“Friendships up at Lutherock feel different,” says Tyler, a Lutherock camper this past summer. “They’re more cherished because you’re so closely bonded in faith and experience with people.”
Tyler was a camper for his fifth time at Lutherock this summer, but Tyler’s mom Ashley remembers his first year at Lutherock well. “The first time he went to camp I noticed the biggest change in Tyler,” Ashley recalls. “That week he was at camp, before he even left, he asked our pastor if he could sign up to be a lector for worship back at church. Camp made him more interested in church, and ever since that first summer, he is always the first one to want to say a prayer at youth group or at Boy Scouts. He has gotten to be good at praying!”
Ashley says that the camp community at Lutherock and the friendships Tyler has made have been really important to him. “Each summer, Tyler gets to make new friends and experience that camaraderie,” Ashley says. “Sometimes it’s hard to find friends you can talk to about God, but that’s what camp is all about.”
The combination of friendships and high adventure have provided Tyler with a unique environment to grow in faith and grow as a leader. “Being at Lutherock makes me feel more confident and strong in faith because you’re surrounded by other Christian people and you’re all there to grow closer to God,” Tyler says.
Ashley sees the impact of a week at camp not only in Tyler, but in other youth from their church who spend time at Lutherock too. “I love to see the youth from our church who go to Lutherock and who come back so bonded as a group,” Ashley says. Because their church supports their trip to Lutherock, the youth spend time telling camp stories on a Sunday morning a few weeks after they get back. “It brings a lot of joy to our congregation for adult members to hear about these camp experiences,” Ashley shares.
Tyler is already looking ahead to next summer. “He’s ready to go back,” Ashley says. “I’ll be ready too. It’s so important to me that Tyler has a place where he can say, ‘Hey, there are other people out here who have the same experiences and follow the same God as me.”
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