We Love Camp Mennoscah!

One of the great things at Bethel College is the commitment to service and the love for a little place called Camp Mennoscah.  I’m sure you won’t be on campus long without seeing someone with a Mennoscah t-shirt, or hear a story that begins “last summer when I was counseling…”  It’s true, there are other camps where Bethel students volunteer or work and love, but as my brother once said, “Bethel goes to Camp Mennoscah.”  Last summer all 8 summer staffers were Bethel students and a large number of the counselors were.

Camp Mennoscah is a small camp owned by the area conference of Mennonite Church USA (with which Bethel is also affiliated).  It’s located in the middle of nowhere about an hour and a half away from Bethel.  In the summer, the cabins (without electricity) are beastly hot, but those who fall in love with Mennoscah love that place with a fierce devotion, proclaiming there’s no other camp worth talking about.

This month the 2012 catalogs rolled off the press and were ready for tabbing and addressing.  With a bare bones staff at Camp during the “off-season” (read, not summer), they turned to Bethel students to help get the job done.  A group of about 8 Bethel students came and went from the mod 4C to get help get the catalogs ready for the mail.  Check out a couple of the pictures of Bethel students hard at work.  It was a lot of fun to sit around, looking at the pictures from last year, talking about favorite memories and looking forward to next year.  You could feel the excitement in the room.

Within a week of preparing the catalogs for mailing, registration forms (included in the catalogs) started arriving at Camp Mennoscah as campers look forward to a new week of Camp this summer.  Camp staff estimate Bethel students saved camp staff at least 4 days of work.  That’s the kind of students we have at Bethel.  The kind that get out in the sun and have fun.  The kind that love working with kids and being silly.  The kind that want to make a difference with their time during the summer.  The kind that want to seek God, serve others, and grow in their faith.  One way many choose to do so it to get involved with Camp Mennoscah.