By, Renee Suydam
I was a camper at cabin camp at Camp Hebron for 2 years, in 1994 & 1995. These weeks were jam-packed full of memories: campouts in the tree house and on the dock by the lake, hiking Peter's Mt, outdoor movies, talent shows, attempting to catch a greased pig, night games, swimming and lots of free time spent playing basketball and other games. Probably the biggest highlight for me though has been a lasting friendship that developed from camp. My counselor both years was, Sarah Loyer (now Baxter). She was a student at Messiah at the time. She did a great job of helping us have a memorable week and encouraging us in our faith and personal relationships with Christ. After camp we stayed in touch through letters and she even attended some of my basketball games that were close by Messiah. We wrote letters for awhile and then we lost touch for a bit. Several years later we both ended up at Eastern Mennonite University as employees. It was so fun to hear how God had brought us both to that place in our life and to spend frequent time together through those years in the same location. We now live a couple hours apart, but still stay in regular contact through Facebook. I count her as one of my spiritual mentors through the years and am so glad Camp Hebron connected us!
This past summer my daughter Liza, attended Camp Hebron for her first overnight camp. She loved every minute of it and hopes that someday she might be able to be a counselor there. It felt like reliving memories as she shared her stories about various activities. Some of her high lights were things that didn’t exist when I was there though. She loved the climbing wall, and having the gym for inside activities which is a definite perk from years ago, especially on those rainy days. She also spent many hours of her week playing Gaga, which she loves! She had a fantastic counselor too, (who happened to be a Messiah student). I'm grateful for all the fun and friendships she enjoyed from her week, but most importantly the spiritual growth I saw from a week focused on Christ in a fun environment.
Thanks Camp Hebron for continuing the legacy of selecting wonderful, Christian young adults to serve as counselors and providing a full week of fun and Christ centered learning!
This is the power of camp! Give you child an experience they will not forget this summer by sending them to camp. Looking for a meaningful summer job where you can make a difference then visit here. You'll be glad you did.