From Camper to Camp Counselor: Building Generations One Summer at a Time

From day camps to week-long overnight camps in the mountains, Eagle Lake Camps has had an impact on thousands of children over the years, sharing the gospel and leading children and teenagers to Christ. As a ministry of The Navigators, generational disciplemaking is the core of what Eagle Lake is and how they do ministry. And as the campers they’ve served have grown older, they’ve started adding links to their own chains of disciplemakers, passing on what they’ve learned to others.

Samuel Wood and Nathan Roewer are two such campers. Over the years, both young men have returned to Eagle Lake Camp to serve as counselors and program coaches, hoping to multiply the impact that they themselves experienced when they were campers. Through each role, they’ve seen the Lord move in powerful ways — both in their lives and the campers they serve.

Samuel’s story: Making a difference as a camp counselor

Samuel’s first experience with Eagle Lake was when he came to Crew camp — a five-week service camp for high schoolers — when he was 15 years old. At Crew, Samuel met lifelong friends and fell in love with camp, and he returned as a camper for two more years.

After he graduated high school, Samuel continued to come back to Eagle Lake as a counselor and as a program coach, where he discipled other counselors as a summer leader. “I’ve learned how to develop counselors, listening to their problems and trying to point them in the right direction,” he says.

From year to year, Samuel has seen his faith grow, whether through the influence of his counselors as a camper or by stepping into leadership roles to share God’s Word with others. “Over the summers, I’ve been able to recognize God’s love for me and His love for others,” Samuel says. “I used to fall into thinking that God doesn’t interact with us all that much. But through camp, I’ve definitely seen His impact in my own life and through campers.”

Samuel remembers the Lord working specifically in one camper’s life. A young boy was struggling throughout the summer, bullying other kids and causing trouble. However, at the end of the summer, Samuel saw that the boy was upset. “I asked him, ‘Why are you so sad?’” he recalls. “He told me, ‘I’m going to miss you.’”

Samuel wrote the camper a postcard after the summer ended, not expecting a response. However, the boy sent a letter back … and then continued sending letters. “For three years, we wrote back and forth,” Samuel says. “It was cool to see him grow through those letters and as a person, seeing how he is doing and treating other kids after the fact.”

As Samuel reflects back over the years, he can see how God has intentionally worked through Eagle Lake to grow him spiritually. “Eagle Lake has impacted me, but it’s definitely been God using Eagle Lake in my life,” he says. “It’s shaped my whole life — literally everything I do — from my spiritual life to my walk with God to my personal life, with my marriage and friendships. Eagle Lake has pretty much been my life for the past eight years.”

Nathan’s story: Passing forward what others taught him

At 10 years old, Nathan went to Eagle Lake Camps for the first time as an overnight camper. “I went up with a family friend who recommended camp, and I had no knowledge of it at the time,” he says. “But I had the best week ever.”

Nathan has returned to Eagle Lake every summer since, making a total of six years at their overnight programs. During his time as a camper, his counselors poured into him and had a significant impact on his faith. “I got to bond with these counselors, who to me were the coolest people in the world,” he says. “I really appreciated the things they taught me and the fun we had together. Getting one-on-one chances to talk to them — that’s where my faith really became mine.”

For Nathan, becoming a counselor was a no-brainer. “I always knew I wanted to be a counselor, to have the same impact on kids that my counselors had on me,” he says.

However, what he didn’t expect was that his faith would grow all the more deeper during his summers as a counselor. “I found myself falling more in love with God,” he explains. “The conversations I had with my program coach really changed my perspective on a lot of things with my faith.”

Now, Nathan is serving his second summer as a program coach, helping other counselors grow in their relationship with the Lord as they lead campers to Christ. “I love being able to tell counselors that the things they do really matter,” he says, “that when they look at me, they are looking at proof of a camper who came to Christ because of the outpouring of a counselor’s time and energy.”

Join us in praying for campers

Nathan and Samuel are just two of the many campers who have gone on to share their faith and help others know Christ, make Him known, and help others do the same® — at camp and beyond.

You can come alongside Eagle Lake Camps by praying that the Lord would continue to build generations of disciples, opening campers’ eyes and giving them hearts for the Lord. Pray for those who are and will be counselors for upcoming summers, that the Lord gives them wisdom and works through their conversations to build impactful relationships with campers.

“When people ask me why I come back to Eagle Lake, I tell them that this is where I fell in love with Jesus,” Nathan says. “It’s been a huge blessing from God to come into the summer with the knowledge of the impact He can have through me, like my counselors once did for me.”

“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’” Matthew 19:14 (NIV).

Discipleship Tip:

Samuel and Nathan have grown in confidence as disciplemakers because they have learned from the counselors that poured into them as campers. Think about some of the lessons you’ve learned over the years — from someone who discipled you or encouraged you in your faith. How can you pass on those same lessons to others?