Help us give a warm Lakeview welcome to our newest Program Assistant, Emma Goecker, a.k.a. “Drench.” And yes, her camp name came in just the way you might expect.
“I was helping our maintenance staff put out buoys,” she said. “What started as a beautiful day with blue skies turned into a huge downpour! I still have no idea where those grey clouds came from!”
In spite of the downpour and the eventual drenching that earned Emma her camp name, she finished the job. “I walked into the lodge after all the buoys were in place and left a trail of water as I walked down the stairs. I could feel the weight of all that water in my clothes.”
In many ways, Emma’s camp name is a fitting metaphor for all of her experiences here at Lakeview Ministries. Much like that summer downpour, people at Lakeview Ministries have been pouring into Drench’s life for as long as she can remember. “My first experience at camp was the Mother/Daughter weekend when I was in kindergarten,” she said. “As soon as I was old enough to come for a whole week, that’s what I did.”
Years of camp, followed by two stints as a Junior Staff and four years as Summer Staff, have formed Drench into the woman she is today. “I describe this place as my second home,” she said. “It’s my favorite place on earth.”
So when the opportunity to serve as a Program Assistant became available, Drench knew she needed to step out in faith. “The time for serving here at camp is now. I remember so many of my past counselors pouring into me,” she said. “I want to be part of pouring into that next generation of kids. Serving as a Program Assistant is my way of using the gifts I have and pouring into a place that has poured so much into me.”
Drench has been able to do just that on Summer Staff, and she looks forward to serving even more as a Program Assistant. “Every year during Prayer at the Cross, it shocks me how each camper, each staff comes here with huge burdens that they carry. When they come to camp, they can laugh and have fun while at the same time come closer to God. Camp overall has shown me how God’s plan works out through every high and every low.”
Drench hopes to return for a fifth year on Summer Staff at the end of her time as a Program Assistant. “I’m really looking forward to offering all my years of experience to the next group of Summer Staff,” she said. “At Lakeview, I’ve learned how to walk the walk of faith, and I’m looking forward to giving back to a place, its people, and my God that have given so much to me.”