The Power of Camp

When I was in Indianapolis last week I stayed at the Marriott SpringHill Suites (what other hotel would a SpringHill staffer stay at?).

Upon arrival two Marriott staff greeted me at the front desk. I happen to be wearing a SpringHill fleece and the staff looked at me inquisitively and asked “are you with SpringHill Suites?” Of course this provided an opportunity to share about the “other” SpringHill. After a brief description, one of the staff had this dreamy look in her eyes which caused me to ask “have you been to camp?”

She answered “I went to camp when I was young and it was one of the best times in my entire life.” So, of course, I asked “which camp did you go to?” She thought about it for a moment and said “you know I don’t remember, I just remember I loved it.”

As I went to my room I thought about this woman’s camp experience. It was so powerful that being reminded of it put her in a state of reliving the experience right there in the hotel lobby. It was obvious her camp experience was even more important than the camp itself.

Later I went back to the lobby so I could ask her a follow-up question. I wanted to know what made an experience so memorable that a person would even forget the name of the place it occurred. When I found her I asked “what made camp one of the best times in your life?”

She quickly answered “I loved sitting around the camp fire singing, being with people who have become some of my closest friends, and the spiritual impact it had on me and others.”

This woman experienced the Power of Camp – memorable experiences, lifelong relationships and transformational spiritual moments. It’s these stories that fuel the passion of SpringHill Camp staff and the staff of 100’s of other Christian camps around the country to, every summer, provide “one of the best experiences in life” for literally 100,000’s of kids and families.

To learn more about the Power of Camp click here.