From Camp to Calling: Kenna’s Story

When I think about the ways the Lord has shaped my life, one of the clearest threads I see is His faithfulness through every season—from being a camper at Camp La Vida, to serving on staff, to living overseas in Botswana as a Journeyman with the International Mission Board, and now returning to camp as assistant director.

As a camper, I was introduced to missions in a way that made living on mission and serving overseas feel tangible. I remember sitting in cabins and listening to missionaries share stories from places I had never heard of before. What impacted me most was not that these missionaries seemed extraordinary, but that they were ordinary believers who had simply said yes to the Lord’s calling. Through their testimonies, God began shaping my understanding of what it meant to live on mission and follow Him wherever He leads.

Camp also gave me an early picture of intentional discipleship and Christian community. My cabin leaders were people who genuinely loved the Lord, and as a camper, I could see the difference that made in the way they served, encouraged, and led others. They were joyful, patient, and deeply invested in the spiritual growth of the campers around them. Watching them made following Christ feel personal and attainable. For many campers, camp is one of the first environments where faith becomes something they begin to take ownership of themselves. Removed from many of the normal distractions of everyday life, campers are challenged to think deeply about who God is and what it means to follow Him faithfully.

In no small part through the influence of camp and my involvement in GAs, I sensed the Lord leading me toward the mission field from a young age. I had learned about Botswana as a little girl, and even as a child, I remember feeling drawn toward that country specifically. At the time, I could not have explained exactly why, but over the years, the Lord continued to strengthen that calling through discipleship, ministry opportunities, and the people He placed around me.

When I joined the summer staff in 2019, my perspective shifted even further. Camp stopped being simply a place I attended and became a place where the Lord deepened my dependence on Him. Cabin leadership required more than energy or enthusiasm—it required humility, consistency, sacrifice, and a willingness to serve others faithfully even when no one noticed. For the first time, I experienced what it looked like to disciple younger believers and walk alongside campers as they wrestled with faith, identity, and calling.

I remember one camper in particular giving her life to Christ during chapel that summer. It was a simple moment in many ways, but it left a lasting impact on me. Up until then, I had understood ministry largely from the perspective of receiving encouragement and discipleship from others. That summer, I began to understand the joy and responsibility of pouring into someone else spiritually. Moments like that reminded me that God often works powerfully through ordinary faithfulness. He does not require extraordinary people; He simply calls His people to obedience.

Over the following summers, I continued to see how deeply camp ministry impacts campers’ lives. Former campers would return years later and talk about specific conversations, Bible studies, worship nights, or moments where they felt the Lord speaking clearly to them. Some shared how camp helped strengthen their faith during difficult seasons of life. Others talked about how camp was where they first sensed a call to ministry or missions. Those conversations consistently reminded me that the Lord uses even short seasons of intentional discipleship in significant and lasting ways.

After graduating from college in 2023, I left for Botswana to serve as a Journeyman with the International Mission Board. By the time I arrived there, the Lord had already used years of discipleship, ministry experience, and spiritual growth to prepare me for that season. Even so, Botswana stretched me in ways I could not have anticipated.

Living cross-culturally exposed weaknesses in my own self-sufficiency and forced me to depend more fully on the Lord. There were challenges in communication, cultural adjustment, and ministry itself. I often felt inadequate and aware of my limitations. There were moments where I did not feel equipped for the work in front of me or confident in my ability to navigate unfamiliar situations. Yet over and over again, God proved Himself faithful. He provided wisdom in conversations, endurance in difficult seasons, and confidence that could only come from Him.

One of the greatest lessons my time in Botswana taught me was that effectiveness in ministry does not come from personal ability, personality, or self-confidence. It comes from obedience and dependence on the Lord. So often, I entered situations aware of my own weakness, only to watch God provide exactly what was needed in that moment. That reality strengthened my trust in Him in a way that comfort and familiarity never could.

Looking back now, I can clearly see how God used each season to prepare me for the next. The lessons I learned at camp—serving in community, discipling others, living with intentionality, and learning to depend on the Lord—became foundational on the mission field. At the same time, serving overseas expanded my understanding of discipleship and strengthened my conviction that missions is not limited to one location. The same God who is working in Botswana is working in cabins, chapels, and conversations at camp in Winnsboro, South Carolina.

