Beyond the “Mountain Top Experience”
Story: Hope Nelson
Photos: Courtesy Bethany Andrews '12 and Laura Sattler '17
Concordia Nebraska alumni detail the lasting impact of Christian outdoors ministry.
Going to summer camp is a rite of passage for many children. Packing the car with pillows, sleeping bags, sunscreen and more gives way to feeling a growing sense of excited anticipation for children as the drive to camp wears on. Finally, the sounds of the city or the highway die away, and the car pulls into a parking lot alongside a lake, a large log cabin or something else, signaling the arrival at the final destination: summer camp.
Going to camp may be a rite of passage, but for members of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, it is more than a fun summer getaway experience – it's a unique ministry in and of itself. At a Christian camp, kids can disconnect from the outside world for a few days, a week or longer, while connecting to other Christians and, most importantly, their Savior, Jesus Christ. The time they spend in nature is time spent in God’s creation, and participation in camp games means building lasting relationships.
What is outdoors ministry?
Outdoors ministry, or camp ministry, is a form of spiritual outreach that takes place in outdoor settings, either during the summer months or year-round. It allows children and families to experience the joy of learning about Jesus through playing sports, making crafts and spending time in His creation. Several alumni of Concordia University, Nebraska are now involved in camp ministry. Two of these alumni are Bethany Andrews ‘15 and Laura Sattler ‘17, both of whom were eager to share their thoughts and experiences about camp ministry as Lutherans.
Bethany Andrews ’15: Camp Lutherhaven, Albion, Indiana
Bethany Andrews is the Director of Engagement at Camp Lutherhaven in Albion, Indiana. She graduated from Concordia in 2012 with an education degree and in 2015 with a Director of Christian Education (DCE) certification. After serving in congregational ministry for three years, she returned to the camp where she’d spent a few summers as a staff member since 2011 – Camp Lutherhaven.
“Camp ministry rarely has two days the same, and that’s something that I enjoy about my job,” Andrews says. During the spring and fall seasons, she spends her time teaching classes outside to school groups, training seasonal staff members and interacting with visiting students. During the summer, on the other hand, she leads Lutherhaven’s weekend family camps, works with guest groups and manages the camp’s social publicity by working with staff who capture photos and videos for campers during the summer.
Andrews sees outdoors ministry as a means of reaching people of all ages and stages in life where they’re at. “Often, people will talk about how time at camp is a ‘mountain top experience,’ meaning that it has a high impact on their lives and faith in a short time,” she says. “Camp uniquely provides a short-term community for people, where they can feel safe being vulnerable with others...it creates opportunities for people to be met by God’s love in big ways.”
Attending camp is more than just the mountain-top experience, however. Andrews believes that coming to camp can bring people closer to God and their faith in a way that many other experiences can’t. The unique nature of coming close to God’s love while “sitting around a campfire, learning how to paddle a canoe or praying with [a] cabin group,” she says, can bring even people who don’t feel comfortable in a church setting for whatever reason close to others who know and love Jesus, creating connections that can be life-changing.
For Andrews, the outdoors is a special place for spiritual development to take place. Creation, community and Christ are the three words she uses to sum up the mission of Camp Lutherhaven. Christ’s love shines through the relationships formed, experiences had and even the “classic camp” atmosphere that makes Camp Lutherhaven so enjoyable.
Camp uniquely provides a short-term community for people, where they can feel safe being vulnerable with others...it creates opportunities for people to be met by God’s love in big ways.
Plus, getting to live out her own faith through outdoors ministry is an experience that she’s blessed to have. “Faith is an important part of my life and my job,” says Andrews. “I have the blessing of being able to talk about who God is and what He’s done and is doing with just about everyone I connect with.” Her faith was strengthened by the education she received at Concordia Nebraska. Small group Bible studies, daily chapel and theology classes all came together to give Andrews the faith basis that she desired to share Jesus with others.
