Author: Katlyn Kincaid

How God Uses Camp to RESTORE Our Souls

Posted on by Katlyn Kincaid

When I hear the words “life story” or “testimony”, they are soon followed by my abundance of wonderful memories from Eagle Lake. My summers at camp impacted where I went to college, the people I lived with, my career aspirations, and most importantly my relationship with Him.

Let me explain…

I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and gave my life to the Lord at a very young age. While on a church mission trip to an orphanage in Mexico, I asked to be a part of what He was doing in that place. My parents heard about Eagle Lake from my cousins (former staff) and started sending me there when I was 9. I did three summers as a Rez camper and moved on to Excursions as I got older. Although the Lord planted seeds during these weeks at camp, nothing could have prepared me for the literal storm awaiting me in middle school.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the city of New Orleans. This storm displace my family, flooded my home, and shattered my faith in the existence of a loving God. Throughout middle school, I struggled with overwhelming anxiety and depression that eventually led to thoughts of suicide. My parents tried sending me to counselors and psychiatrists, but nothing could heal the wounds that stemmed from a crisis of faith.

Banquet

As a last resort, they forced me to attend the Crew program in 2008 and it was the best decision they have every made for me! God wore me down through the love of His people, the power of His word, and the healing of His Spirit. I asked Jesus back into my life during a powerful prayer night on Crew and instantly my sadness and anger melted away as hope began to rise from ashes. The good Lord redeemed my life from the pit and brought about a 2nd Corinthians 5:17 transformation.

Sean McKelvey, the crew director at the time, baptized me in the lake toward the end of the session. I went back for Crew every summer in high school, making lifelong friends and growing in my walk with God. At the end of my last year as a Crew camper in 2011, I got in the car and told my mom that I needed to go to school in Colorado. We toured a few schools and God led me to Colorado State University.

Slacklining

Horseback

Baptism

I wasn’t very faithful in my walk down the mountain for much of high school and started really getting into the party scene during that time. The identity I cultivated in that scene followed me into college and that’s basically what I did for most of my freshmen year. I accomplished just about everything I wanted to that year and I was left dead in my faith and dissatisfied by what the world had to offer. At the end of my freshmen year, I did what I had always done when I had a crisis of faith…I went back to camp. Eagle Lake welcomed me back like the prodigal son I had been, and helped plug me into a Christian community at CSU. I ended up living with Eagle Lake guys for my junior and senior year of college and am confident that we will remain lifelong friends.

Fun at Camp

Friendships

I served as a Crew counselor for the past two summers and helped create Activities Crew, a sort of counselor-in-training program for more mature high school students. As a counselor, I saw God use all of my past experiences and brokenness to His glory. I learned that God doesn’t let pain go unused, as I was able to come alongside some students dealing with anxiety and depression and others who had placed their identity in practices I once had. This past summer, I was also able to be discipled by the man who baptized me in the lake eight years earlier. God is sovereign and truly has an awesome plan!

Water Fun

Crew Staff

The work of the Lord at Eagle Lake gave me a new life. He used that place to give me lifelong friends, unforgettable lessons in discipleship, and countless laughs.

Camp changed the trajectory of my life after college also. During my first summer as a Crew counselor, God began calling me toward the nations. This January, I ship off for an 11-country, 11-month mission trip around the world called The World Race. I’m eager to apply what I’ve learned during my time at Eagle Lake during this crazy, wonderful adventure the Lord has blessed me with.

-Nick, former Rez, Excursions, and Crew camper and Rez and Crew Counselor

Who Am I?

Posted on by Katlyn Kincaid

Who Am I?

A Story of Self-Discovery at Camp.

 

The dictionary defines identity as a noun: “what a person or thing is.” For 19 years, I defined my identity based on my circumstances—who do others say I am? What do my grades, my appearance, my results say I am? I was confident only when an ‘A’ was plastered to my tests, when I received praise from peers, when I started in volleyball or swam faster than the girl next to me. I was devastated when I failed to measure up. And boy, did I fail. As a result, my identity was ever-changing. I was wrapping my identity around mist.

