Below is Drew Osenbach's story of how Camp Hebron has been an instrumental part of his journey toward pursuing life in ministry:
Growing up in the Halifax area I was already aware of Camp Hebron’s presence. As a young kid I had many soccer practices on the field with the Halifax Cobra organization. I also remember having the Touchdown party and youth events over at the gymnasium. However, I never really knew what all went on or the other world of activities that happened during a summer.
During my sophomore year of high school, 2009, I began looking around for jobs and realized that Camp had positions in the kitchen. I began working as a Kitchen Assistant in the spring. That year I was the new guy, so I didn’t work a ton in the kitchen and had prior commitments with sports. The following year I started working a lot more and began to understand more fully what camp was all about. In 2011, Ron Prohaska, the Food Director at the time, offered me an internship with camp that would last the entire school year. This was an awesome experience for me because it allowed me to really get to know the full-time staff since I was working with them everyday. It also was an opportunity to take on a new position of being a Head Cook, which required a lot more responsibility in not only doing your job but making sure that the Kitchen Assistants are all working on the same page together to provide food for the guests. Again, this was an opportunity to see a new perspective of Camp. Camp is and has always been about getting the Gospel out to people whether they are here for a week in the summer or a weekend during the school year.
It was during that next summer after I had graduated from high school that I began wondering how does that look like for us who work in the kitchen? Working in the kitchen is completely different from being a Summer Staff counselor or a full-time staff working in the office. How could I, as kitchen staff effectively share the Gospel with the guests visiting camp? This was a question that I struggled to answer for most of the summer, and it wasn’t something that I was able to answer until the following summer.
Yes, I was given the opportunity again to come back and work after my freshman year of college. One of the biggest things about my college experience is that I was able to get involved with Cru, otherwise known as Campus Crusade for Christ, where I grew in my faith and walk with the Lord. It was after that school year that I was able to realize how we as people who work in the kitchen can share the Gospel to the guests. A lot of times when we see Jesus preaching he meets both a physical and spiritual need like healing people or providing food. That’s the role we play in the kitchen. Kitchen staff can provide and satisfy the physical need of food for these guests so that they can go out and hear the Gospel preached by other parts of the Camp Hebron team. We are all working together to see the Kingdom of God grow for His glory.
It has been neat to work at Camp Hebron for so many years, I have now been here for most of 2009-2015. I have been able to see Camp go through a lot of changes over the years- some good and some not as good. But, all in all these changes have made a positive impact on Camp. We see a lot of guests come and tell us about how they have enjoyed their time here. I also feel there is an excitement around the year-round staff as well.
In closing, the reason why I am back at Camp Hebron this summer after graduating college is because I have felt that the Lord is calling me into full-time ministry. A calling that I feel has been influenced by my college experience as well as my time at Camp Hebron. More specifically, I feel that God is calling me to work in college ministry with Cru. This summer I have been going around meeting with people to raise support for this next journey of life, as well as working at camp, to have some gas money for the support trips. This summer has been incredible in not only raising support but also working with the staff at Camp Hebron to help proclaim the Gospel to guests who visit Camp looking to connect with God, nature and each other.