My First Camp Meeting
Like most Seventh-Day Adventists, I was born into the church. Despite having only one of my parents in the SDA church (my mother), I’ve always been proud attending this church; seeing how we are different from other “Sunday-goers”. However, I still struggled with remaining devoted and spiritually active. I wasn’t a really bad girl, but sometimes I felt disconnected with God. I’ve also had struggles with self-esteem, confidence, family, and being social with others. Luckily, over the years I’ve grown a bit more confident and still have the desire to have God in my life. I am still undecided about what to study, but I have interests’ in general visual art, nutrition and health, human rights, and food.
The 2013 summer ECKCM at Andrews University was my first camp meeting and I’m already 20! It was nice to be surrounded by a supportive group of people who came from all states along the East Coast. Even though none of my friends from my home church made it to camp meeting, I found it was a emotionally safe place and had plenty of time to grow and bond through fellowship. I was surprised to see that I was getting along with people I’ve never met. Kids around my age can look quite intimidating when they have a cool face on and don’t talk to me, but the people here weren’t like that. Although we were all a little shy at first, I was welcomed by the leaders and got to know some cool new people! I didn’t have to worry too much about comparing myself to others because we all had the same general focus on God and loving others. My Collegiate group was great and made sure no one was left out. I didn’t become best friends with everyone, but everyone became friends by the end of the week, and we had a great time.
We had great speakers and leaders for our Collegiate group like Pastor Conway and his lovely wife Tammy, Pastor Jon, Kiwon, Tatiana, Jeremy, etc. Pastor and Mrs. Conway were great speakers and helped us dwell in a healthy, thoughtful, and loving mindset. My small talk leader was Kiwon who was very friendly and positive. She always listened to what I had to say and we also prayed for each other when our group split into pairs. Despite all the people and excitement, I still was able to find some quiet and peace with her or when I was alone. This experience wasn’t a vacation to a 5-star hotel nor was it Disneyland, but it was a much-needed break. It was just a different setting allowing us a full week of holy rest with God. Even when weren’t talking about God or when I wasn’t really thinking about Him - like when we went to enjoy the beach, I later realized His presence was always there with us.
To be honest, the camp meeting didn’t make a dramatic impact in my life and it isn’t necessarily something one would write for their college essay. I can’t make a grand testimony from this camp meeting and I did go back to my usual routine, but it was still a cool experience and helped improve my mindset. I also still keep in contact with the few friends I made, on Facebook and Kakao Talk, so it’ll be nice to see them again the next year I go to camp meeting.
Julie Kang is a member of the Westchester Korean SDA Church, and recently transferred to Binghamton University, New York.