You have a narrow window of time
to be involved in the discipleship of the young adults serving at your camp
this summer. For some, this opportunity will extend well after the time they are with you
at camp. But why not start even before your summer staff arrive?
1. Find disciples. The discipleship of your
staff is an essential part of your ministry, because it is disciples who
produce disciples. Jesus was selective in finding his disciples, and his
choices were surprising. He looked for spiritual hunger, for those who were aware
of their spiritual poverty. People did not follow him because they were
interested, but because he called them. Look for people who have a calling to
camp, not just an interest in camp. If they don't have a fire within them, you
will forever have to light a fire beneath them. Look for character over
experience and skill. It matters much more who they are than what they know or
what they can do! Remember that your campers will aspire to be like them. Will
you be happy if campers become like this potential staff person? Look for
people who are chasing after God’s own heart.
2. Make the most of the interview. Show potential
staff that you are ready to invest in them, even before the decision has been
made as to whether they will join you for the summer. During the interview,
help them reflect on their spiritual readiness for this role. Don't be afraid to challenge
them, find them help, get them involved in Bible study or ministry before the
summer. Interview everyone, including returning staff, just for the opportunity
it gives you to speak truth into their lives. If you have to do it long
distance, use Skype or Facetime so that it is more like a real conversation. Make
your camp's purpose very clear. Ask: Can you be committed to where we are
going?
3. Communicate well. When it was my job to find
and recruit summer staff for several years, I found that one of the most common reasons
staff chose our camp over others was that we were the first to get back to
them. But that is not a good enough reason to be prompt in replying. This is: Let
them know they matter to you! Make it your goal to respond to the emails and
phone calls of potential staff within 24 hours, even with those who probably will
not end up at your camp.
4. Employ social networking. You can’t
fight it, so you might as well make good use of it! Create a Facebook group page for
your potential summer staff. Not only will your posts on that page show up on
their newsfeed, but you will also give them the opportunity to start
communicating with one another before they arrive at camp. Do you find texting
annoying and impersonal? Get over it, because the young adults you are inviting
to serve with you expect this kind of accessibility that they have with their
friends. Does your camp have its own Facebook page? Here is a rule of thumb for
you: Do less, better. Don’t post stuff up there every day or they will simply
stop following your page. Instead, post once a week or less, and do it up big.
Always use a great original photo or video.
Avoid simply posting links to cool stuff on the web – they can find that
elsewhere.
5. Clarify expectations. “Imagine
that you went into a blind person’s house when he wasn’t there and moved around
all the furniture. What a mean thing to do! The poor guy would stumble over
everything, because it wasn’t where he expected it” (CCL, p. 27). You don’t
want your summer staff to walk in blind. Clarify what you expect of them!
Before they arrive, send them a job description and your staff manual. Also, ask potential staff what they expect of you as
their leader.
6. Provide information. Ask your former
staff about the things they wished they had known before they arrived at your camp. Give your accepted summer team a thorough list of what to bring, especially things that are specific to
your camp or their role (e.g., close-toed shoes for washing dishes, or a
wetsuit for your freezing-cold lake). Include your camp’s history, in
the form of creatively-told stories from the past. Send
them their staff shirt ahead of the summer, so that people who see it can ask them about their
upcoming opportunity. Make resources available to them: books to read,
community courses to take, people to talk to, financial sources and high school
or college credit to check out.
7. Offer training. Here is a
shameless plug for my book, The Christian
Camp Leader. Check out the reviews on Amazon, where camp leaders describe how they are using this resource. Send your staff a
physical copy (email me for discount bulk orders), or gift them the synced eBook and audiobook versions.
If you can, invite staff to weekend workshops. Or create online sessions for
them to review, like this one from Camp Imadene. Make sure you include
spiritual fitness training. Offer encouragement and challenge them
spiritually. Give them homework, like writing up several outlines for cabin
devotionals, or writing out their testimony.
8. Pray for them. Maybe you have read this
far and thought to yourself, I don’t have time for any of this! No worries.
Just make sure you do this last one – pray daily for your summer staff before
they arrive for the summer. You have opportunity in Jesus’ name to speak into
being the very things you want for them - and from them - this summer. Plus, you
will find that your relationship with each staff member will gain a huge head
start if you have already been thinking about and praying for them weeks ahead
of time.