One of my favorite things to do after summer is read camper surveys. I read them all on Fridays after each week of camp, and then I read them again at the end of summer, and once more again in January before we begin making concrete plans for the upcoming summer. This week has been my "end of summer" run through, and there are some amazing nuggets from our campers.
One camper loved "making a new family every time I come" and another's favorite part was "feeling welcomed and loved." Another camper "really liked the sauce we put on our hobo packs at campout" (it's Stump's BBQ sauce and Stump is my father). Many campers highlighted communion during worship on Thursday night, and others wrote personal achievements like doing the Leap of Faith or getting a bullseye at archery. One camper with particularly messy handwriting loved "how close I became with my family group and how I got out of my comfort zone."
This summer was incredibly busy (our apologies for missing a newsletter this summer... twice). Our summer camp programs grew by nearly 34% and our summer retreat groups increased as well. There were only 6(!) calendar days between Memorial Day and today without people at NaCoMe. It's hard work that couldn't be done without so many people. But these surveys prove why it's worth it.
-Ryan "Flash" Moore, Director