Ep 96: WKYC (w/ Trisha Vaughn)

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How can camp benefit our young
people spiritually?

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Let's take a look at that in
just a SEC.

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Welcome to the show.
I'm Daniel Dalp and this is for

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your Sunday morning drive.
The short podcast with the goal

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of providing some motivation,
Dr. and encouragement on your

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way to worship and helping you
to recenter your mind on those

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spiritual things on a hectic
Sunday morning.

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Today our guest is Tricia
Vaughn, and since you can read

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the episode title, you know
she's going to share some

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thoughts about Western Kentucky
Youth Camp.

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If you're familiar with WKYC,
then more likely than not, when

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you think of camp, Tricia's name
comes to mind.

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Tricia loves camp and she loves
the God that camp helps young

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people get to know.
She serves as the campaign

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director for WKYC and does a ton
behind the scenes to help it

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grow.
And you may be thinking to

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yourself, it's only February.
Summer is a world away.

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Well, fair enough, but I did
want to let you know that this

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year camp registration does open
on March the 2nd.

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Now if you are interested in
attending or sending your young

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people to camp, I've put all the
good details on how to register

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in the show notes of today's
episode.

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And if you'd like to donate to
Western Kentucky Youth Camp to

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help them in their mission of
building strong Christians,

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well, that info is going to be
in there as well.

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Take a look at it.
Well, that's enough for me,

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Tricia.
Thank you for joining us.

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I'm so thankful that you did.
Let's go ahead and get the show

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on the road.
This is episode 96, WKYC.

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Let's go to church.
Are we there yet?

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Western Kentucky Youth Camp is
deeply personal to me.

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It's not just the heartbeat of
my own summer experience.

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It's the medium through which
God gave me the biggest

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blessings of my life.
Growing up, I was the only

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person in my grade that attended
my small church.

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The church was a tremendous
blessing in my life.

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I loved how the church was
committed to New Testament

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principles and also the
importance of intergenerational

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living.
I had friendships with everyone.

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This was deeply formative and I
do think we've lost something in

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our culture by not having those
kinds of relationships.

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Western Kentucky Youth Camp gave
me a place to land, especially

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in my teens, with people of my
own age who had questions and

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were going through the same life
experiences in real time as me.

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It also gave me others in
different seasons of life too.

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People who had been through hard
things and lived to tell the

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tale.
People who had wisdom to offer

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and friendship to give that were
outside of my normal circles.

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I remember going to camp since
Pee Wee Weekend and the epic

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water balloon fights of
Elementary Week.

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I enjoyed my middle years at
camp too.

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Teen Week was unique because
that year I had to go alone.

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I walked into camp not feeling
like I had a relationship with

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anyone there because my usual
crew was not present.

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I made a promise to myself to
put myself out there no matter

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how uncomfortable or nervous I
felt in the moment, and I'm

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really glad I did.
I have lifelong friendships

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because of the connections I
made with other campers,

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counselors and staff.
The Washington Ave.

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Church of Christ cabin took me
in like I was one of their own.

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It was like we had never missed
a beat.

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I will always remember their
hospital at camp and making me

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feel loved and valued.
I have my husband because of

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WKYC.
The camp brings youth groups

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from all over Western Kentucky
and Nashville, TN area into the

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fold.
I was baptized at camp.

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My parents were caretakers there
for nearly six years.

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My Sister Nancy and I joke that
we could be poster children of

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WKYC because we owe it so much.
These days I'm on the other side

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of things that can't.
I'm often behind the scenes

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helping the board execute on
day-to-day functions and working

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to improve operational
excellence, capacity, and

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communication with families,
donors, and the campers

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themselves.
Like many camps, WKYC was

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founded in the early 1960s.
Nineteen 63 to be exact.

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What started from humble
beginnings with around 250 kids

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in attendance over 1 summer has
grown into an organization

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impacting more than 1300 kids
from nearly 20 states.

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So why camping and why Christian
camping?

