Hey, my name is Jon Mayes, and I worked at Camp Hebron for 5 summers and am currently part of the 9-month Guide Team program. I started going to Camp Hebron in middle school, and that continued until I was a senior in high school. Camp was a formative experience for me growing up. I usually did not talk to a lot of people, so camp was a place to interact and make new friends. As a kid, I also saw my relationship with God as secondary, so camp was a place that taught me the importance of putting him first in my life. But I have to say that camp did not have a large impact on me until I started working there.
It was 2018 and I did not know what to do with my summer. I knew I needed to find a job, and that camp was always looking for people to apply, and so I started working my first summer there as a lifeguard. That summer gave me a glimpse of what I was missing in life. I started to see the hearts of staff members, and their desire to follow God’s will in their lives. I was perplexed about how their faith could be so strong. I still remember meeting two times a week with other members of “support staff”, praying for the counselors and leadership of camp. And that astonished me. Why are these people so committed to prayer, why are these people so committed to each other, and why is this mission to reach children with the gospel and the love of God so important?
Although I still didn’t know the answers to those questions at the time, God started to do a great work in my life. Growing me and transforming me in coming to understand his wisdom, to grow closer to Him in relationship, and to serve others out of faith and love. Since then, I have filled many positions during my summers at Camp Hebron: from Counselor, to Waterfront Director, to SIT Leader, to Men’s Life Director. Each of those roles proposed different challenges that helped me to grow as a man of God, a son of God, and a child of God. I cannot imagine where I would be in life if I did not choose to work at camp all those summers ago.
This year I graduated college with a degree in Business Administration with a focus in Finance. I honestly thought that this would be my last summer and that I should move on and find a suitable job that will help further my career in the finance world. But I kept looking back, the Holy Spirit was calling me and saying, “your time here isn’t over”. So, I joined as part of the Guide Team, a group of people focused on growing in adventure skills, and in our relationship with God. Through this program God has taught me a lot about community, and that I should never stop trying to grow in my faith. My time here at Camp Hebron is not over, and even when this program and next summer end I doubt that my involvement with camp will stop. It is truly an amazing place with even more amazing people, devoted to serving the Lord and others with all their hearts. Camp Hebron will always be my home away from home.
Camp is a wonderful place to get away for campers, families individuals and retreat guests to enjoy God, nature and each other. You too can be part of something extraordinary. We need your help TONIGHT AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT. Join Camp Hebron in the Extraordinary Give - One BIG 24-hour day of giving! Your dollars will be part of a S-T-R-E-T-C-H pool and random financial prizes are chosen throughout the day so your money with stretch even further to help camp. Just click Here to share our page, be a fundraising champion and to donate.