Search PNC News for stories of people and churches in our UCC Conference:

 

N-Sid-Sen welcomes international young people on staff

By Mark Boyd - managing director at N-Sid-Sen

Among those on the 2015 camp staff at N-Sid-Sen are young people from Germany, Poland and Turkey.

Ewelina Banasiak from Poland, Peyton Weber of Washington, Chad Carignan from Montana and Stephen Fullicks from England help serve lunch at the Leadership Retreat.  Still to arrive are Ezgi Goztas from Turkey and Alex Trundel of Idaho.  They were recruited through Camp America.

N-Sid-Sen has been using staff from Camp America for quite a few years now.

Camp America is an international program that provides college age staff for camps across the United States. These staff come from all across Europe, Asia and Australia.

The staff are available for camp hospitality staff as well as other more highly trained specialized staff.

N-Sid-Sen has been pleased with the staff we have had.  

This year we have 3 staff from Camp America. They are Stephen  Fullicks from England, Ewelina Banasiak from Poland and Ezgi Goztas from Turkey.

In addition to those folks we also have Chad Carignan from Montana, Peyton Weber from Washington and Alex Gritton from Idaho. 

So why use staff from other parts of the world? The simple answer is we need staff.

The bigger answer is that by providing a place for folks from all across the globe to be together, we are reminded of how important it is to live and work in community.

The international staff teach us that there are different perspectives that we need to be aware of.

The local staff remind us to be proud of our own roots. And then there are the stories.

As we listen to stories of growing up in Poland, England and Turkey, we can see our distant roots connecting and intertwining with theirs and it is then we are humbly reminded that we all are one.  

Even with the language barrier, we know we can still use that most powerful common language. That language is laughter. When we share a smile that rolls into laughter, we share a common bond that cannot be broken. 

So by inviting folks from across the globe we also get to travel a bit without leaving camp. So come to camp and see the world this summer. 

The temperatures are already climbing, and it looks like it is going to be a hot summer.

We did not get much snowfall last winter so all the lakes, rivers and streams are down a bit.

We will all need to watch our campfires very carefully.

Meanwhile, Pilgrim Firs will be welcoming its new managing director, Wade Zick.

Randy and Linda Crowe—Randy was former managing director at N-Sid-Sen—will be on hand to host the senior high camp at Pilgrim Firs June 28 to July 4, and to welcome Wade  as the new managing director there.

Copyright June-July 2015 © Pacific Northwest Conference News

 

 

 

Share this article on your favorite social media