By Allison Blatchford, Events and Communications Manager
It was evident as we began a conversation with Pastors Amalia & Eric Spruth–Janssen that their love for camp and the passion for faith formation were going to form a beautiful story.
Camp was a part of their early pastoral lives. Pastor Amalia experienced NLOM early in her call here in Nebraska through retreats for female pastors. For Pastor Eric, it was his first drive into camp that allowed the peace of this place to consume him.
They knew early on this place would hold a space in their hearts and help to create some amazing memories for their family life.
The Spruth–Janssen family grew, and each child has had a great experience at camp. Micah, Isaiah, and Kyria all have attend camp as campers. From TrailHead to Whispering Winds, camp has been a part of summers for most of their lives. As young adults, they all chose to work at camp not only as Summer Ministry Team members, but also as needed in other various roles.
They each share that time spent in this sacred space helped them to grow into the faith-filled young adults that they are and has impacted their life stories and career choices.
Pastors Amalia & Eric still attend camp with confirmation groups, retreats, and other great opportunities. The time spent on this ground has allowed for their faith to grow and change, but one thing has remained the same—the need for this space to be safe for all who are here.
Their intentional pull to faith formation has allowed many young adults to explore their call and then find ways to live that out in their vocations.
As a family, living out faith, they are passionate about participating and furthering Carol Joy Holling Camp. This is a place that is safe, brave, and healing and allows for all campers, leaders, and other individuals to become curious about faith and learn to be innovative leaders.
And all God’s people say “Amen! Yes! Yes! Yes!”
