Summer Staff Story--Rachel

Each summer we pray for a minimum of 12 male and 12 female summer staff to help run our summer camps. These volunteers come from all over North America. In 2018 we had local volunteers, from Sioux Lookout, as well as volunteers from Vancouver, Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana, and several other states. 

Rachel Titel shares a similar story with a lot of our Summer Staffers; she came as a mission camper with her youth group and fell in love with this place and the mission! 

My experience with COTW started in 2015. Our church has sent groups for many years to help get the camp ready for the summer. That year however was the first time our youth group came.

Within the first day or so of being at camp I fell in love. There’s something so peaceful about the entire place. Part of that, I think, comes from being surrounded by God’s creation.

In 2016 I convinced my best friend Kelly to come along. While we were there the staff encouraged people from our group to pray and consider becoming summer staff. I thought about it, but I really didn’t feel like it was something I could do.

In October of 2016, the Bates family came to visit our church. Johnnie spoke during our Sunday service and we shared a slideshow of pictures from our trip. It wasn’t long after that Kelly brought up the idea of coming on as summer staff. I had all types of questions plus reasons why it wouldn’t work. What about my job? How am I going to afford this? Can I really be of any use up there?

The more I thought about it, prayed and the more Kelly and I talked it became very clear to me, I was supposed to come on as summer staff. Let’s fast forward to June of 2017. We planned to come to Canada for a total of a month and stay through the two weeks of Teen Camp.

I’m a bit of a homebody so being gone for an entire month was quite intimidating. That was the longest I’d ever been away from home and it was a huge step out of my comfort zone.

I remember the first few days were hard for me. When we started, I didn’t really know anyone other than Kelly. We had a lot to learn in a short amount of time, but we ended up having a lot of fun too!

One of the things I don’t think I expected was the friendships that I found along the way. Making friends has not been easy for me. Part of that is because of my personality, but also because of situations I’ve walked through in the past. However; when you meet people who are looking to deepen their relationship with the Lord and who are stepping out to serve others, it’s amazing how quickly you begin to feel like family. And that’s what happened with the summer staff.

We spent a lot of time together that first week. I specifically remember how the other summer staff girls included those of us who were newcomers. Even though they already had established friendships, they were quick to include us. The whole staff was friendly and genuinely interested in getting to know us.

Within the first week of being at camp as official summer staff, I felt so welcome. The staff families were so encouraging and welcoming. Camp quickly began to feel like home. The staff and summer staff began to build friendships. Through quiet time, reading my bible, worship and conversation with others, my relationship with God became even more real to me.

The Lord used different people and situations to stretch me and grow me during my time at camp in 2017. That made the decision to come back in 2018 even easier.

There are so many stories I could tell about God’s faithfulness through each and every situation we experienced. I never imagined how my life would change through summer staffing. Looking back on it I think it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Counseling forced me to think about my relationship with God in a different way. One particular thing that He used to stretch and grow me was nightly devotional time. Every night before lights out, the counselors would gather with their campers and have a short devotional time to talk about what they learned in chapel. I had some experience with something similar thanks to working as a youth leader at home, but this was different.

We shared the responsibility with our co-counselors, but still had to prepare a short lesson and be comfortable explaining it. In order to teach something, you need to know it yourself. There were times that I questioned my ability to know what to say. Public speaking of any kind has always made me incredibly nervous. I discovered that experiences that I’ve learned in my own life helped me to relate and engage in conversation with the campers. Those conversations are something I treasure. Getting to know the campers and be able to both learn and have fun with them is such a gift.

Something the Lord has taught me, and continues to teach me, is that when your identity is rooted in Christ and what He says about you, you have no reason to fear. Even though my gifts and talents may not be the same as others, he can still use me to impact people.

So, if you have the chance to come to Camp of the Woods, I would highly encourage you to do so. Whether that be as a camper, summer staff, serving with your family during summer camp or simply visiting for a day. Believe me, you won’t regret it. The Lord has used COTW, and those who serve there, to change my life. I will forever be grateful for the time I’ve been able to spend at camp.

Rachel is a twenty-one year old from Eldorado, Wisconsin, USA. She has lived in the Fond du Lac area her whole life. She is the oldest of four kids.

Rachel has a wide variety of hobbies including: dance, blogging, baking, listening to music, reading & spending time with family and friends. She also enjoys photography and runs her own photography business.

Rachel is involved in various ministries at her home church Grace Evangelical Free Church. She also works there part time as the Communications & Media Coordinator. She has a passion for missions and has served as summer staff at Camp of the Woods Ministries for two summers.