My entire life, I heard stories about how epic four years of college would be. When I finally went to college, it was not at all what I had envisioned. Instead of endless friends, I had one roommate. Instead of rambunctious parties, I watched HGTV in my room. Instead of breezing by in classes, I wasn’t understanding the material. Instead of pouring my energy into sports, I struggled to find an intramural team. No one knew who I was. It seemed as though the only people who cared about me were on the other side of Colorado. All of the things I had wrapped my identity around were nonexistent. I knew I wanted something more—something I could stand on that would not crumble beneath my feet.

 

 

When I was at the lowest point I had ever been, I genuinely cried out to God for the first time.

And He heard. He answered. It was so beautiful. When I asked for friends, God gave me the Navigators ministry. When I asked for love, He revealed Himself.

Throughout freshman year, God continued to transform my heart. The more I learned about Jesus, the less I strove after the things I had been infatuated with. The more I learned about Jesus, the more I began to find joy in the little things.

All year I had planned on going home for one last summer, but God had other plans. I made a last minute decision to go to Eagle Lake as a counselor for On-Location. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t think that God could use me—who was I? I had only been a Christian for 6 months. I hadn’t even read the book of John.

All I knew is that I wanted more of the God who answered my prayers, of the God who had become my joy.

 

 

My decision to be a counselor for Eagle Lake was the best decision I could have made for my walk with Jesus. God showed me what unity within the church looks like through my loving co-workers. He showed His provision by giving me strength on the tough days. He showed my team safety when we were in a dangerous part of town. He showed His faithfulness when I messed up.

God turned my darkness into light. All of the doubts I had about myself, my faith, and the summer were overshadowed by His love.

I had always heard that Jesus “died for my sins,” but at Eagle Lake, God revealed something profound about that statement.
Every day I shared the Gospel with campers without realizing its full extent. During worship one day, I sung the line “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,” from “Revelation Song.”

That’s when it hit me—Jesus is worthy. His act on the cross was worthy enough to give me a new identity—one that is not defined by my mistakes, but by His grace.

Jesus didn’t just die for my sins; Jesus died as me, so that I may have His righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Woah. That sure changed the way I thought about identity.

 

 

God doesn’t define identity the same way the dictionary does. Identity isn’t a noun. It’s a verb—our identity comes from the living act of Jesus’ death on the cross. When we are in Christ, we are accepted. We are secure. We are significant. We are God’s children—chosen to do His work.

So yes; despite my flaws, my lack of experience, my doubts, and my mistakes, God worked through me. He did more during Eagle Lake than I could have ever imagined.

“The Weaver,” by an unknown author, describes what it is like to reminisce in the ways God showed His love through circumstances in college:

“My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.

Oftimes He weaveth sorrow,
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I, the underside…”

I had been looking at the jumbled and fringed threads from the “underside,” while God was weaving a beautiful pattern that would lead me to Himself.

 

 

And just like last year, I thought I would be working or doing an internship for the summer. God had other plans. When I was asked to be a Program Coach for On-Location, similar thoughts ran through my head. “But, I’ve never led a Bible study before! How do you disciple five girls? What’s leadership!?”

The difference between this time and last time is that I know my identity rests in Christ. God will work through me. It means that I am His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), that I have been approved (2 Corinthians 1:21-22), and that I can go into summer with confidence (2 Corinthians 3:4).

I can’t wait to see the pattern He weaves this summer—not only in my own life, but for everyone involved in this beautiful thing called camp.

 

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Jordan grew up in Montrose, Colorado and is studying Psychology at Colorado State University. She is excited to serve as a Program Coach for On-Location this summer (yellow team!). She loves the outdoors, coffee, and laughs pretty hard at puns. She aspires to someday drive a Zamboni whilst giving high fives.

How Did We Get Here?

