Summer camps for the young come in different shapes and forms; some involve more outdoor activities, whereas others are what one would call “Bible camps”. Since the last week of June, I have found myself in a summer camp that is quite different from the generic labels that I just mentioned. It is a Jesuit-run camp near the Muskoka area in Ontario, Canada, named Camp Ekon.
The idea behind Camp Ekon is to train young people in Christian leadership, so that they are able to both organize and operate the camp that is filled with outdoor activities. To top it off, there are daily masses at the camp. One can rightly ask, how is this different from any other “leadership camp”? I would say that Camp Ekon’s way of teaching leadership skills is not theoretical but rather practical. It is not going through a binder full of materials with the young people and voilà, out comes a youth leader whose understanding of leadership is all in the head. It is also not merely technical: one could learn to give instructions for outdoor activities or plan camp programs as if it were just a job, without realizing how one could grow as a person through the process.