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I think the book by Jonathan
Haidt, The Anxious Generation

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offers a lot of the answers
we're looking for.

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Hates.
Research shows there was

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something he coined the great
rewiring.

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So around 2010 to 2015 there was
a major shift in childhood

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development.
We had moved from a play based

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childhood.
So think unsupervised play

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outside, riding your bikes until
the streetlights came on at

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night and real world social
interactions to a phone based

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childhood dominated by
smartphones, iPads and social

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media.
So not only do you have

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helicopter or lawn mower parents
overprotecting their kids

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physically, you also have under
protection on the Internet.

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This has absolutely fueled the
mental health crisis in our

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children.
They're more anxious, they're

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more depressed, they're
experiencing self harm and

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suicide at alarming rates.
Not to mention the social

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comparison and isolation.
They've never been more

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connected virtually and yet so
alone in real life.

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Camp is a way to restore that
lost play based experience.

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I think everything about WKYC is
the opposite of the phone based

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child.
You have a rustic natural

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setting, a device free zone,
kids in groups whether that's in

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their cabins or on their teams,
and you have free play.

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All of these things help wire
kids brains to handle fears,

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assess risk, bounce back from
setbacks.

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We know that these things help
reduce anxiety by fostering

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independence and helping with
emotional regulation.

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Let them figure it out.
Kids are also learning social

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norms through face to face
interaction.

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They're learning independence
and maturity. 30 years ago,

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asking to mop their cabin floor
or dry dishes was not unusual.

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Today we have campers who've
never done a chore in their

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lives do chores for the first
time here.

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These teach responsibility in a
safe setting.

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They help kids transition from
dependence to autonomy.

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We also have campers say how
much they love being phone free

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at camp.
They realize how big of a weight

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phones are psychologically.
Camp offers a clean break for a

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week that allows them to focus,
keep their attention on

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something longer than a 10
second reel, and they return

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home rested despite not sleeping
as much.

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Their moods are better, their
focus is better, and their

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habits are rewired to live in an
analog world.

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At camp, we're committed to
analog living, to touching

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grass, to being in nature.
These things make camp different

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from the regular experience.
But what makes WKYC stand out

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the most is its culture.
Camp is full of staff who

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volunteer their time.
On any given summer, we have up

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to 530 people who donate their
time to us.

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They love camp so much because
of the message that it shares

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with children and other staff,
that Jesus saves us, that Jesus

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is the one in whom we can put
our trust and we find rest in

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Him.
They want to offer campers those

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same experiences that they had.
The culture truly is

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exceptional.
It's felt, it's compelling.

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It's why we do what we do.
So many people describe it as

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heaven on earth.
There is absolutely no better

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way to spend your summer.
We've made a lot of improvements

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over the last few years.
We've updated our cabins to

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temperature controlled cabins
with bathrooms.

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They feel like a luxury compared
to the original cabins of the

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60s.
We're also building a new

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apartment style complex that
offers rooms sleeping up to four

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to six people.
They give families with babies

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the ability to have privacy.
It also helps our ministry for

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kids with special needs.
If the caregiver is a father and

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he wants his daughter to attend
Wonderfully Made Weekend and he

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needs to be present with her,
they can have their own space.

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Previously that would have been
not possible.

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We're only about $150,000 away
from our $800,000 goal for that

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project.
You can donate today at

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wkyc.org.
Tricia shared some fantastic

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thoughts about a great place for
our young people to spend the

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summer.
Now it's time to hear yours.

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Our discussion questions for
this week are what opportunities

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can we create to help introduce
our young people to Jesus?

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What are some experience that
you cherish at camp or not from

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your childhood that have
contributed to your faith today?

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And what things can we
prioritize or deprioritize in

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order to ensure our children
have the chance to develop

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spiritually?
Hey, thanks for listening.

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Be sure to share this with a
friend if you can.

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I hope to see you at camp this
summer.

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It's a great place for our young
people to meet Jesus.

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Thanks for listening and I'll
see you Sunday.