My Workshop

I had spent two great summers as a camp counselor and was gearing up for a third. The time had come to begin the application process again and this time I was more than sure I wanted to come back. I had started telling people I felt God was calling me to full time ministry and despite my own personal wishes…I was being told that sounded like a good idea. I had continued to be pretty open to friends and my camp community about my struggles with depression. I was continuing to go to therapy and I felt a strong urge to pass on some of the things I was learning through this struggle.

Every year at camp “workshops” would be offered to each camper towards the end of the week. They would cover lots of various topics that had to do with faith intersecting with life. Each camper was required to go to one or two…but they would get to pick which ones they went to. I had come to learn through camp that I loved teaching. From what I understood counselors were asked to teach a workshop sometime in the application process leading up to camp. I decided I was going to ask to teach a workshop in my interview. We were always trained as counselors on how to handle conversations with youth if they opened up to us about their struggles with depression and even something as serious as self-harm. But in all my time as a camper and a counselor I hadn’t seen camp offer something directly to youth who may have been struggling with depression. I knew it was a huge problem youth were dealing with. It had become a popular subject to raise awareness for in the recent years and I thought now was a perfect time for camp to offer a workshop to high school youth about depression and how to address it.

To my surprise when I told the camp directors this in my interview…they looked at each other somewhat surprised then said to me…we had actually already thought this was a workshop subject we should offer this summer and were planning on making it happen. They said they weren’t sure who would be a good person to teach that workshop and were encouraged by my enthusiasm and desire to teach it. They advised me to talk to the summer leadership staff who was in charge of designing the workshop topics and tell her I wanted to lead this one. She happened to be someone I knew and worked well with over the past two summers, and she was just as excited as I was about the idea. I got the go ahead to lead this workshop with our camp pastor that summer. I was nervous but excited to get my idea off the ground.

The planning went smoothly. We had scripture picked out, we both decided we would give brief testimonies on our own struggles with depression & anxiety, and we planned to go over negative & positive coping strategies. We put a heavy emphasis on seeking help through therapy as we agreed that was the best thing anyone going through this could do. We knew not every youth who would come would necessarily be suffering from depression…but we also knew statically about 20% of the youth who would come to camp that summer would be. Even if kids weren’t dealing with this issue themselves yet…they definitely knew someone who was. We took that seriously and I went into that summer thinking if I can just help one kid with this…it will be worth it. My prayer every week that summer was that God would use us and our workshop to help someone. Those prayers were answered.

The workshops that summer for high school youth were centered on social justice issues. Each youth picked two workshops out of about 6 options to attend (which meant we taught the workshop twice every week). Every week…both of our sessions would be filled to capacity. We would teach our workshop to about 60 youth per week. Our workshop gained quite the reputation…in a good way. It became a popular workshop for the adult volunteers to attend every week. I saw former counselors, youth directors, pastors, and even the director of camping ministry in our state came because of the good things they were hearing.

Every week I’d have kids, and adults alike thanking me & my teaching partner for leading this workshop…expressing how important they thought it was and how great a job we were doing. Most important to me was the feedback I would occasionally get from kids after they came home. I remember one youth wrote to me and told me they had been struggling for a while and weren’t sure what to do about it. They said they were ready to give up. Then after attending the workshop they went home and talked to their parents. They said their parents were not only understanding but they arranged for them to start therapy. They thanked me for saving their life.

All I did was respond to a conviction I felt to try and help. Faith, compassion, and the knowledge that they weren’t alone saved that kid’s life. I believed God saved many lives through the work that was done at camp and my workshop was a part of that. I learned that if your faith moves your heart for something it’s probably for a reason. Probably a bigger reason than you can understand. I learned that your struggles can be turned into something beautiful and impactful. More than anything I was reminded that God loves us, God cares for us, and prayers can be answered beyond our expectations.