“Warm Beach Camp has always changed my life for the better.” When I sat down with Bee to talk about how God has been working in her life this summer, these were the first words out of her mouth. Bee, known to the outside world as Hannah, is currently a Cabin Guide down at W-Bar-B Youth Camp.

Bee and I go back five summers when we both started volunteering at Warm Beach Special Friends Camp. Bee truly encountered God that first summer and continues to return with me every year, leading to this summer where God had even more in store for us.

This summer God called both of us out of our comfort zones to serve at Youth Camp. Coming into this summer, Bee was worn down. In college, Bee is surrounded by a community that doesn’t believe in God, and doesn’t strive to love others as He loves us. She came to camp feeling defeated and worried that her relationship with God was gone. And yet, she has encountered God in new, yet all too familiar ways. She says, “This summer has been like coming back to an old friend that you haven’t talked to in a long time. He says to me, ‘Hey, I’m right here’ and I can feel Him.”

Bee has continued to step into her identity in Christ this summer and pours into every kid she comes in contact with. For Bee and the rest of our staff, this summer has been full of challenges and victories with underlying assurance that God is in control at Youth Camp, that He hears us when we talk to Him. In awe, Bee expressed, “God just works in a different way [at Youth Camp]. I don’t even know how to describe it, it’s just God. It’s truly amazing to look back and see growth and how far we’ve come.” This is the reality of Warm Beach Youth Camp and we wouldn’t want to spend our summer anywhere else.

Written by: Laina Crouch, Summer Worship Pastor and Photographer
Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center