There is this little town in southwest Missouri called Cassville, and it is home to Roaring River State Park. Many people go to fish for trout, visit the fish hatchery, hike, swim in the freezing waters and/or camp out; but I go here because of Camp Re-NEW-All.
Camp RNA is a Catholic youth camp that has sessions all throughout the month of July and occasionally into August. Kids going into fifth grade all the way up to entering high school are campers who get to partake in a multitude of summer fun activities while being away from technology and their families for five days. Once you are in high school, you get to try to join the ranks as a counselor, which is arguably better than being a camper, because you get to plan the fun! My mom went to the first session of camp, I have been a member of camp for 12 years now, and my children will definitely be going as well. It’s no doubt that it has consistently been my favorite week of the summer.
As counselors, our days are filled with sports activities, nature hikes, art projects, learning about our faith in "religious formation", mass planning, song singing, and ultimately the celebration of mass in the great outdoors (a very rare thing in the Catholic church). Each evening some exciting activity is planned, like “skit night” or “camp fire,” and if you don't need a long nap after getting home, you did not do camp right.
While I am at camp, my faith is not "boring," and I am surrounded by people my age who believe in the same things I do. I was lucky enough to grow up in Catholic schools, but many people at camp haven’t. Camp is the only place where they can express themselves in their faith. There are young adult and adult staff as well, but I’m not sure I would call them all “adults,” because they are just as fun and crazy as the kids. When we are together celebrating a common belief, there is an amazing feeling that you aren’t alone, which is a rare feeling when the Catholic population in southern Missouri is so low. There is no judgment at camp. There is only love and acceptance.
Camp RNA is like a second home for me. It’s where I have met some of my best friends, grown in my faith, shared my faith, and learned how to be authentically myself. I experienced my first death of a friend with my camp family, watched fellow counselors get married, gossiped as camp crushes formed and dissolved, saw camp family join different military branches, watched my campers grow up, and lived through two changes of directors, but it is still the camp I love.
Camp is a place for everyone and anyone; this is seen when, on the final night, the staff stands in front of campers with the camp fire behind us singing “Lean on Me.” Our arms are wrapped around each other as we sway left-to-right with tears streaming down our cheeks. This continues when the head staff sings “Sing Alleluia To The Lord” as the counselors pick up their candles for our final group meetings. When you look around the campgrounds, all you see is light from little flames flickering on the campers' faces, and we all pledge to keep that light burning throughout the year. It is one of the best things I have ever experienced in my life. Amazing things happen in Roaring River State Park and I cannot wait to see what happens within the next 12 years.
