What's so special about Camp Wojtyla?

Dear Friends,

Some of you may be asking this question. After all, there are thousands of camps throughout America every summer, and surely a couple hundred must be Catholic. What sets Wojtyla apart?

First things first: Camp Wojtyla actively strives to be authentically Catholic at every moment of the day. Recently, after telling a friend all of the awesome and epic things we do at Camp (rock climbing, alpine hikes, backpacking, repelling, sleeping in teepees and under the stars, etc) his first response was to say, "Ohhh, so, you guys are just "Catholic" in name then?"

This is an understandable (albeit unfortunate) reaction, because there are plenty of camps like that. The beautiful thing about Camp Wojtyla is that it is anything but this. Camp Wojtyla uses the experiences of the campers to ultimately teach them how to live as (and love being) a young Catholic. We seek to answer our call to New Evangelization, by re-awakening and re-invigorating Catholics who see the Church as something they attend on Sundays, and forget about the rest of the week. We want to foster a love for the depth, beauty, and universality of the Catholic Church.

So, it is through rock climbing...

and through summitting a mountain...

and through white-water rafting...

 ... that we discuss and develop metaphors for living the Christian life. It is really amazing to see the things that middle and high school students come up with, and when you add that to attending daily Mass, having a night of Reconciliation and Adoration of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and praying the Rosary, Divine Mercy chaplets, and Stations of the Cross, EVERYBODY, even the counselors, comes away with a deeper love and understanding of Catholicism. How awesome is that?!

There is so much more that sets Camp Wojtyla out among camps, but I am running out of space and time, so I'll leave you here. I can't believe it's almost time to leave!

As much as I have been preparing, I am still not ready! Please pray for the staff as we prepare to retreat, pray, and train in preparation for our campers. Pray for the future campers, that their hearts may be prepared for the goodness the Lord has prepared for them this summer!

Love,

JP II... Pray for Us!

P.S. Want to hear more about Camp, from the mouths of the camp directors themselves (Annie and Scott Powell)? Go here.