16 Students Get Baptized at Third Annual Kamp Love

Editor’s Note: Staff writers Emily Jones and Angelica Moser attended Kamp Love.

Kamp Love, directed by Grace Wisenor, Elijah Hagen and Grace Blazina, hosted its third annual Kamp from Oct. 5-6 at Mataguay Road, Santa Ysabel, where mountains and dirt roads stretch for miles. The secluded site was where students could unplug from technology, engage in their faith and grow in community.

Kamp Love is a bi-annual weekend retreat that began as a small camping trip called “Camp Lope,” organized by students at Grand Canyon University. 

After the passing of GCU student Jarod Lovekamp in 2020, Austin Rockwell founded Kamp Love, the goal of the camp being to connect with nature and share faith through a community. Since then, it has grown into a nationwide college ministry, expanding to seven universities across the country.  

The organization reached Point Loma Nazarene University during the spring of 2023 and has spiked in popularity throughout the past year. Though the experience differs each time depending on time and location, the mission remains the same – to “transform students’ lives for the gospel through camping, connection, community and Christ,” according to their website. 

“God uses Kamp Love to be a catalytic moment in students’ lives that serves as the spark to transform [their] lives by the Holy Spirit,” Elijah Hagen, a second-year business major and PLNU Kamp Love director, said. “College life isn’t always easy, classes are hard, friends can be hard to find. Kamp exists to be a place to retreat from this, a place where you can be loved by people at your school.”

Students arrived with leaders cheering them on in bright orange construction worker vests, holding big signs saying: “Welcome!” 

Pulling around the bend, tents were scattered across acres of grass and dirt fields. A short walk past the area led to a rustic barn with string lights, adjacent to a prayer room. Later in the evening, the set-up would look different as the lights created a soft ambiance for worship to take place under a blanket of stars.

“I heard about Kamp Love from friends two days before it [started],” Sammy Wiest, a first-year finance major, said. 

Sign-ups for Kamp were left open until the day of the event, ensuring that anyone interested in joining could still attend. Kamp volunteers also knocked on dorm rooms to hand out advertising fliers three days beforehand.

For students who needed a ride to the camp, “Kamp Karpool” was an option, especially for first-year and out-of-state students. By filling out the carpool form found on their Instagram, students were put into random groups, which served as an opportunity to meet other students before any of the activities began.

From teams divided up by various colors and competition games, to small groups in secluded areas in the wilderness, students had the opportunity to meet new people throughout the action-packed weekend.

“I thought Kamp Love did an amazing job this year with intentionally setting up a space for so many students to feel comfortable and welcome,” Cayenne Schmidt, a third-year psychology major who’s attended every retreat, said. “Organization of games, food, worship and activities went so well; I think everyone appreciated the effort that was poured into such a great weekend.” 

Students were grouped into teams and participated in various games to compete for the grand prize: a spray-painted gold toilet seat called the “love seat.” The games included a “cinnamon roll” race, blindfold dodgeball and tug-of-war. Many campers had fun, despite the 90-degree weather.

After the afternoon games concluded, students found their small group leaders based on the number found on their color wristbands. 

Schmidt, one of the small group leaders, said that leaders are chosen by being individually asked by directors or volunteers and then are sent a Google form to fill out. These small group leaders then discuss the topics sent to them by the directors with their groups. 

These small groups met twice – once after games and another before packing to leave camp – sharing conversations about Bible verses and their experiences with one another.

“I liked small groups and how we prayed over each other in the group one by one,” Wiest said. “[We talked about] how to keep the spirit of what we learned at Kamp and how we felt [God] moving through us as well.”

Campers said the first night of the weekend was the most anticipated night, including worship that lasted from 9 p.m. to midnight. String lights were roped around the circle of the worship team’s instruments and along the rustic barn, creating a peaceful ambiance to let the songs match the feeling. 

They sat on blankets surrounding the worship team singing in the middle, and sang along to the music, hugging and praying over those next to them.

“I think being in nature, under the stars, and with a lot of other Christians worshiping and hearing God’s word helped me to grow stronger with [God] – especially that night,” Wiest said. 

The lead singer for the worship team that night, Piper Gilbert, a second-year organizational communications major, said she was hesitant to lead Kamp worship, but having been to Kamp Love in the past, she knew worship could impact others as it did for her.

“Worship at Kamp is a beautiful and vulnerable place to be a part of,” she said. “The worship team and speaker get heavily prayed over before stepping up. It’s important to us that we let God be at the center and in control.”

Gilbert said that she found it rewarding to witness students giving their lives to Jesus through worship, a similar experience to her own. 

“I first felt the presence of the Holy Spirit during worship and since then have wanted to minister in that way,” she said. “Oftentimes, we won’t see the fruit that is being produced from these nights, but we trust and have faith that God moves in ways we don’t always see.”

The night came to an end, and campers headed back to their tents for the rest of the evening to go to sleep. The following morning, students awoke to a car horn blaring, waking everyone up and alerting them about pancakes and sausages being served for breakfast. 

After breakfast, students engaged in another worship session and listened to a sermon from Hagen. During the last small group meeting of the trip, leaders announced that the post-camp baptism was to happen at Garbage Beach where students could choose to get baptized that same day at 4 p.m.

As the weekend wrapped up, Hagen said the camp was a time for students to form connections and grow in their faith.

“Kamp Love isn’t a group or a clique on campus, but a place for everyone to retreat together and come away with new connections and friends,” he said. “The word of God [the Bible] unites, and I hope that people are united through Christ through Kamp Love.” 

Back on PLNU’s campus, 16 students were baptized. Following the weekend, they told their Kamp Love small group leader that they wanted to be baptized and were added to a group chat on Messages. One of these baptized students was Georgia Sinacori, a first-year social work major. 

“Going to Kamp Love was the sweetest, most faith-filled experience ever and helped me realize I wanted to take the next step in my faith and continue to build my relationship with the Lord,” Sinacori said.

Wiest said Kamp Love influenced him and provided a special community.

“It was cool to have the whole thing being run by kids my age,” he said. “We had a really good dynamic there.”

Kamp Love will announce the next retreat happening during the spring semester on their Instagram and website.