Sowing the Seeds of the Man I've Become

I am not someone who has spent my entire life at Birch Bay Ranch (BBR), I am only someone who spent a short chapter there. I did not attend camp there as a child, in fact, I had not even heard about the camp except in passing until after I left high school. Then my twin sister decided to work there one summer during college. When she came back I could see that it had been a significant experience in her life and knew that I wanted to do the same thing. So the next summer I decided to dedicate my whole summer to working at this wonderful place.

As a kid I was always fascinated with horses and when I was little all I wanted was to be a cowboy and a policeman. So that summer I made it my goal to learn everything I could about the horses. I got so much more than I bargained for. Right from the start I met an amazing group of people. Including wonderful leadership and examples of humble service in Darryl and Sharon as well as Malcolm, and the program directors that year: Corine and Krysta. I grew into fast friends with the other senior staff - young people who had a heart for God and a desire to use this amazing place as a tool to reach people for him. I mean... they had to be there for Christian service... because we obviously weren't there for the money :)

Working there taught me to grow up, think independently and have mature relationships... this was the summer I grew up, I came home at the end of it so much more than the child I was when I left. I developed life-lessons that have formed the very core of my being: encouraging people on the ropes course to take leaps of faith every day taught me to make similar leaps in my own life. Being there grew me as a Christian in ways I can never forget. Before camp started we were encouraged to write down our testimony so that we could share it with the kids. Doing so and sharing it solidified in my own mind and heart what I believed and why I believed it; this has remained hidden in my heart since then.

Now for the camps themselves: the kids were amazing, being able to influence their lives and share Christ's love with them, even thinking about it now, has been such an honour. Seeing kids hear about Christ for the first time, or really understanding what it means to be loved by him for the first time... these are things that are eternal. Things that happen as 'normal' in a place like BBR... this is not the case in our 'real world'.

At the end of the summer I had changed. I had grown closer to God and become a huge part of the man I am today. I've been back since: I volunteered for a week a few years later, and I convinced our youth group to use BBR as a retreat facility. It's been ten years since that summer and even though I have not been back for a while I am always surprised to meet people all the time who have been touched by that place. I feel like I'm part of a special group of people, campers and staff of BBR who run into each other and instantly have a common bond. 

Today I have reached both my childhood dreams: I work everyday as a policeman - using the skills and character developed in a large part at BBR (you ever tried to corral a group of ten 8-year olds?); and for just one summer I was a cowboy:

Marlin Ehrenholz