The Unexpected Kindness of Strangers and Friends
Abigail Rogers is from Oregon, Illinois and is currently a student at Loyola University. Abigail served as a Service Project Ministry Coordinator in 2024 and then returned this summer as a guest Ministry Coordinator, helping to fill in a staffing need during a particularly large camp week.
Being on staff at Mountain T.O.P. changed everything for me. As an adult camper in 2023, I was quiet, reserved, and unsure of myself and my place in the world and within my community. I spent my first semester at college trying to find people that made me feel good about myself. Then, reluctantly and last minute, I decided to apply to be on staff for summer of 2024.
Pulling up to camp for training after my freshman year of college, I was terrified and ready to turn around and head back to Illinois. I was far from home, surrounded mostly by people I had never met.
As soon as I walked into the room (late, mind you—training and team building games had been going for an hour or two prior to my arrival) Natalie, who I had never spoken to but would soon become a forever friend, walked right up and asked me if I needed help with my suitcases. We shared our first laugh together on the way to my car as I informed her of my gas station complications on the way down, and I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.
“Each person-to-person connection created is a direct result of the open and accepting environment that exists uniquely at Mountain T.O.P. ”
It took me the entire six weeks of that summer to feel like I had truly opened up to the other members of my staff. We worked hard and played hard the whole time, and the day that I left I felt like I had been given the opportunity to shift my worldview. So much of my life experience had taught me to be ashamed of myself and unsure of how to create connections with the people around me. Through that summer, I began to notice more about others, and found myself focusing less on how others perceived me, and more on how I was perceiving them. It gave me a whole new perspective on my friendships and what it means to be there for others. In allowing myself to be free of my anxieties, I was suddenly able to be fully present for those around me, making me a better coworker, friend, and leader.
My decision to be a guest Ministry Coordinator this summer was just as last-minute as last year's. I was feeling lost again, and missing the community that I had felt at MTOP, and so I signed up and made the drive for week 2. This time was so different than last year—I showed up, no team-bonding exercises under my belt, and was thrown into the work with a whole new staff dynamic. This year, my goals were different though; I started to feel like I was less there for me, and more there for the people around me. I took a step back and started to see how I could support this new staff that I was a temporary part of, and how I could make the greatest impact on their summer.
Being one of three guest MCs, it’s hard to be in a position of having so many responsibilities, yet much less than my full-time staff counterparts. I felt like I could direct my attention to being a consistent safe space for my fellow staff members. I knew I only had a week and a half this time, and I wanted to make it count. I tried to show the new MC gals that being on staff should be equal parts fun and work. I worked to remind my previous-summer Baker pals that trust in themselves would create trust towards them from their staff, and that failure is just a word. I hoped to show each of the members of my sister staff that as long as they’re at Mountain T.O.P., someone would be there for them and notice them each and every day, and that they never have to worry if their staff will show up for them when they need, and you always have more friends than you think.
Being at Mountain T.O.P. is about more than the work we do, more than the money we raise or the camper numbers. Each person-to-person connection created is a direct result of the open and accepting environment that exists uniquely at Mountain T.O.P. Through both of my summers on staff, I have seen friendships and appreciation for peers emerge that nearly seemed like a miracle. The most unlikely of campers would surprise me each week—quiet and shy campers sharing touching stories at Major Group Worship, seemingly self-centered campers suddenly giving recognition and gratitude to other hardworking members of their group, and difficult adults shifting their attitude midweek to defend my honor under any circumstance. At Mountain T.O.P. you learn that people will surprise you, over and over again, and your expectations mean almost nothing. God’s plan for the people in your life will prove you wrong. Miracles happen every day. Not in ailments cured or sleeping lions, but in the unexpected kindness of strangers and friends.
