“Camp helps you become confident and comfortable talking about your faith,” says Elliot Rose, a counselor for the last two summers at Luther Springs. “It puts this way of growing in faith in front of you, and you get to talk about it and share what you learned with other people.”
Elliot’s growth as a counselor was helped last summer by the mentorship of other adult leaders. “My first summer as a counselor I spent a lot of time just figuring out myself and what it meant to be a counselor,” says Elliot. “But last summer I wanted to be able to grow spiritually and be a better teacher for others.”
The spiritual growth Elliot says he experienced at camp started with a conversation with Luther Springs Assistant Program Director Macy Bakken. “I talked to Macy about ministry vocations, and she gave me some spiritual practices to try to help me in my discernment,” Elliot says. Through practices like journaling, meditation, and walking the prayer labyrinth at Luther Springs, Elliot gained some new insights. “I realized the way I had approached spirituality was very one dimensional. I had never thought about different ways of studying scripture and praying. As I tried these new habits, I started to see new perspectives and I became a better teacher.”
Because Elliot found meaning in some of the new spiritual practices that had been introduced to him, he wanted to share some of these practices with campers. “I got to lead a devotional time with campers at the prayer labyrinth,” Elliot remembers, “and it was amazing to see how other people approached that type of experience.”
Elliot says his biggest take away from the summer was a deeper understanding of the Bible. “I gained a lot of experience hearing and understanding the Bible,” he says, “and through a lot of the spiritual practices, I learned how to better apply scripture to our lives.”
Elliot credits Macy and other camp leaders with his growth. “I think camp leaders are 100% the reason that I have been able to learn how to teach and share. The way they have taught me and encouraged me to teach others is so important to building faith community.” Macy agrees, and she appreciates the way that mentorships like this happen at camp. “It was great to watch Elliot really invest in his faith and try new things, and then share that with others,” Macy says. “It’s a great story of community growing in God and an example of how faith gets past around at camp.”
This coming summer Elliot will return to Luther Springs as a program coordinator. “I wanted to be in a leadership role,” Elliot says, “and do what I can to help every counselor to be able to have an experience like I had. It’s easy to miss out on an opportunity to grow if someone isn’t showing you how to experience it, so I hope to help people learn about their faith and become better leaders and teachers.”
We are grateful for your gifts to NovusWay. Your generosity helps faith and habits of discipleship get passed from leaders, to counselors, to campers each summer.
