camp interview: judah at deerfoot, 2019.

Can you tell us a little bit about Deerfoot?

Basically, Deerfoot is a wilderness discipleship camp for boys. It has lots of cool challenges and it helps boys going from childhood to manhood develop wilderness skills and learn about the gospel. We have daily devotions that focus on the journey to godliness.

 

 

 

 

Where is Deerfoot?

The first Deerfoot Lodge camp was started in the Adirondacks, which is in New York. Later, after about 90 years, they made a second location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which is in North Carolina. I was part of the first group that went to the North Carolina Deerfoot.

 

Where were the kids from?

They were from all over America. It was just crazy hearing stories about them being from California, Mississippi, Florida. Some were from North Carolina and others were from New York.

 

 

 

Tell us about your cabin and counselors.

So the Deerfoot campers are divided into 3 different age groups. Woodsmen, which are boys ages 9-12, Pioneers are 13 and 14-year olds, and Mountaineers, which are guys 15 and 16. In each age group are different cabins. There are four cabins in Woodsmen: Black Bear, Bobcat, Elk and White Tail. There are three lean-to’s in Pioneers, which are named after missionaries: Elliot, Taylor, and Muller. And three treehouses in Mountaineers, named after NC landmarks: Pisgah, Fontana, and Nantahala.

I was in the Black Bear cabin, which is in the Woodsmen group. There were 10 boys in my cabin and 2 counselors, which we call chiefs.

 

Did you know anybody when you went to Deerfoot?

I knew two people going into camp. Jon Mack Barrett has been my friend since I was 9, and Benson, who I met at one of Jon Mack’s birthday parties. They were both in my cabin.

 

Did you like being at an all-boys’ camp?

Yes, one of the nice things is we could let out all our bathroom humor jokes.

I met some of my friends in several random ways. One evening, when we were playing a ball game, me and this boy were fighting for a ball and we were just tackling each other and wrestling and kind of frustrated. Finally he got the ball and ran away with it. The next day we were friends.

Another story is I met a boy when we were in the bathhouse in two separate stalls, just talking about life, what we liked and what we had in common. We really bonded!

 

 

Did you learn any new skills?

Yes. In camp craft, which is one of the instructional areas, I learned how to set up a tent, a tarp, tie four different knots, and how to identify 7 different trees.

In archery, I learned the parts of a bow and arrow and the range commands. And in canoeing, I learned the parts of the canoe and paddle, and a lot of the paddle strokes.

I earned two Basic badges: in swimming and in archery. There are three levels: Basic, Advanced, and Masters, and you spend the time at camp working toward different levels. I can keep on working in the instructional areas when I come back to camp and work toward different levels.

 

 

What was a challenge you faced?

Definitely backpacking, because I’d never been used to carrying heavy backpacks up mountains. We went on two overnight backpacking trips and on one of them it thunder-stormed.

Another challenge I faced was Friday, when I was working on archery. I kept missing so many targets and all the 16-year-olds weren’t too happy with me because they wanted to work on achieving their Advanced badge. But I kept on trying. I went back after lunch and realized that I’d kept on closing the wrong eye when I aimed. Once I switched, I achieved my Basic in 3 shooting rounds.

 

 

 

How did camp this year impact your relationship with God?

I felt better when the counselors kind of helped me have a better understanding about the gospel, and learning my different cabin mates’ views and interpretations of it.

I chose the book of Romans for my personal quiet time because I’d heard a man at our church tell about how it helped a woman become a believer. I decided to buy the New Living Translation Bible at the camp store, because I felt like it would help me when reading Romans. It makes it a lot more clear.

I also enjoyed walking by the lake and viewing God’s creation, and feeling like I was in His presence.

 

 

Was there any time during camp when you just wanted to quit?

When I was part of a swim team a few years ago, I wasn’t good at diving. And the coach who was trying to teach me kept on yelling at me and I felt like I wasn’t achieving anything. I worked on diving at Deerfoot and at first I struggled with it. I worked on it again and again and finally learned how to do it well.

One of the Bible verses that helped me through all the challenges at camp was Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” It’s just a really good verse that can help you whenever you’re going through something hard.

 

 

 

What’s something you learned from your counselors?

I learned how to get a girl.

Chief Reed told me “The key to getting a girlfriend is constellations.” One night he was hanging outside with a girl he liked. He started explaining the constellations to her, and at the end of their conversation, she said, “We should hang out more often!”

 

 

Did you like Deerfoot? Do you want to go back next year?

Yes, I really enjoyed Deerfoot. I enjoyed the challenges and being with boys my age. I’m really excited about going next year.