La Vida Center Summer Update

Adventure Pursuits:

This summer was a busy one for Adventure Pursuits. From April through August, we welcomed over 30 groups to our challenge course on campus and over 2200 people! We had a few groups return for annual visits including the National Student Leadership Conference from Harvard University, Boston College’s Leadership Class, Boston College’s Summer Management Class, Boston Fellows and Christian Heritage School. We also welcomed some new groups this summer – On Belay, Ipswich Middle School, Elevate New England and Bethany Covenant Church. Many thanks to Brian Schonewald, McKenna Allen, Zach Hanna and the rest of our staff for helping us welcome these groups to La Vida during the summer months. We couldn’t have done it without you all!

Compass:

This summer, La Vida hosted the 17^th Compass Program. During the month of July, students from across the country backpacked with La Vida’s Adirondack Program, studied theology with Gordon professors and journeyed to Iceland for a week of service and learning. This was the program’s second year in Iceland where we lived and worked in the capital city of Reykjavik. Compass partnered with the Salvation Army to host a day camp for low-income, immigrant and refugee children. The experience was ripe with challenges and rewards; multiple language barriers meant communication was limited, yet smiles and laughter abounded through even the rainiest, most Icelandic of days. It wasn’t just the children who were impacted. “Compass has truly been a life-changing experience,” one student reflected. We are already planning for our 2018 summer program, which will include a further ministry in Iceland.

Summit:

In August, La Vida hosted the inaugural cohort of the Summit Study Center. For three weeks, five students lived at the La Vida basecamp in Lake Clear, New York. During this time, students attended theology classes with Dr. Amy Hughes of Gordon’s Biblical Studies department. The class, titled “An Introduction to Theological Reflection,” challenged students to prepare for their upcoming college experiences through practical engagement with their Christian faith. Discussion topics ranged from the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to the theology of top-40 pop songs. Following the course completion, students embarked on a backpacking trip through the Adirondack wilderness. Their itinerary consisted of multiple tangible summits, while the small community continued to grow and support one another into their next chapter.

Adventure Camp:

Like many of you, we had a very hot summer here in Wenham, and instead of wilting, Adventure Camp managed to thrive this summer. We had 620 campers fill 675 spaces. That pushes us past 5,000 campers in the last 10 years! While the majority of our campers come from nearby towns, this year we had campers from Maine, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and even as far away as Puerto Rico and China!

While our campers were fantastic, none of this would be possible without our incredible staff and high school volunteers (CITs). Two-thirds of our 33 summer staff were experienced veterans of Adventure Camp, but our new staff came with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and really stepped up to the challenge. Just over half of our 16 CITs led for the first time this summer, but several came after spending years at Adventure Camp and they all brought a LOT to the table!

We had the opportunity to showcase staff and CITs as we put on skits, led activities, and had group discussions around the summer theme – Make A Difference. We hope campers continue to use the lessons they learned from Adventure Camp to Make A Difference in the lives of the people around them throughout the year.

Adirondack Expeditions:

The Adirondack program not only had a lot going on in the woods and along the ponds, but also kept very busy around the base camp property. For those who have either served on the ADK staff or have participated on a La Vida trip, you know how critical the staff members are for making trips run well, but also to ensure they have deep impact on a participant’s life. This past summer’s staff was a phenomenal example of what servant-leadership should look like and how communal living is one of the best ways to worship God and experience His Creation. There were over forty total staff members who served at some point during the summer months, many of them for the first time ever. We also experience a large contingent of staff who were not current Gordon students or alumni.

This was the first summer in several years that every Sherpa was able to head out onto a trip every session. A few of the many highlights associated with those who participated are: the Covenant Christian Academy junior class did a week-long backpacking expedition in May using the trip as a fundraiser for a local non-profit organization. This was the second time this class has visited the base camp (they came before the start of their freshmen year). Capital District Young Life (Albany, NY) brought two separate groups. This trip has marked the beginning of renewed efforts to get Young Life and La Vida partnered again. The trips were hugely successful and that area is already thinking about next summer’s plans to return. We were also able to expand our Adirondack Leadership Program trips into August. That program continues to grow and has become one of our primary focuses for enrollment growth.

After celebrating twenty years of ministry at the base camp in 1996, we entered the next twenty years with a continued focus on improving the property. The back of the office was gutted down to the studs and dirt floor in preparation for new floor joists and flooring as well as pine v-groove wall coverings. Our medical training was able to use that new space this past June and all visitors commented multiple times on how nice the space was. Many of the buildings received new entry stairs and porches and the Algonquin building received final permit approval for the planned remodel. Work is now underway to prep that space for the Summit program in 2018.