A few weeks back I was in Lake Junaluska, NC for the National Camp and Retreat Leaders Gathering. There were over 400 camping professionals & volunteers. In this community we worshiped together, ate meals together, gathered together to ski, shared camp stories around campfires and became friends. This was the fifth Nationals I've attended and this one ranked very high in terms of dynamic speakers, good food, okay lodging and great atmosphere. Every one of the 400 attendees share a passion for camping ministry.
At our first gathering we were introduced to the musicians for our week. Celia Whitler and Will (sorry, I didn't get Will's last name) are from Franklin, TN and Nashville. I got a chance to speak with her before our evening gathering one night and she noticed that I had on my Mountain T.O.P. fleece jacket. She said she'd been to MTOP before - five times. She said she'd been with different churches around Nashville & Franklin and also attended with a church from Texas.
On Tuesday and Thursday our Keynote speaker was Katherine Turpin. She spoke to us about consumerism and Christianity. I happened to be behind her at breakfast on Thursday. We made small talk and she also noticed my Mountain T.O.P. jacket. She said she was on staff back in the late 80s, early 90s.
All throughout my week at Lake Junaluska I had people see my jacket and say "I've been to Mountain T.O.P." or "I have a friend that went to Mountain T.O.P. and loved it".
No comments:
Post a Comment