New Connections, New Perspectives
Sam (left) and a group of Summer 2022 Staff.
Sam Brink had never been to Fortune Lake before arriving for our Nurturing Wholeness: Young Adult Retreat, but soon found that the place would have a profound impact on his life. Amidst the busy life of a student, Sam was able to take the time to attend the retreat along with other students from his campus ministry group at Northern Michigan University. Throughout the weekend, Sam would find himself in a community of peers that was welcoming, uplifting, and supportive in more ways than one.
As the weekend pressed on, Sam was enlightened on multiple occasions, an impact that has stayed with him since he left Fortune Lake. He experienced unmitigated and unfiltered joy in the form of favorite camp activities, learned more about the spiritual practice of meditation that has stuck with him into his home life, and was able to see God easily through the people around him, the content of the retreat, and the natural beauty of Fortune Lake.
Despite knowing folks from his campus ministry group at NMU, the group’s stay at camp was an opportunity to build stronger connections and get to know each other in a more authentic way. Not only that, but he was able to meet and form relationships with others who he had not met before, a particularly gratifying experience given the past few years of global pandemic. After participating in an exercise during closing worship, Sam felt called to extend a hand to and invite conversation with the people in his life he had lost touch with. At camp, he saw the value in vulnerability and opening up to others. Despite apprehensions, any anxieties or doubts that Sam shared during the weekend were met with ungirding faith and support. In his words, the experience reoriented his perspective on relationships, and it has prompted changes in his life since returning home.
The retreat that Sam attended was our first young adult retreat, and we are happy to say that it continues each winter with the hope of welcoming in and supporting more young adults like Sam. His weekend stay at camp has prompted a continued relationship with this ministry, and we are so grateful for him and his gifts. Fortune Lake offers different blessings to every person who visits. For Sam, it served as an affirmation of his sense of self, his wholeness, and the divine image that we all bear in our daily lives. As we continue to support the mission of Fortune Lake, may that ring true for all who come here.
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