Staff Tetimonials

Sumner Abraham camped at Alpine for 5 summers, was on our Work Crew for 2 summers and a counselor for the last 3 summers.  Glenn and I have watched Sumner grow over the years and we are thrilled that he is a part of our Alpine family.   After reading this blog entry, you will get a better glimpse of what a camper takes away from summers spent at Alpine.

Sumner as a camper in 2001

 

 

“The greatest thing any person can do for another is to confirm the deepest thing in him, in her—to take the time and have the discernment to see what’s most deeply there, most fully that person, and then confirm it by recognizing and encouraging it.

And then someone enters our life who isn’t looking for someone to use, is leisurely enough to find out what’s really going on in us, is secure enough not to exploit our weaknesses or attack our strengths, recognizes our inner life and understands the difficulty of living out our inner convictions, confirms what’s deepest within us. A friend.” This quote by Eugene Peterson is exactly what I got out of Alpine, a friend. The fellow campers, the staff, and the camp itself have helped shape me into the young man I am today. Jesus Christ is the number one priority at camp, and there is not a better place on earth. When I think of what Heaven will be like, the first thing that enters my head is Alpine. I have friendships with older men and people my age that I wouldn’t trade for the world; experiences that are forever engraved in my memory and on my heart; and a better grasp on where I am going and how I want to do it because of Alpine.

From my summers at Alpine I have established friendships that are ones that I consider my most dear and fruitful. I met guys my age from all over the country and the world for that matter (France and Sweden). I think there is no other way to get to know a person than to live, struggle, and succeed with them. Alpine defines what community truly is. Community is something that a Christian can’t go without and Alpine creates a blueprint for this that can be carried into the real world. I am going to college with guys that I met when I was in the fourth grade and have kept up with. Alpine provided a place where I could develop friendships with guys that weren’t based on our parents being friends or sports, but friendships that were based on the sole purpose of loving the Lord and wanting to serve him. Alpine is my “home away from home” because every time I walk through the gate I know that the people there will love me no matter what and I have true friendships with the guys there. These relationships are so special to me and are ones that will last a lifetime.

During my summers at Alpine, I was counseled by and worked with some of the greatest Christian college aged kids in the country. The staff that is assembled is outstanding. From the second you arrive at camp, you realize that you around guys who care about you as a person and want to develop a relationship with you. You can’t find that anywhere else. I know kids that have gone to different summer camps for years and can’t even tell me their counselors names. But I still keep in touch with a majority of the guys that were my counselors and love to reminisce of the memories that were made with them. Alpine is the only environment in which this type of fruitful mentorship is possible because the relationship is started with a foundation in the Lord. Through these counselors, you learn about teamwork and that happiness comes through serving others not yourself. These two lessons are practiced on a daily basis at camp and are invaluable to a young man in the world of a young adult. My counselors at Alpine have been the biggest influence on my life thus far. 

Without Alpine I don’t even want to think about where I would be right now. I was Student Body President, Co President of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Team Captain of the Basketball Team my Senior year of high school, and there is no way that any of those things would have happened to me if not for the leadership qualities and spiritual nurturing I received for Alpine. Alpine showed me what true community and fellowship really is. I was given outstanding leaders and extraordinary examples of Christ on a daily basis on one of the most beautiful places on earth. The staff, the camp itself, and the results of being associated with Alpine all point to Jesus Christ, and it is impossible to walk away from Alpine without having become a better person. Alpine is a place that I will forever be indebted to and grateful for.

Here is Sumner helping lead the way for the Alpine Step Show

~ “What Alpine means to a Camper” by Sumner Abraham

Here is an excerpt from a letter written by a first time counselor in 2008, written at the end of the summer:

“It has been a blessing beyond belief to get to experience Alpine for the first time the summer before my senior year of college.  Next semester brings with it a lot of complicated questions – what should I do after I graduate? How am I supposed to make money?  Where is this girl I’m supposed to marry?  With all of those complicated questions, it has been amazing to come somewhere that is inherently simple - wake up, worship God, love kids, go to sleep.  Simple.” 

~ Letter from a 2008 Counselor

Here is an excerpt from a letter we received in August of 2007.  Very soon after leaving Alpine this counselor was headed to Germany for a year on a Fulbright Scholarship.

” In no time at all Alpine’s embrace felt familiar to me, and throughout the summer I felt simultaneously the thrill of being part of an exciting adventure and the comfort of being at home, where things were in their proper order.  To grow such an environment, where one can experience this wonderful paradox of emotions, is a marvel.  I praise God for what has been grown over the years at Alpine, for the ways he has convicted you and used you to His glory, for the impression Alpine has made on young men and boys, and for the extent that Alpine furthers His Kingdom.  I am thankful to have been part of the Alpine adventure story.”

~ Letter from a 2007 counselor