Legacy You Can See, Now!
Jocelyn said, it was at camp that she “developed my walk with Christ.” She describes camp in this way. “Camp is Community, Christ-centeredness and love and joy.”
Jocelyn was just an infant when she started attending Family Camp with her family, surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins. As soon as she was old enough, she began attending the youth camps, often with her Mom, serving in a camp leadership role at the youngest of camps. Junior Camp was her first camp experience on her own and remembers fondly the independence she felt.
Senior High Camp was her most independent camp experience. She cherishes the lifelong friends made there and was struck by the intentionality of the camp leaders to stay in touch and pray for her throughout the year.
She’s is most thankful for the way camp helped her learn to make deep, meaningful relationships, to center our lives around Christ, and how to act around others.
Jocelyn said, it was at camp that she “developed my walk with Christ.” She describes camp in this way. “Camp is Community, Christ-centeredness and love and joy.”
After high school, Jocelyn was trying to decide next steps and decided a summer job was in order. She wasn’t sure what she was qualified to do. But, she realized that as a life-long camper, she would make a good camp staff member and sought out a position at a small Christian camp in Alaska. Really small— with just a handful of staff and only 10 campers per week. She went to work for a camp ministry designed to reach remote rural Alaskan children for Jesus. It was there she experienced missionary pilots, who flew to remote Alaskan locations, picked up kids, and flew them to camp!
In October, Jocelyn completed a six month internship as a missionary pilot in Alaska. While there she completed commercial certification requirement to be a full-fledged missionary pilot but more importantly made a lasting impact on countless lives for Jesus. She shared this:
“My aviation background allowed me to touch foot in 20 different rural communities across Alaska and though I’ve hardly scratched the surface, the spiritual darkness and necessity of hope is clear. I spent the month of July participating in a fly-in camp where we brought youth from their villages and hosted them with a week of activity, bible teaching, and quality time with people who valued them. Their stories are heart-wrenching, riddled with spiritual warfare, and full of desperation for purpose and hope, i.e. the gospel. The trust and vulnerability that camp ministry ensues allowed room for those hope-filled conversations and simultaneously became the most culturally eye- opening experience of my six month 30,000 ft view.”
Much of what Jocelyn shares, we encounter at some level with our 1400 campers at Bay Shore Camp’s main campus in Sebewaing, at our Faith Quest Day Camp location in Gagetown, and at our Day Camp on the Road locations across the State.
At fundraising time, we often hear talk of “Legacy Giving.” And “Legacy Giving” is often relegated to estate planning. How will you care for the things that are important to you when you’re gone? But Jocelyn reminds me that leaving a legacy is more than that. With every dollar, you and I give to the Bay Shore ministry, we are creating a legacy. A legacy that we can see, now!
With every camper that attends one of our camp events, wherever it is, we may be starting a life- changing legacy. All may not be as compelling as Jocelyn, our camper turned missionary pilot, or Cora, our camper turned missionary English teacher in Honduras. Many will be every day, ordinary people showing the love of Christ to a classmate, a neighbor, a business associate or even a stranger. This is the legacy we leave, when we make a way for lives to be changed for Christ at Bay Shore Camp.
Jocelyn also shared this about her Call to ministry:
“I was recently telling someone how I often chuckle at the unexpected things my flight training has brought me. I’m still in disbelief over the miracle God worked to get me where I am today. I surrendered my seemingly purposeless adventurous desires to the Lord and I’m now a pilot flying over vast mountain ranges watching God win His spiritual battle in extremely dark places. He’s continually refining my heart and continually leading me from one thing to the next. I never could have dreamt it up. We’re each called to find our spiritual gifts and God-given desires, use them to commune with Him, and let Him create a ministry to overflow from that. For me, it’s the joy I find in being 10,000 ft off the ground marveling at creation that He’s allowed to become a source of light to the darkness of remote places. He delights in our joy. The specificity of that differs among us all; that’s the beauty of it.”
Jocelyn talked about how cool it is to see how camp, Bay Shore Camp, led her. And she is thankful that we are sharing her story and using it as a way to make camp possible for those coming after her.
And we are excited to see Jocelyn on this path to serve others in the name of Christ.
Your gift is an essential part of funding the work we do here. And, it establishes a legacy that will always be yours that you can see, now!
Peace and Blessings,
Jeff Parsons Executive Director
