and yes some internalized oppression as labeled by author Gayraud S. Wilmore. Opening up in class and admitting a few of my own short-comings was nothing short of liberating. Suddenly, I felt as though I had an epiphany; that has given birth to a renewed zeal, mind, and spirit. For the first time in years I am certain that I am now moving closer to the apex of excellence where God intended me to be.