Luke, a third-year camper, gets to share his time at Camp with his younger sister, Bethany. Their bond as siblings has grown and is a huge part of their coming back to Camp Cho-Yeh each summer. Upon returning home, Luke learned how to take his growing faith from camp and apply it towards building a better relationship with his sister. He is able to accomplish this through choosing kinder interactions and seeking advice from his Grandfather, whom Luke considers a close role-model in his life.
“Having my sister here at camp with me is exciting because I want her to get to know God more and for her to experience Him” Luke said. “We are really close, but when we fight, or she is acting up, I always say, ‘let’s listen to our Grandpa.’ Then he is able to bring wisdom and peace to the situation.”
This sibling pair grew up in a Christian home that regularly attends church, but camp has helped Luke pursue his own faith, beyond his parents or camp. Helping with this continued growth are Luke’s baseball friends that also share a cabin at Cho-Yeh together each summer. Having a community that pushes Luke towards responding to what they believe and are learning about God has brought a new excitement for Luke as he transitioned out of elementary school.
“My personal relationship with God has grown because through hard changes, like transitioning into middle school, I have learned to trust in Him” Luke said. “What I’ve learned at camp helped me transition into a new school and has gotten me excited to look for opportunities to teach the word of God to my friends.”
In his cabin, Luke desired to develop a stronger faith in order to become a better example for Bethany, his little sister. As Luke sought to become someone she can look up to, he felt motivated to strive towards becoming closer to God because of the actions he witnessed firsthand in his counselors’ behavior.
“I look up to my counselors, especially to Cesar, because he is so nice to us” Luke said. “Cesar is like a big brother. Him telling personal stories about his time in middle school has helped me feel ready for it. During rest time, I would look up and always see Cesar reading his Bible. It made me want to follow him in his path as I headed back to school.”
