Best Camp Ever!

A few weeks ago, Edge took a trip to Dahlonega, Georgia for an incredible week at Life Teen Camp Hidden Lake. Here's Kate's story of why she came back to camp this year and what her experience was like.

The first time I went to camp I had such amazing growth in my relationship with God that I knew there was more room to grow. Throughout the year leading up to camp this year, I always felt God telling me that I needed to go back, not just for me, but also to help those who would experience God like I did and lead them to a deeper love for God. I was most looking forward to seeing how God would work in other people’s lives.

At the end of my week of camp last year, the summer missionary who had spent the week with our parish told me that when I arrived at camp on Monday, I seemed confused about who God was and why I was there. But after spending a week at camp, she said that when she looked into my eyes, she could see that something had changed and that no matter what, I needed to keep that change and share it with others. This is part of the reason I wanted to come back to camp.

At camp this year, I absolutely loved how everyone was there to support one another even though we really didn’t know each another that well. There were so many friendships made and it is great to be back and see that they are still continuing. Out of all the activities we did, the trust fall was my favorite. During this activity, one member of the group stands up on a platform and falls backwards for the rest of the group to catch them. Every one has a chance to fall. It was only the beginning of the week and when we went to go do the trust fall I was curious to see how much we already trusted one another. Every single person in our group including our summer missionary and chaperone did it without hesitation. It was the best thing I had ever seen. We didn’t know one another yet, but everyone knew that we could trust each other.

Another opportunity we had at camp was to help support Life Teen’s mission base in Haiti. I learned about the mission last year and had been saving up to donate. One morning at camp, I was asked to get up in front of everyone and talk about the donation I gave to Life Teen’s mission base in Haiti. I get very shaky when giving a talk, but when it came time for me to talk, everyone from our parish was there rooting for me and I knew that I would survive. With this comfort, I gained so much confidence and during my talk, I would look over at them and they all had big smiles on their faces. They were there for me and I know they always will be.

God did so much in my life at camp this year. I came into camp thinking that I would be there to help others experience God but, apparently, God had a different plan for me. There were a few nights that we had Adoration as a community. I can’t describe the love that was in the room. I could feel the power of God working in every single person. During one of these times, I had been praying and I looked up into the monstrance and instead of seeing the Eucharistic Host, all I saw was Jesus’ face. It was the clearest picture I have ever seen and when I saw it, I broke down into tears. He was there, with me and all of us. It was such a great reassurance to know that He is always there.

During all of the talks given, I loved how they related to our lives and how our speaker connected them for us. They all had a big impact on what we do in our daily lives which brought up a lot of questions and great discussions. The talk that was my favorite was based on a story that the speaker told about a time that she was able to jump into a lake where there was a waterfall. She was afraid to jump off and wanted to just back away. That is exactly what happens in our faith. She said that whenever we come face to face with a question or a topic about Catholicism or God, we tend to walk away from the waterfall and change the question. We need to learn how to jump off the waterfall, trust God, and not be scared of the outcome, just do it and say what we believe. Now, whenever I know I am in this type of moment, I always say out loud “This is my waterfall moment.”

My favorite night of camp was our last night when we were with our parish around a campfire. The things that people said that they had experienced and the people who helped them get there were exactly why I first wanted to come. We had grown so close and were willing to share anything, so that’s what we did. Many tears were shed that night and lots of prayers over one another. It just goes to show how much God worked in each and every one of our lives.

My faith is a lot stronger now that I am home from camp. I have shared a lot of experiences with my family which has impacted their faith. One of my favorite movies is “War Room,” in which one of the characters creates a prayer space in her closet to ask God to help fight her battles in life. I have created my own war room inside my closet and ever since I got back from camp, I have gone in there a lot more frequently.

During morning praise and Adoration at camp, we were taught Lectio Divina (“Divine Reading”), which is a way of praying with Scripture. Learning this has really helped me understand what God is trying to tell me and also made me more interested in the homilies at Mass. We were also given a book from Life Teen called “Ascend” which is a guide to pray with the weekly Mass readings. Now, every morning, using my Ascend book, I do Lectio Divina with the Gospel and read the section on that weekends Gospel.

- Kate Seddon

#Camp #LifeTeen #Eucharist #Conversion #Prayer #Adoration #Haiti #Friendship #Community