Advance Campers, Get Pumped!

This Monday we will welcome nearly 60 Advance campers to HoneyRock! We're excited to have these high school freshmen on camp, living and learning in community. Our Advance Camp program exists to build meaningful relationships and provide challenging experiences that ultimatlely encourage students as they "advance" to make Christ the foundation of their lives.

We thought that today we could introduce you to five of our Advance Camp counseling staff, giving you a little idea of where they're from and why they're here. But, before you take a couple minutes to meet Korey, Tana, Nate, Emily, & Kathryn, visit this page to read about preparing for camp, packing list included.

To start off the introductions, say hi to Korey Gregornick! He's originally from Lake Geneva, but is now pursuing music and youth ministry at Wheaton College. While not in class, Korey loves longboarding, drumming, and sports. He participated in Passage before his freshman year and was ready to return for a full summer. We asked Korey about his favorite part of working at HoneyRock, and he replied, "The community and wilderness. Everywhere you go there are people to love and beautiful things to see...I love the outdoors and chillin with bros and doing adventurous things."

Tana Schendel, from Shoreview, Minnesota, shares Korey's love for adventures. When asked about her favorite part of HoneyRock, Tana answered, "incredible food and going on adventures!" She's excited to "hang out with high schoolers and grow in relationships with each other and Christ." Tana will return to Wheaton this Fall to study Psychology and Christian Ed.

Nate Mulder comes to us from Grand Rapids, Michigan where we lived and worked at a camp for nine years before coming to HoneyRock. He has really apprecaited HoneyRock as a place to "help others discover God's love for them through time out of their comfort zones and in his creation." Nate is an Education major who loves frisbee, juggling, and tall-bike riding.

Emily Korzeniewski, like Nate, sees HoneyRock as a place grow closer to God. Emily studies music composition at Wheaton and in her free time, loves creating. This includes crafting, sewing, and knitting, not to mention music. Emily has been up at HoneyRock for Wilderness Passage as well as her SLS winter retreat. She loves HoneyRock, saying, "The community here is so srong and it's a beautiful place to see God in people and nature." She is really excited to work with students going into high school and thinks HoneyRock is a great place to grow closer to God.

Finally, let us introduce you to Kathryn Brightly from Clinton, New Jersey. She's been up to HoneyRock a few times, first for Passage, then a work/play weekend, and finally the SLS winter retreat. Emily is a English/Secondary Education major who loves playing piano, reading, & writing. When asked about her favorite part of HoneyRock, Kathryn answered, "I love the community. We can be absolutely crazy together, but also vulnerable and open about our lives..." she continued "I wanted to challenge myself in my relationship with others and God as well as have an AMAZING time with incredible high schoolers! Get pumped!"

Wood Kiln Fire Reveal

Today is an exiciting day for the WIN ceramics class! They have been patiently waiting for the wood kiln to cool enough to unstack the bricks and climb inside to unload their work. It has been a long process, one that began Sunday evening and went well into Monday.

We're excited to show some of the pieces that the students created during their time in the new ceramics studio!

Meet Regan, Wilderness Skills Instructor

Let us introduce you to our Wilderness Instructor, Regan Jamieson. Originally from Kansas, Regan just graduated from Central College in Pella, Iowa. After hearing about camp from a friend, Regan decided to check it out for herself.

Why did you decide to serve at HoneyRock this summer?

 I have found myself at HoneyRock for several reasons but above all, I am in this place because God wants me to be here. The more time I spend at HoneyRock, the more apparent it becomes that the Lord knows me better than I do. I need a place to transition, a place where Christ is the center and the focus, a place where I can be supported, loved, cared, prayed for and challenged by those whose lives are devoted to Jesus. Based on those needs…I would say that HoneyRock is just the place I need to be.

What do you love most about your activity area, Wilderness Skills?

 I experience and come to know more of God through His creation, both nature and people. Graduating with a Biology and Secondary Education degree, Wilderness Skills is a great way for me to continue my love for learning, educating, and being outdoors. I am most looking forward to guiding campers and all students towards their goals and helping them to see our Creator through His Creation. In my past experiences as a teacher, I most enjoy walking alongside a student in their growth as a person. It is my joy to be a part of the lives of those around me. This is the beauty of being an Activity Staff instructor at HoneyRock. We are given the opportunity to invest, support, serve, and love others every day. 

What are you passionate about?

 I love people and the outdoors because through these things, I experience God. His beauty, renewal, perseverance, the complexity and sometimes arduousness of living the Christian life, the growth we experience through Christ – in all these elements and more I see through nature and biological processes. In people I experience grace, love, forgiveness, wisdom, beautifully broken lives, humility, culture, language, laughter, and fun. I am passionate about my faith. I am passionate about my family and friends. They love and know me just as I am, regardless of my faults and sin. They each bring a different aspect of who I am to the table.

A major part of who I am besides being a daughter of God, is challenging outdoor adventures. I owe most of this to my parents who have continued to trudge my brother and me across the world to remote and wonderfully places to hike, camp, snowboard, and observe wildlife, places such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Rockies, Scotland, Zion, and so on. I love this earth and all that inhabits it.

As a follower of Christ, the Lord our God, the creator of all things, I find it my responsibility to preserve such beautiful things that He has made. The mountains, trees, streams, and fields are here for us to enjoy. I pray that I can be a steward and advocate for this planet until my time comes to go home and be with Christ. 

taken by Regan Jameison