Jasmine Miller – Ward, Colorado … As the Summer Camp was coming to a close, five campers and four staff members were baptized on July 14 at Glacier View Ranch (GVR). There were three new and one returning staff members. Brandon Westgate, pastor and director of GVR, said baptisms are “why I do camp. It’s the best part and the highlight of my summer.”
One of the main points made by all the staff members who were baptized was the intentionality they felt that was shown to them by Pastor Brandon and through his messages. Emily Cook, a first-year staff member and lifeguard at GVR, talked about the difference of her spiritual experience at previous camps she had worked at and how it differed at GVR. “At my previous camp, they talked about worship but not necessarily ways to have your worship. But here, Pastor Brandon talks about ways to make it practical and applicable.”
Emily also said Pastor Brandon had a lot to do with her feeling called to be baptized. “He leads by example when it comes to spirituality, and I appreciate how simple baptism is explained and having a relationship with God.”
Brandon talked about one of the biggest misunderstandings that youth in the church have been that “the church tries to make the simple complex. We can get bogged down into the rules instead of just thinking about the relationship. Rules without a relationship can lead to a rebellion, so we try to put the relationship with Christ first.”
Living at camp for seven weeks can also help to simplify a relationship with God, being with limited service and out in nature. Derek Aubin, a first-year boy’s director at GVR, said that, when choosing where he wanted to work this summer, “the main selling point was the nature” at GVR. A unique feature of GVR is the beautiful backdrop of the mountains out by Lake Minnie and lots of nearby lookouts and hikes.
What helped Derek to connect with God is “music, praise teams, and agape within nature bringing harmony to both of those aspects of who God is to me.”
A special program at GVR on Thursdays is the agape feast and the worship music that follows it. This is where staff can show “agape” love by serving campers dinner at their tables, and it is a time where people can share testimonies. Vanessa Saldivar, a second-year staff member and office administrator, said that “when I knew I had a conviction to get baptized, it was during agape worship hearing the words they were singing in the song ‘Come Out of Hiding’ by Stephanie Gretzinger.”
Vanessa also had the opportunity to baptize a camper who she had an impact on her decision to get baptized. She said it was “so humbling, I know it’s not me, it’s Christ. It is so cool to be used as a tool for God.”
As GVR summer camp ended, it is important to get final takeaways on how newfound relationships with God can be applied after camp in the real world. Jenaya Wright, a first-year girl’s counselor, said “I know there will still be struggles, but I think baptism is a public display that I want things to change, and I’m going to try to keep God first and have a Christian atmosphere and attitude.”
When asked what the most important takeaway is to give the camp staff, Brandon Westgate said “that God is for them and not against them.”
—Jasmine Miller is the marketing and communications consultant at GVR. Photos by Jasmine Miller.