Posted on by Katlyn Kincaid

Here at Eagle Lake, our goal is to inspire Christ-centered love and commitment through counselor relationships in the midst of exciting outdoor experiences.

But we wouldn’t—couldn’t—be who we are today without the choices people have made over the last 100 years to bring us to this point.

Today, we want to share a little of that history: our story, which helps explain us. We hope you enjoy it!

 

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From The Navigator Archives

 

Let’s Throw it WAY Back…

At the end of the Civil War, General William Palmer made his way to Colorado, first visiting in 1867, then buying the land he would use to establish Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs in 1870 and the land on which he would build his magnificent estate Glen Eyrie and its castle in 1871. (The castle was originally a 22-room adobe and wood house, painted bronze green!) And only a few miles up Queen’s Canyon, he built a dam (ahem, a Darn) in 1906 to create what is now known as Eagle Lake.

Fun side note 1: Glen Eyrie hosted a Robin Hood Girls camp (unaffiliated with The Navigators) in 1916! Camping is in our DNA. 

Fun side note 2: Our Store building was originally built as a hunting lodge to one of the early owners, although we’re not sure which one.

 

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Early Glen Eyrie Castle, courtesy of http://bit.ly/1PqMEXx

 

Our Rather Miraculous Beginning

A young man named Dawson Trotman first started ministering to young boys while teaching a Sunday School class in 1926. His ministry flourished, and by 1929, he had 225 boys in his boys club. It was for this group of boys that Dawson first designed a memory course with verses to memorize, blank cards to write them on, and a packet to put them in. (Sound familiar? Hello, early TMS!) Dawson, now convinced of the need for one-to-one discipleship, launched The Navigators in 1933.

 

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From The Navigator Archives: A flier for one of Dawson’s early youth camps.

 

In 1951, evangelist Billy Graham asked Dawson to help him figure out how to follow up with the thousands of people who were coming to Christ at his crusades. Dawson agreed, and in 1953 Dawson decided to move The Navigators’ headquarters from California to Colorado Springs.

Meanwhile, Glen Eyrie had changed hands several times, and was bought by Texas Oil Tycoon George Strake in 1938. Strake decided to sell it in the early ’50s. Although Billy Graham was originally interested in the property for his ministry headquarters, he decided to pass on it and suggested it to Dawson. However, in order to buy it, Dawson would have to raise $100,000 in six weeks.

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, “Donations came in from all over the world, some in the thousands, but most in the $20 range. Trotman sold his car. A girl sold her wedding dress. Someone donated an accordion. A group of missionaries agreed to go a month without pay. On Sept. 29, the day before closing, they were $22,000 short. Somebody woke up a bank manager about a missing wire transfer. A businessman kicked in $8,000 at the last minute. And The Navigators were able to come up with the down payment.”

At closing, Strake told Dawson that he’d decided to also throw in the mountain property attached to Glen Eyrie via Queen’s Canyon. Thanks to Dawson’s early days working with youth, Eagle Lake Camp was born!

 

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Dawson Trotman with Billy and Ruth Graham at Glen Eyrie’s front gate. Photo courtesy of http://bit.ly/1XTDVju

 

Back When We Were Young*

Photo curtesy of The Navigators Archives.

Photo courtesy of The Navigators Archives.

 

1957 saw the first junior high boys camp at Eagle Lake under the leadership of Cec Davidson. That week, 4 out of the 15 boys received Christ as their Savior! The following year, Director Don Enright launched several one-week camps and, a year later, extended the program to several three-week camps designed for 11 to 14 year old boys. By 1961, five camps were offered in which: “Trained Navigator counselors help the boys develop skill in canoeing, archery, fishing, crafts, swimming and horsemanship, and lead them in Navigator-type Bible study carefully geared to junior high needs and interests. Each boy can get plenty of personal counsel and instruction from his leader.”

 

Early boys camp. Photo curtesy of The Navigators Archives.

Early boys camp. Photo courtesy of The Navigators Archives.

