Chelsea Sledgeski
Then: I served as summer staff at Camp Tepeyac in 2010.
Now: Currently, I am spending a semester abroad in Gaming, Austria. I am a Junior Catechetics and Theology major at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Was it worth it? Would you do it again? It was absolutely worth every minute. When I applied, I had no idea why God was calling me to this ministry. By the end of the first week, I realized that the Lord had plans for me at Tepeyac that I couldn’t even comprehend. I have lived in a city for my whole life, and am the farthest thing from being qualified to be a summer camp counselor. However, I was continuously reminded that “God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.” The Lord used me in ways that I never expected, to reach teens who were seeking truth in the depths of their hearts. I had the opportunity to show the merciful love of our God to teens who had never encountered Christ before. I not only became their friend but I provided a witness to Christ’s transforming power in the Gospel and in the Sacraments. If the Lord calls, I will not hesitate to build the Kingdom of God at Life Teen Summer Camp.
Do you still keep in touch with the summer staff from that year? ABSOLUTELY. Immediately after camp I left for a semester abroad in Austria, and even from a different continent I am able to talk to my sisters and brothers from camp. My sisters from camp continuously call me on to be a saint, and I greatly value their presence in my life.
Why should a college student apply to be a summer missionary at camp? My time as a summer staffer was a time of deep interior growth, and a time of familial communal life. I began at Camp Tepeyac with a prayer life that was already formed, and I originally thought that the Lord would not do much to deepen my relationship with Him. However, the first night I was proven wrong; from Day One, God showed me the ways He was calling me deeper into relationship with him. It proved to be six weeks of purification, surrender, and complete dependence on God. I know that I would not have grown in these ways unless I had been at camp that summer. So, college students should apply to be on summer staff if they want their prayer lives transformed! Also, the community life was phenomenal. I did not make friends with my summer staffers, I met my family. Ultimately, a college student should apply to be on summer staff because it is a time of formation that will prepare you for the rest of your life: here, building the Kingdom of God, and life in heaven, worshipping Christ.
