My brother tucked this old photo—from April, 1994—into my Christmas card this year. It was a strange collision of worlds to see myself, then a sophomore in high school, posing for a group photo after a weekend of service at SpringHill Camps where I am now one of the directors.
I posted the photo on facebook and within hours a number of friends were posting memories from that weekend in the comments. The crazy part? How many details we all remembered… like what songs we listened to in the game room (“A Friend Like U” by Geoff Moore and the Distance), what games we played out in the woods (Capture the Flag in the woods and Sardines in the Forts), and what we talked about in the van on the way home (the suicide of Kurt Cobain).
It was a powerful reminder for me of the lasting power of shared experiences like camps and retreats.
They provide opportunities to accomplish stuff together. So much of the time we’re focused hard on things that don’t have definite ends (like learning, parenting, ministry, etc…), so when a group does something like spreading mulch, hauling brush, or conquering a challenge course… at the end of the day they can step back and look at the fruit of their labor.
They create space to laugh and play. Busy schedules aren’t new to the 21st century; students have been busy since the beginning of time. So, when they load up in vans and head out of town, even if it’s only for a weekend, they can leave the pressures behind and give themselves permission to do what kids need to do: laugh, dance, and run around in the woods.
They help forge lifelong bonds. Of the twenty-nine people in that picture, all of us are still connected to one-another in some way. Sure, some of us may just be friends of friends… but the photo—and the memories—drew us back together again to reminisce, twenty years later.
Sure, any tractor, truck or bulldozer can move brush and trees… but this kind of lasting, life change is the kind of work no bulldozer can do.