Camp Hebron has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember. Alongside family and church, camp has shaped me through my childhood into the Christian I am today. I was born into a wonderful, loving, Christian family. I was raised, for all my memorable life, at Slate Hill Mennonite Church. I attended various youth programs there, and I hope to continue to actively participate in the ministry of Slate Hill. I grew up attending Camp Hebron in several different capacities; including church retreats, campground stays, Moms and Tots, Junior and Senior High retreats, and many, many summers of cabin camps.
Matt participating in a time honored Camp Hebron tradition: Crayfish Earrings.
My personal favorite summer experience was at Bacon, Bibles, and Brothers (3B’s), an overnight cabin camp for high school boys that focused on how to be Biblical men of God - and how to eat bacon. The summer of 2019, I was excited to participate in 3B’s for another year, but I was disappointed to find that after graduating High School, I was too old to participate as a camper. Megan McMaster asked me if I wanted to be on staff here at Camp, and I felt a nudging from God that working as a counselor was the right thing for me to do this summer.
However, I had plans of my own for that summer. So I told Camp Hebron - and God - to wait. My friends and I were preparing for camping and beach trips, and I wanted to hang out with them at home before we all went our separate ways to college. Nevertheless, in the months leading up to that summer, God made it clearer and clearer to me that Camp Hebron was where I was created to work. Eventually, Slate Hill attended a spring retreat at Camp Hebron. During our church service on Sunday, I broke into tears (something I don’t do often) because I realized that God was calling me to camp not to do a chore, but because it was actually what would be best for me! So within the span of just a couple days, I applied, interviewed, and got hired. I threw my plans out the window and with them, the last “normal summer” of my life. I will never regret doing so.
God had a heavy hand in guiding me through my time on staff at camp. During my first summer working as a counselor, I had the opportunity to walk among God’s beautiful creation every day. I learned that prayer was more than just asking God for favors, but an actual 2-way conversation between God and myself, which required a lot of patience and listening. I also got to experience, - alongside my campers- the childlike wonder that comes with seeing God in action. That summer I learned to live by our theme verse: 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and self-control.” Camp helped me go from being apprehensive about doing what God wanted, to fully embracing His plan over mine.
This past summer was an excellent lesson for me to rely on God’s strength above my own. Camp operated in the face of a Global Pandemic, and it would be an understatement to say that I needed God’s help to operate as well. What it would take to deal with the ever-changing mask requirements, hyperactive campers and a slew of unexpected challenges, was to fully rely on God every hour of every day.
It took a lot of consideration, no small amount of prayer, and eventually a leap of faith to finally decide that I wanted to intern at Camp Hebron. I had an inkling at the beginning of June that God might want me to stick around camp even after the summer was over. Over the course of the summer, it became more and more clear that my calling here at camp is not just limited to summer. Now I have the privilege of serving God and Camp Hebron as an intern. I’ve learned a lot of new skills I never expected to, and I’ve been challenged to continue relying on God even when there are less immediate stressors (campers). I look forward to seeing what Camp is like over the rest of the off-season, and I can’t wait for this summer and the summers to come!