July 29, 2021

Dear Friends,

Church camp is my favorite place in the world. The camp that I call my home camp is called Disciple Oaks, or as we refer to it, Camp Gonzo. It’s located in Gonzales (hence the name “Gonzo”), and it’s one of the most spiritual places I’ve ever been to. I’m not quite sure how to describe it, something about the community, the expectation of openness and acceptance, the location; all of it comes together to create a place of incredible spirituality.

After this year’s week-long “conference” camp, I decided that I wanted to join the YMT, or Youth Ministry Team. In short, it’s a group of campers with extra responsibilities. We plan High Schooler camps and help lead them. We go to another camp called CYLS to do the planning, and it’s an intense week of leadership training and camp planning. While this sounds incredibly boring, it was actually one of the best weeks of my life! I was able to use my skills as an unfailing extrovert for good, and I can’t wait to lead a camp.

The experience of going to church camp has changed me for the better, but the experience of planning one has not only changed me but brought me closer to the community of Camp Gonzo and closer to God. The reason Camp Gonzo is such an incredible place is because of the incredible people that make it such. And now, I get to give back. I get to be one of the people that leads others on their faith journey, even if only for one week in the summer. I feel called by my peers and called by God to contribute to this amazing team, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to do so.

​Peace,
Gabriel Trout