Early boys camp. Photo curtesy of The Navigators Archives.

Early boys camp. Photo courtesy of The Navigators Archives.

 

In 1962, new director Tom Heeb developed Eagle Lake’s infrastructure, enlarging the dining hall and building a generator house and recreation shelter. 1963, Eagle Lake offered its first Girls Camp!

 

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Early boys camp. Photo courtesy of The Navigators Archives.
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Early girls camp. Photo courtesy of The Navigators Archives.

 

In the 1970s, Claude Oleyar took over as the director of Eagle Lake. A premier wilderness director, Claude developed incredible programming for our Wilderness Camps. This excellent wilderness adventure camp allowed campers to experience God’s majesty by exploring his beautiful creation in the Rocky Mountains. Traces of this early camp program can still be experienced in our current-day Excursions programs, particularly in our Rocky Mountain Challenge.

 

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Early boys camp. Photo courtesy of The Navigators Archives.

 

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Photo courtesy of The Navigators Archives.

 

However, a cultural shift occurred in the 1980s. Youth preferred a more comfortable camp experience, and Eagle Lake had to shift its paradigm in order to survive an increasingly competitive summer camp market.

 

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Life As We Know It Now

In 1989, Jack McQueeney took over as the director of Eagle Lake Camps to create the classic overnight camp experience that most of you know and love today. Instead of targeting the kids themselves, he shifted the focus to hiring highly qualified counselors who would build genuine relationships with kids, meeting them where they were at to inspire Christ-centered love and commitment.

 

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(That’s Jack in the shorts!)

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Our ’90s band Red Letter Edition

 

In the mid-90’s, we launched several new programs: we started a partnership with the American Diabetic Association to host a week of camp for kids with diabetes; we launched an excellent horse program which we sadly had to discontinue last year; and we started Crew, our most in-depth, discipleship program for high-school students. In 2001, we joined with our sister property to create the Glen Eyrie Group, and Mark Heffentrager stepped in as our On-Site Director.

 

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In 2011, with our overnight camp thriving, our hearts were moved to extend our reach and ministry; thus On Location was born. Through On Location, we bring the best parts of Eagle Lake to local churches around the country, equipping them to reach out to their surrounding communities and to invest in the next generation.

However, all of this was threatened in 2012 with the onset of the Waldo Canyon Fire (cool video in this link!). Starting June 23, this devastating fire tore through Pike National Forest and Colorado Springs. Thankfully, it started on a Saturday and all campers and staff were off property. Although thousands of acres and many homes were burned, people all over the world gathered together to pray for the safety of Eagle Lake, and God graciously protected our mountain property.  Head firefighter Mike Vasquez remembered when he first arrived at Eagle Lake: “We were pulling onto the property and the fire came over the hill. We got out and prepared to start fighting it. About halfway down the hill, it stopped without explanation and moved west, circling the camp property. As I drove the rest of the way into camp, I realized why: on the hill above the lake, the old wooden cross stood, surrounded by scorched earth yet untouched by flames. God protected this place.” Today, you can still see the miraculous lines around camp where God stopped the fire from entering!

 

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The Waldo Canyon Fire Approaching our property.

 

Because of the Lord’s great love and His compassion on and protection for our ministry, Eagle Lake just finished its 62nd summer of camp! Thanks to our highly-qualified staff recruited largely from Navigator collegiate ministries around the country, we are able to personally meet the thousands of campers that come on our properties each summer right where they are at, invest in them personally, and build genuine relationships with them. Our excellent programming and contagious fun make Eagle Lake an experience that campers, parents, counselors, summer staff, and full-time staff never forget!

 

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Thank you for being a part of this! Want to partner with us to make an eternal impact? Visit our Friends of Eagle Lake page to find out how. We could not do this without you!

*Special thanks to Donald McGilchrist, whose Briefing Paper on The Navigators’ High School Ministries Around the World provided most of the information about the early decades of The Navigators and Eagle Lake Camps, and who checked the article’s facts!