Taking Camp Home

The Leadership Training Program is an extremely valuable four-week experience at Crystal Lake Camps. It is designed to challenge campers physically and mentally, to help them grow spiritually, and to encourage them to be the best they can be. Skills and lessons from LT are lasting, and two of the LT’s from last summer share how they’ve applied LT in their everyday lives.

Melanie writes:

“The LT program was the best thing that I have ever done.  I had a blast because I got to experience it with some of my best friends, learn new things, and fully rely on God. The LT program allowed me to try things out of my comfort zone such as staying a whole night in the woods with just 3 chosen items, the leap of faith, and Catfish. The most amazing thing was that I had people supporting me throughout the whole process. I learned how to persevere even when things got hard, skills such as portaging a canoe/leadership skills, and how to not doubt myself.  Moreover, the experiences that I had with my best friends really helped me grow as a person and helped me feel closer to God.

In school I have been able to use the skills that I have learned during the LT program. During my soccer season there were many times where some of my team-mates wanted to quit or stop working at achieving their goal that they set in the beginning of the season. I had a similar experience during the canoe trip, but I knew that giving up was not an option due to all the strength that I have because I am a perfect image of God.  This experience that I had made me more determined to encourage and support them through all the obstacles that they were facing. I wanted to show them as much support as I got on the canoe trip because the encouragement made me want to work harder and I wanted my team-mates to feel the same way. Also, there are many times that I work hard to prepare for a test and then before the tests starts I get very stressed and feel like I do not know anything, but at camp and Sunday School I have learned that there is no possible way for me to lack intelligence or strength because I am a perfect reflection of God. Lastly, I have had to be a leader in many of my chemistry groups where I have to conduct the lab.  In the labs I am able to use the leadership techniques that I learned during LT which were things like everyone’s opinion/work is important, working together is much better than working separately, and helping out wherever there may seem to be a problem. I am also applying for a leadership program at my school where I hope to get accepted so I can use all the techniques that I learned during the LT program.  Overall, the things that I learned really help me throughout my daily life especially in school.”
Sam says:
“My LT experience last year made it one of my best summers at CLC. I think the biggest thing I got out of it was to never tell myself that I can’t do anything. By pushing myself out of my comfort zone and doing things I didn’t think I could, I discovered strength I didn’t realize I had. I learned how to see God and see his good qualities reflected in me and the other LTs as we did all of the different activities. My LT groups was special because we were such a small group (only four of us) but I think in a way that was better because we all became really close and were able to see the change in each other throughout the summer. I’ve been working this year to apply some of these skills to school and other aspects of my life. For example, when the workload of homework, tests, driving, and sports all seem to pile up, I am able to take a step back and know that God gives me my strength and the capability to handle all of this, and I have been able to push through and succeed. Overall LT was a great experience that I would recommend and I can’t wait to hopefully do CIT next year!”

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