Week #2 of Camp

By Jenny Weddle (Read the post from Week #1 here!)

Photos by Clare Pursch

MEET JOE:

Joe Lucas first came to UGM Camp with Youth For Christ in 2004. He hasn’t missed a year since. Ten years of camps later, he is a far cry from the tough kid who came as a camper long ago.

Joe spent four years as a camper, two years as a junior counselor and work crew member, and most recently has spent four years as a senior cabin leader or program staffer. Where would he have been today without the positive influence of UGM Camp and Youth For Christ? On a “path of destruction. Ten years ago I wasn’t going to graduate high school. I was going to end up as a drug addict; homeless or couch surfing.”

His experience growing up in the West Central neighborhood in Spokane and being a camper all those years ago gives him a unique perspective today, working at UGM Camp as a part of the Youth For Christ ministry team in their 10^th year of partnership with UGM Camp.

“A lot of leaders don’t have the perspective of having been a camper. Shane (YFC Hillyard Ministry Director) talks about the detox off of a bad home life. Being a leader and having had that experience, I know that some of the kids are going through that shock when they come to camp. They have no structure at home, and at camp they have a schedule. At home there are no consequences for their actions, and at camp there are- they aren’t used to it, so they fight it.”

Joe isn’t the only one with a profound camp experience. Over the course of the week, we heard other stories: the wild kid who accepted Christ at camp three years ago, completely changed and back serving on the work crew for the first time; the ministry team members anxiously watching siblings come to camp for the first time, hoping their experiences would also be life changing; the tears of a cabin leader aching for the pain expressed by her hurting campers.

Youth For Christ - Camp of a Lifetime

This week, YFC brought 48 junior high school kids from the West Central and Hillyard Neighborhoods. They also brought 41 team members like Joe, young people passionate about serving Christ and sharing the love of God with hurting children. They gave the campers a lifetime experience in just 5 days- a carnival, river float, challenge course time, talent night, a four course dinner served by the work crew, and much more. What makes camp so successful that YFC comes back year after year?

“The challenge course is a big part of it. As a camper it was awesome to work with my peers to achieve a common goal. As a leader, it’s been sweet to know the answers and not let the campers know, but to let them work it out. I’ve learned that it’s ok to let people mess up some times, because we learn from the messes- we just don’t let them get hurt in the process,” Joe says.

Having been on both sides, Joe reflects back on his first challenge course experience as a camper. “The games were always fun. We did the trust fall in my cabin that year and that was sweet- just building relationships with leaders. Some of them I’m still in contact with today, 10 years later. The seed was planted that week.”

Planted, then watered. The gangly kid with long hair is now a tall, mature young man. Married almost a year, Joe and his delightful wife, Mindy, are expecting their first baby in early 2015. Joe recently served as the Interim Center Director for YFC’s West Central location, and now has his sights set on an associates degree, and then further study in the field of Family Sciences and Human Development, all directed to working with kids who are experiencing the same kind of life he was living when he first came to camp. 

As sure as the sun rises and sets, Joe will be back at UGM camp. He has a heart for kids, and Youth For Christ sees amazing fruits from their week at UGM Camp each summer. On Friday morning, around 25 kids accepted Christ for the first time, and the ministry team saw an astounding 75% of their 48 campers either accepting Christ or wanting to know more.

Well done, team. Well done, Joe. We’ll see you all back at camp in 2015 for another life changing week of camp, ready for more stories and more Joes.