One of the clearest pictures of that connection came through music. During one summer in Botswana between seasons at camp, I taught children in a village songs I had first learned at Camp La Vida—simple songs rooted in biblical truth that helped communicate who God is and what it means to follow Him. One of those songs was “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,” the song that says, “I will zoom around that room and praise the Lord!” It was a simple and funny song I had sung for years at camp, and hearing children in Botswana sing it with so much excitement and joy was unforgettable.

Despite cultural and language differences, the enthusiasm with which they worshiped the Lord felt instantly familiar. Watching children across the world sing truths about Jesus that I had once sung as a camper myself was a meaningful reminder of how God uses even small things for His

glory. Worship became a beautiful reminder that the Church is far bigger than our own local context. Even on opposite sides of the world, believers are united by the same gospel and the same Savior.

Then, the following summer back at camp, I was able to teach campers a worship song in Setswana that I had learned in Botswana: “Ga gona yo tswanang le Jesu,” which means, “There is no one like Jesus.” Hearing campers in South Carolina worship in a language from Southern Africa was a small but powerful picture of the global Church. Children in Botswana were singing songs first learned at camp, while campers in South Carolina were learning worship songs from Botswana.

It was a reminder that worship transcends culture, language, and geography. The gospel is not confined by borders, and neither is the Lord’s work among His people. Worship truly is a global language. Whether in a village in Botswana or around a campfire in South Carolina, believers are praising the same God. Moments like that gave me a fuller picture of the beauty of the Church and reminded me that God is constantly drawing people from every nation and language to Himself.

Experiences like that deepened my understanding of missions in an unexpected way. Before serving overseas, I often thought of missions primarily in terms of “going”—going to another country, another culture, or another people group. While that is certainly part of missions, I came to realize that missions is also about faithfully living where the Lord has placed you and pointing others toward Christ in everyday moments. Whether overseas or at camp, the mission remains the same: to know the Lord, make Him known, and faithfully disciple others.

That realization also strengthened my appreciation for camp ministry itself. Camp is not simply a week of activities or entertainment. It is a place where students are discipled, challenged, encouraged, and given opportunities to think seriously about their relationship with the Lord. For many students, camp creates space to slow down, listen, and ask deeper questions about faith and calling in ways they may never do in their normal routines at home.

I have seen firsthand how God uses camp ministry to shape lives far beyond a single week in the summer. While serving as a Journeyman, I met other missionaries who had attended Camp La Vida as campers and described it as the place where they first sensed the Lord calling them to missions. Hearing those stories continually reaffirmed something I had already witnessed personally: God uses intentional discipleship and faithful ministry to prepare people for lives of service in ways we may never fully see.

Now, returning to Camp La Vida as assistant director feels both humbling and significant. I am grateful for the opportunity to invest in staff and campers with a broader perspective of ministry and discipleship shaped by my time overseas. My hope is not simply that campers would enjoy camp, but that they would grow in spiritual maturity, develop a clearer understanding of God’s character, and begin asking what obedience looks like in their own lives.

I also pray that staff members recognize the significance of their role. Camp staff may never fully know the impact their faithfulness has on the campers they lead. Simple conversations, acts of kindness, worship, discipleship, and consistency matter deeply. I know that because I was once the camper looking up to cabin leaders and missionaries who modeled what it looked like to follow Christ sincerely.

Camp ministry matters because the Lord uses it to awaken faith, strengthen believers, and call people into lives of service. I have seen that personally as a camper, as a staff member, as a missionary overseas, and now as someone returning home to serve in leadership. I am thankful that God continues to use places like Camp La Vida to remind students that following Him fully is both costly and deeply worthwhile.

For more information about Camp La Vida, visit https://camplavida.org/

This blog was written by Kenna Boyle, a former camper and cabin leader at Camp La Vida. She currently serves as the assistant director at Camp La Vida for the summer 2026 season. Kenna has also served overseas in Africa with the International Mission Board.