Dear Pledge Partner,
It’s challenging to summarize what our staff and campers experienced just a few weeks ago, and the truly miraculous ways God moved — but I’ll do my best to give our 61st camp season justice so you can celebrate with us.
For the first time in many years, we had a nearly sold-out summer. We had more Junior Campers than we have had in a long time, and we welcomed campers from two new church partnerships in West Michigan. We had 25 staff members who worked tirelessly to make the summer successful (and though I may be biased, they were an incredible team unified by their love of the Lord, our ministry, and our campers).
While there are many small moments where God was at work, allow me to share some of the “bigger” ones with you.
During Teen Week 1, we welcomed a group from Good Church in Flint. A countless number of kids from this group come from extremely difficult home situations, and honestly, have every right to be angry, question God’s goodness, and blow off the whole “church thing.” But God was at work from the moment their buses arrived on the grounds.
We saw hearts changed, decisions made for the Lord, and salvations this week. We saw kids who came in guarded and unsure leave completely transformed and full of joy. Almost every camper went forward during our Tuesday night altar call. We witnessed the song lyrics “the enemy thought he had me, but Jesus said ‘you are mine’” come to life right in front of our eyes.
I came across this note in my journal from one of the services during Teen Week 1, which said “heaven sounds like 60 kids from Flint and the HYC staff singing ‘holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty’ together.”
I wish I could accurately describe to you how worship sounded that night – and every service after. The Holy Spirit was on the move.
We had a new speaker during Teen Week 2, Dan Adkins. His wife has led Junior Camp for several years, and he jumped in to speak for the first time at HYC this year. Teen Week 2 was completely sold out, and it was clear that God orchestrated Dan to speak to this specific group of campers.
For one of Dan’s last services, he felt prompted to offer baptism to any staff or camper that felt led. We witnessed 26 people get baptized that Friday morning! The presence of the Holy Spirit felt almost tangible, and it was an incredible morning of celebration.
There are countless other moments: the sound of dozens of campers being counseled on a Tuesday night after being prompted to be bold in their faith, counselors and co-counselors praying over their campers every night during devotions, the kids who come in ready to leave on day one but end up not wanting to leave on Saturday morning, the campers who come alone and leave with lifelong friends who will encourage them in their walk with Jesus, the 13 salvations we were able to be a part of.
Let’s not skip over that last part: we saw 13 kids get saved this summer! The lives of these campers, their families, their schools, their friends, and their communities will never be the same. Praise the Lord!
One final anecdote I’ll leave you with:
During Teen Week 3, a previous HYC camper pulled me aside. Her sister and others from her church were attending camp that week, and she was there to assist with drop-off. She had just returned from a mission trip with her church and on the trip, her team was encouraged to share their testimonies.
She said that every single person on her team who had previously attended Hiawatha mentioned HYC in their testimony, and talked about how their spiritual walk was forever impacted by their week at camp.
The work we are doing here is not just for silly games, new friendships, and something to do in the summer.
The work we are doing here truly transforms lives in the name of Jesus.
If you need proof, all you need to do is listen to our podcast about the generations that have been impacted over the past 61 years of ministry.
Or, reach out to a current staff member and ask them why they give up their summers to serve. I promise you each person has a unique story about how God changed their life at Hiawatha Youth Camp.
I can’t say thank you enough for your consistent prayer and financial support that has made summer 2025 (and the moments I described above) possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We’re thankful for the past summer, and we’re praying God continues to use us for His glory in seasons to come.
In Him,
Hannah Malochleb
Co-Director of HYC