EDITOR’S NOTE: Each year college ministry groups from around the country converge on Glorieta, N.M., for Collegiate Week. This camp for college kids is sponsored by Lifeway and continues to be a staple in the college minister’s toolbox. On average over 1,600 students and leaders participate and have been for many years. Aaron Werner, Baptist Student Union director at Crowder College in Neosho, contributed this article by Victoria Davidson, one of the students in his ministry. She represents only one of many college students in the state impacted for the gospel because of Missouri Baptists’ gifts to the Cooperative Program.
GLORIETA, N.M. – There are multiple words to use when describing Glorieta, New Mexico, and the experience of attending camp there. To list a few: eye-opening, exhilarating, heartwarming, amazingly-fun, and breathtaking. Each day is full of new experiences for every type of camper. For the athletic, sports tournaments are for you. For the more thrill-seeking campers, like myself, rappelling and zip lining is a perfect fit. And if you are looking to sit and share the gospel with friends in a laid-back environment, I highly recommend the campus coffee shop, which serves the best caramel frappes! To anyone considering attending Glorieta camps, I can guarantee one thing: it will change your life in the most amazing way.
Glorieta camps do not only bring fun experiences, but also bring the Word of God to every willing person. Each morning, celebration and worship in the chapel prepares each student for an energetic day. This year, the theme was “What if?” What if the students took everything they learned throughout the week, and went back to their communities to spread word of God? What if each student does not spread the word? These questions were put into the minds of students, so they could focus on spreading the word and applying what they learned into their everyday lives. A good friend of mine asked God in prayer that He send each student home with duct-taped hearts. This meant God healing our brokenness and mending us together with his holy word. I truly believed that most campers left this trip with duct-taped hearts, and all brokenness left in the past.
I will admit, before my time at Glorieta, I was broken. I did not know God as well as I would have liked, I did not read His word every day, nor did I have the trust in him he deserves. Throughout the week, I prayed that God would heal my heart and open my eyes to become the woman He sees in me. I can wholeheartedly say I changed over the course of the week. God reached out to me through the heart-felt sermons given by Timothy Ateek, and through worship with the Christian band, Rush of Fools. Glorieta camps heal the broken hearted with God’s love through praise, worship, and great coffee. If there are any uncertain thoughts about which camp to attend, Glorieta is my number one recommendation. My heart is duct-taped together in the name of the Lord.