I was at the local pizza shop talking with a long-time camper earlier this week (he is a pizza chef now). He started working in our kitchen part time during the summer to pick up some extra hours. As we were talking, he inquired about the auction. He remembered it was coming up, and he wanted to know if we were ready. He wished us well. It struck me that a young man who just turned 20, was asking about a benefit auction where maple syrup sells for the price of a trip to the dentist. And then I remembered that when he was young, his mom was single and life was pretty hard at times for them. Regardless, he came to camp. He started attending camp in 2009 and attended for 10 consecutive years.
His mother paid $115 that first year for his week of camp. And that may be part of why this 20-year-old man is curious about the benefit auction. He knows Bethany Birches to be a place filled with love, and compassion, and somehow was able to make it so that even a young, hard working single mother could send her two boys sometimes more than once each year. The 21st annual auction was a lovely time, filled with friends, food, and giving. More than $70,000 was raised that morning so that kiddos from all walks of life can have a meaningful, faith-filled summer and winter camp experience.
~ Brandon “Tuna” Bergey, Executive Director
Leah Beachy found herself spending the second half of her summer at BBC because she had heard positive reports from friends and appreciated the established connection between the two camps as both are part of the Mennonite Camping Association. When asked what she was taking away from a summer of dual camping ministries she responded, “Spending time in camp ministry is an amazing respite from the “real world”. Camp provides a space to reflect on the life you live the other nine months of the year, and it never fails to remind me of what is most important, like building meaningful relationships and consuming as much baked oatmeal as possible. Camp ministry also gently coerces you into doing some of the most silly and undignified things for the sake of the children…which has taught me to be better at just having fun with life, and to care less of what others may be thinking.”
This summer, I had the great privilege to serve for two weeks as the Camp Shepherd at Bethany Birches. The first week when I was with the older teens, they kept asking me to go to basically every event they had. Which I was honestly surprised by. But, of course, I had to say yes! After doing a few, long camp days, exhaustion finally hit me about Wednesday when I had to crash and take a nice long nap! Not only did I want the campers and counselors to know that I cared about the experiences they were having, I was excited to be embraced and included by them into those experiences too! Experiences like trying and failing on the blob, hiking through the riverbed, playing countless games, and going to dance parties and talent shows. Everything we did was anchored in caring, genuine relationships. Because that’s what camp is really all about. Developing Christ-centered relationships so that each participant can grow in faith. This, to me, is the anchor of the BBC experience; real, genuine relationships and experiences that renew people.