Andrews offers words of encouragement for current Concordia students who may be interested in outdoors ministry: “It’s a ton of fun,” she says. “Most importantly, college students have an opportunity to talk about Jesus and the ways His love is real with many at camp. They get to be the hands and feet of God as they serve.”
Laura Sattler ’17: HoneyRock Center for Leadership Development, Three Lakes, Wisconsin
Laura Sattler graduated from Concordia in 2017 with a B.F.A. in studio art and a B.A. in educational studies – or, as she describes it, “essentially...a major in art education.” She, like Andrews, found her calling in outdoors ministry long before starting her professional career, working at Camp Timber-lee in East Troy, Wisconsin, each summer of her college years.
After college, she worked at Camp Timber-lee for another year, overseeing the camp’s internship program. After that, she returned to Concordia for one year, working as an admissions counselor, but felt a calling toward working in outdoors ministry. That’s when she found HoneyRock, the Center for Leadership Development of Wheaton College based in Three Lakes, Wisconsin.
“It sounded really intriguing to me, like a mixture of several things I really care about,” she says. “I knew I needed to get some different camp experience, and that’s one of the major things that drew me to HoneyRock.”
Since starting at HoneyRock, Sattler has worked with the Vanguard Gap Year Program, acquired her master’s in Outdoor & Adventure Leadership through Wheaton College Graduate School and currently serves as the marketing specialist for HoneyRock. Her current work with marketing, she says, is “creative and strategic. Some of it can be mundane...but overall marketing is very interesting and very forward-thinking, and very creative, and you get to work with a lot of different people.”
“The part of my work that I really enjoy the most is being able to work hands-on with people,” says Sattler. She reflects on HoneyRock’s unique “developmental” mindset, which allows the staff there to approach people of all ages and meet them where they’re at with an outdoors ministry experience uniquely tailored to them.
“We can see the very tangible way it impacts students, or campers, or the families that we serve,” Sattler says. “We want what happens here to form campers and staff alike, for them to experience the challenges and joys of living life in community, what it means to serve, work, rest and play, and through these experiences we want people to be formed into faithful disciples of Jesus for a whole life’s journey. HoneyRock does camp in a way that requires the whole person to engage and experience transformation.”
Sattler believes that outdoors ministry is a place where God’s love is uniquely present. Being close to God’s creation and “unplugging” from the world can bring campers and other participants of all ages into close connection with their Lord and their faith. She especially speaks to the impact of outdoors ministry on youth in a world where mental health concerns are common.
“The mental health epidemic is kind of dominating youth culture,” she says. “But when you come [to camp], you have to remove yourself from your normal community...that’s a lot of what outdoors ministry revolves around, the idea of stepping away to take part in a new experience and stepping back into where you were, while living in the ways that camp influenced or changed you.”
Furthermore, Sattler believes that her time at Concordia Nebraska greatly strengthened her faith and her ability to reach out to others in the camp context.
“I’ve always been at a lack of words to express how impactful it was, but Concordia had far-reaching influence in my life as a disciple of Jesus,” she says. “I think community is one of those defining factors of how my faith was formed both at Concordia and in outdoors ministry.”
She also cites the mentorship she received from faculty at Concordia as a major factor in her faith development. Professors Don Robson and James Bockelman ‘89 in the art department are two that she recalls especially looking up to. “They knew my name, where I was from, what I was exploring in my artwork and they got to know me in a genuine way. They spoke into my life with purpose, humor and care,” she says.
Finally, Sattler encourages college students who are interested in outdoors ministry to pursue their passions. “The Lord didn’t call you to these places if He didn’t want you there,” she says. “The Lord works through college students in the outdoor ministry setting, as you lead right from where you are. There is a huge network of Lutheran camps and outdoor ministry organizations out there. The potential connection that Concordia could have with the outdoor ministry industry is, frankly, unrealized so it’s really up to the student to engage the opportunity that outdoor ministry provides. It’s a place for everyone, not just DCEs, education majors, or future church workers. The Lord uses Christian camping to equip people for their life’s journey.”