The Legacy of Camp: A Lifelong Journey of Faith, Friendships, and Family Calling

I was just nine years old when I first experienced Girls Camp at Lake Geneva Youth Camp. I can honestly say it changed my life. I didn't come to camp by accident. I was sent by my parents and lovingly encouraged and sponsored by Kay Middleton, one of my mom's dearest friends from middle school and a longtime Girls Camp program volunteer. That act of generosity planted a seed that would grow far beyond anything I could have imagined. 

I remember the excitement of those early years like it was yesterday. The old section of the chapel, the sound of sweet voices lifted in worship, and the Bible classes held in converted chicken coops, where for the first time, I truly began to understand God's Word. It was in one of the chapel sessions that I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior, under the teaching of Ray Lindstead, who used a chalk talk to bring the Gospel to life. 

I loved camp so much I would beg to stay for multiple weeks. Even when the schedule was identical, it didn't matter. What mattered was the atmosphere, the fun activities, the depth of friendship, and the presence of God that soaked into every park of my experience. 

Some of the most influential women in my life were the volunteers who invested in me at camp: Kay Middleton, Dora Carrera, Peg Swisher, Miss Lee, and Miss Robin. They were consistent, loving, faith-filled examples of what it meant to walk with Jesus. They are just a few of the camp staff and volunteers that helped shaped who I would become. 

The Camp Where I Met My Husband

My freshman year of high school, I stepped into Teen Camp for the first time, where Gary and Laurie Mesiner, Roger Hoffman, and Armando Carrera led the week. My older sister introduced me to her group of friends. That's how I met Tom Dobbertin. We became friends and many others through team competitions, late-night games, hanging out in the canteen, afternoons at the lake, worship and challenging chapel sessions led by Dwight Knight. Our friendship grew over the next few summers very naturally and fun. We'd reconnect with each other and our friends at winter camps, plan hangout during the school year, and even cheer each other on at sports games.

My first cabin leaders were the notorious and hilarious twins, Mar and Dar. Two unforgettable women who made a huge impression on all of us. That summer I met Keri, Mar's daughter, and her boyfriend Dan. Little did I know then how meaningful those introductions would become. 

Dan and Keri Keller quickly became part of my Teen Camp circle. Our friendship was build on a mutual love for good competition, goofy games, and good clean fun (though occasionally covered in mud). Team challenges and late-night laughter, the four of us, Tom, me, Dan, and Keri were almost always together. 

That friendship didn't fade when the summer ended. It grew stronger year after year, even now as we live hours apart. What began with playful rivalry and shared leadership at Teen Camp evolved into ministry partnership. Together, we ran Elementary Coed Camp for several summers, and today, we still program the Fall Marriage Retreat. 

For Tome and I, camp gave us the chance to see each other serve, grow, and worship long before we began dating. It laid the foundation for a relationship built not just on shared interests, but on shared faith and purpose. This summer, we celebrate 30 years of marriage, and we both point back t ocamp as the place God brought us together and gave us a shared heart for ministry. 

Over the years, we've watched other lifelong friendships form in similar ways. Even other happily married couples attribute camp to building their relationship from the start. Friendships built in cabins and canoes, rooted in shared faith, later growing into marriages and ministry partnerships. There's something incredibly unique about meeting someone in an enviornment where service, humility, fun, and faith are all active at once. Camp strips away distractions and reveals character. It's a beautiful setting to get to know someone for who they really are. 

Serving as a Teen & College Staff: Where My Faith Took Root

As I moved into high school, camp didn't fade into the background, it became the center of my summer world. I spent most of my teen years serving on staff at Lake Geneva Youth Camp as a lifeguard, cabin leader, and in food service. I would tell myself I was only going up for a week or two, but inevitably, I'd end up using the old pay phone outside Big Stone Lodge to call my parents and beg them to let me stay longer. 

We had such a strong community on Teen Staff. All the girls bunked together in the upper duplex and the guys were on the floor below. We worked hard and were trained well. Bill and Lillian Carrera, Bob and Karen Carrera helped shape our sense of responsibility and leadership. They'd reward us with "Big Bucks" when we followed through with our assignments, kept our housing cleaned, and excelled in our roles. 

In our free time, we played Mafia, Buck-Buck, and football with our staff friends. It was fun, it was silly, but it was also deeply formational. Those summers helped teach me how to work hard, live in community, and share Jesus through my actions.

When Tom and I got married young, we didn't want to lose our connection to summer ministry. Denny and Donna welcomed us into College Staff, as the very first married couple to join the team. The McKendricks mentored us with authenticity and showed us the value of incredible work ethic. We spent most of the summer at the waterfront under the direction of Don Yost. He and his wife Bonnie modeled selfess service and a calling for adoption. It was an incredibly special summer. We got to grow alongside other staff, service in meaningful ways, and deepen friendships that we still cherish today. 

A Family Legacy of Camp Ministry

That friendship-turned-marriage eventually became the foundation of our own family's involvement in camp. Our six children have grown up on the grounds of Lake Geneva Ministries. They've watched us service in leadership, and over time, they've stepped into those same roles, becoming cabin leaders, lifeguards, and program volunteers themselves. 

What joy it has been to see our children go from running wild and free around camp to being the ones who welcome nervous first-time campers, lead games, and share the Gospel.

Camp has always been a place wehre distractions fall away. Where phones and outside pressures pause and where young hearts can hear clearly from God. I've watched hundreds of campers ask thoughtful questions, wrestle with truth, and come to understand that Jesus loves them, died for them, rose again, and offers them new life through faith in Him. 

For our family, camp is not just a place we attend, it's part of our calling. It truly is a place set apart for life changing experiences in Christ, where God continues to meet generation after generation. 

A Life Verse That Still Holds True

When I trusted Jesus at nine years old, I clung to Ephesians 2:8-10:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Looking back, I see how God wove every piece together, faithful volunteers, supportive parents, lifelong friends, my husband, and now our kids. All to invite me into His Kingdom work. Camp has been the backdrop for it all. 

And I'm still in awe.