Theresa Ford and Hannah Shultz
Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
By Theresa Ford and Hannah Shultz, 2015 workcamp assistant coordinators.
In just a few weeks, youth and young adults from around the country will gather together in a variety of locations to serve and worship together at workcamps. We’re really excited to be a part of this ministry. While the summer is a big part of our workcamp experience, we’ve also had a busy spring preparing for the workcamp season. We have traveled to each workcamp location, met with organizations, and visited places where we will be staying and sight-seeing. We call these on-site visits.
The organizations that we partner with for workcamps, though they serve diverse purposes, all have a powerful impact in the communities that they serve. Two organizations that we have particularly enjoyed connecting with are the Family Abuse Center in Waco, Texas, and Capstone in New Orleans. These were special on-site visits because these workcamp locations are new this year, and both are or have been Brethren Volunteer Service project sites.
Another memorable on-site visit was to Los Angeles. We’re excited about the Los Angeles workcamp because we will be reuniting after a summer apart and leading the week together. During this workcamp, we have the opportunity to serve on Skid Row by passing out health kits and food to those experiencing homelessness. During our visit, we got a small taste of what a powerful and humbling experience this will be.
One of our goals this summer is to excite participants about making service a strong component of their lives. We hope to get them thinking about what it might look like to serve in Brethren Volunteer Service one day! For ourselves, we hope to grow as leaders and set examples of what it means to compassionately serve others. We’re looking forward to nourishing a relationship with God, and building a community of faith. Through serving side by side, worshiping together, and enjoying fellowship through recreation and play, we will build friendships and create Christian communities that seek justice and serve God’s people.
Youth, young adults, and advisors will gather soon for 19 different summer workcamps. Workcamps provide a unique opportunity for youth to serve, worship, and learn together in community. These experiences shape lives and give youth direction for the future. Learn more about workcamps at www.brethren.org/workcamps or support them today at www.brethren.org/give .
(Read this issue of eBrethren)