Passport is committed to a student leadership model and believes in the power of students seeing and interacting with Christian role models who are close to their own age. For 25 years, we’ve seen how encounters with a relatable Christian role model changes lives, provides encouragement, and models an active faith life. Each fall we set out to find a diverse range of college and seminary students from across the country, whose commitment to Jesus Christ authentically leads them to invest in a summer of ministry with young people.
Who are these wonderful staffers and why do they think that you should join them in ministry this summer?
Let us introduce you to Zoe Bolen, Bible Study Leader and Common Threads leader from the 2016 PASSPORTchoices team. Zoe is a junior at Augusta University studying nursing and can’t get enough of “On Top of the World (HEY!).”
What is one thing that surprised you last summer?
Each week I taught the same curriculum in Bible Study and Common Threads, but the different discussions that came out of the same material blew me away every time.
How did you experience Christ this summer?
I experienced Jesus through witnessing campers’ interaction with one another. Every week, students would walk into their Bible Study on the first night feeling hesitant and insecure around strangers. In four short days, they develop genuine connections that involve them getting to know each other spiritually, which is a new experience for most of them. It’s a very raw image of how Jesus moves in the hearts of young people.
To me, PASSPORT is…the most amazing place where youth can come to experience God in new ways and to explore and grow in their walk with the Lord.
How would you describe PASSPORT to someone that has never been?
PASSPORT is this amazing place hundreds of campers come to each week, where they feel comfortable to have conversations on difficult topics in Bible Study and Choices, get on stage and play silly games in Morning Celebration, and share their talents on Thursday night at the Variety Show.
What should a new staffer know?
I didn’t realize how hard many campers work to get to camp. Many raise funds all year to get to camp. When they leave camp, they are counting down the days until they come back next summer.
It’s helpful to know that even though the days are long, the weeks are short. Every moment of every week is special. And when camp ends, you’re presented with a strange feeling of accomplishment, but also with a desire to do it all over again.
There are so many different ways students can spend their summers. What is your 5 second pitch for working PASSPORT?
Work. PASSPORT. It challenges you in beautiful ways and brings amazing people into your life that understand you and your journey. It provides you with a community that lasts long after the summer ends. Some of my closest friends are people I’ve worked camp with in the past! If you’re searching for, in all contexts, an uplifting way to spend your summer—PASSPORT is where you belong.
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Interested in being a PASSPORT staffer this summer?