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Saint Leo students attended the SERVE Trip to Life Teen Camp Hidden Lake in Georgia from Mar. 13 to 17. The students were joined by students from the University of South Florida (USF) on this snowy and work-filled week.
Hidden Lake may be hard to envision but the director, Shawn Delaney, described Hidden Lake as a place that is the “lighthouse for the community.” He also said that the Hidden Lake, which is both a retreat center and a summer camp, is a place for prayer, restoration, and community, as well as a place to encounter Christ. In fact, the students were working all week to complete work projects dedicated to creating a place where “Christ will be encountered,” Delaney said.
“Everything you guys [have]been working on this week is literally setting up a place for a Christ to be encountered, whether it’s a retreat or summer camp or any person that comes. From knocking down walls in the art barn, to trimming out bushes, to making firewood, every single thing you guys do,” said Delaney. “Some of the projects [that we are doing for the very first time]. So, it was really dreaming of what we want to have in place and how we can get it done.”
Projects included throwing away old washing machines, constructing steps, building carts, knocking down walls, clearing out plots of land, chopping wood, and even tearing down trees.
Delaney commented on how the staff and himself prepared for the students arriving for this work week; they prayed every day since the students were signed up for the trip. Also, within a week before the trip began, the crew planned the projects, gathered and separated the materials for each work project, and, a day before the students arrived, distributed the materials to each job site.
Delaney commended groups, such as the students from Saint Leo and USF, who come and volunteer to help fix up Hidden Lake as it would not have been where it is now. In fact, Hidden Lake has only been open for three years now but before it was a school, it was called Hidden Lake Academy – one with a horrible reputation. Buildings, such as the main meeting space, were run down, abandoned and even condemned; however, over the course of a few years, Hidden Lake went through an overhaul, with buildings been redone and the reputation of Hidden Lake being transformed for the better.
“We have come a long way. It was Hidden Lake Academy and then it was shut down for four, five years unmaintained,” said Delaney. “So, we have just been slowly bringing it back to life. And it helps out a lot with groups like you guys who are committed to our mission. You guys come to make it what it is.”
Besides the work projects, the students were there to build a community and bond with one another. This was done through eating meals together; the community was strengthened further through doing morning prayer, night prayer, and mass. The week was not simply filled with work and prayer but also fun activities, such as “scatterball,” which was a game similar to dodgeball, that the students and the staff played every single day during the week – sometimes multiple times a day. No matter the fun and the games, the students managed to complete a lot of work. In fact, Delaney commended all the work the students accomplished during their stay at Hidden Lake.
“We are happy to have you guys here. You guys are always welcomed, honestly. And it is no small feat and no small thing to consider that you guys are creating a place for Christ to be encountered in the future for years and years and years. There are projects that I have done at our other camp that is still there that people use every single year, which is awesome,” said Delaney.
The other camp he referred to is Covecrest, which is a sister camp connected with Life Teen as well, and this is the camp that Tiffany Fettig, the Camp Minister at University Ministry, served at. Her time spent serving as a missionary for Teen Life was one motivator for setting up the trip to Hidden Lake for the spring break as she wanted people to experience the missionary life with Life Teen like what she experienced.
“I knew I wanted to people up there because I loved Hidden Lake a lot and I love the missionaries that were there and every time you step on the Hidden Lake’s property, it just feels like a slice of heaven,” said Fettig. “And I wanted students to experience that because I think it’s very profound but also at Hidden Lake what they do during that work week is prayer and work; and, it’s part of the Benedictine rule of life. So, it’s really cool to tie our Benedictine roots from the school into what they’re doing as well which is pray and work, so we get to pray with the missionaries and also get ourselves into manual labor. So, I wanted people to experience that.”
Also, University Ministry, through connections with Hidden Lake and USF, combined with USF to bring 20 students from each school to participate in the work week at Hidden Lake. In fact, Fettig, who knows the missionaries from Hidden Lake and Delaney very well, contacted Hidden Lake requesting students to come and she said they agreed with no hesitation.
Some students from USF were able find out about this trip through USF’s Catholic Student Union (CSU), including Ochuko Okor, who is a junior majoring Mass Communications.
“I found out about the service trip [through]the Catholic Student Center at USF… I wanted to do it because I enjoy making a difference and at the same time growing in faith,” said Okor. “I was looking forward to another service trip organized by the CSU. This one was different because all I heard about it before was that it was mostly a community service trip. But this was more than that. I experienced a community, love and effortless service. While I worked on camp projects I felt God working on me. He made me want to share more love and happiness with anyone I encounter. It was a marvelous experience and I hope many get the opportunity to participate in trips like this.”
For Fettig, watching people journey with Christ, especially those she never saw on this journey was something she described as beautiful. She also described the trip, although it didn’t go as she planned, as a different and beautiful experience.
“I think the trip went great. It was a different experience I had with Life Teen Missions because normally I’m not the one that is being ministered to, I am the one that’s ministering,” said Fettig. “It didn’t go as planned but it came out more beautiful than I thought it would, especially with the work projects. I envisioned some of the things to look like a certain way and then once they were all done like seeing them was beautiful.”
