Canadian Mennonite
Volume 12, No. 3
February 4, 2008


Focus on Camps and Summer Christian Education

Summer Vacation Epiphany

Camp = Community

Tim Dyck

Camp staff dressing up for a skit
Tim Dyck, left, and Richard Toews, Camp Assiniboia's Bible instructor, dress up as Aaron and Moses.

Serving at Mennonite Church Manitoba’s Camps with Meaning has been a tradition of mine since I finished Grade 10. I started as a counsellor-in-training in the summer of 2000 and worked for the next seven summers. It was a great summer job for a high school student, offering an enticing blend of time away from home, playing around and earning money all at once.

As I grew older, camp became a getaway I could look forward to after months of working routine jobs. It was even expected in the last few years that my camp life was a hiatus from my job serving coffee at a suburban café. “I’ll be back in two months,” I’d tell the regular customers.

Many people kept asking why I bothered going back to camp at all, so I started to wonder the same thing. I have come to realize that I kept returning to camp for its community. Camp is a society that exists for a short time. It is comprised of volunteers, children, teenagers, university students and retirees, many of whom are strangers when they meet. Camp is based on the principles of community and the idea of an upside-down kingdom. The entire concept seems tentative and fragile. The faith of many people, however, along with the support of nearly 50 congregations and the prayers of thousands, hold up the rustic institution.

The more time I spent at camp, the more change I saw in the staff there. For many people, it is something to just try out, a part-time thing. Others serve at camp for something new to do for the summer, and some volunteer time out of their vacation or retirement to work for a week. Every summer the familiar faces shift. There would be new positions for staff to fill, and there would be new skills to learn.

No matter what the circumstances, though, God's grace and provision prevailed each week, often in the most unique and surprising ways.

This past summer, I was one of two program directors on the leadership team at Camp Assiniboia, 16 kilometres outside of Winnipeg, nestled in a bend of the Assiniboine River. It was in this environment where activities do not always work according to plan, and where sleep is at times a rare commodity. There were multiple programs being offered, often at the same time, and this meant the services of the leadership team were spread over the entire property. We were in charge of making camp as smooth as possible amidst all the predicted and unpredicted events of a summer. With hot days causing an alternate activity schedule, and the general exhaustion of counsellors, everyone had to pull together. No matter what the circumstances, though, God’s grace and provision prevailed each week, often in the most unique and surprising ways.

When a thunderstorm knocked down two large, old cottonwoods, it seemed that preparation for the weekly camp-out in the woods would have to be postponed. However, rescue came on the back of a little John Deere tractor, bringing a chainsaw to clear the road. When there was no lifeguard to supervise the pool, a few phone calls to Winkler, Man., brought out a generous volunteer. As youth camp ran for its first time, two amazing young newlyweds offered to organize and lead it. When the leadership team was busy smoothing out program-related bumps, the camp pastors stepped in to help wherever and whenever it was needed.

Camp has taught me many things over the years. I learned how to overcome my dislike of horses. I learned to build a fire properly, and light it using only one match. I learned how to canoe and kayak. I learned how to prepare and practise large-scale fire drills. I learned how to manage the general upkeep of a “high ropes” course. I learned how to work a spreadsheet program, and manage a photocopier and fax machine. The biggest lesson I learned, however, was to rely on those around me and to work with them together in unity.

Tim Dyck, 23, has spent a total of 16 years at camp as a camper, counsellor and leader. He is a member of Sargent Avenue Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, where he works with the youth group. He is currently studying fine arts at the University of Manitoba.


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