This Jubilee year 2025 is a year of special blessings and celebration for the Church. The Holy Spirit is among us, inspiring us and leading us closer to Christ. I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you about one way you can bring your girls closer to Christ during the summer: Challenge Camp.
Challenge Camp will take place at Incarnation Center in Ivoryton, CT from July 20 to July 26, for girls from 5th to 12th grade.
The Holy Spirit has been at work in Challenge Camp, establishing an environment of friendship, understanding and Christian charity. When so many activities are filled with competition, pressure to perform, criticism or gossip, Challenge camp strives to be the exact opposite. The girls are open to making friends with each other, even if they are all very different. They help each other out, encourage each other to take full advantage of camp and they make lasting friendships. My daughter always says Challenge Camp is the highlight of her year. She gets to see old friends again, make new ones and spend one week closer to Jesus. She can’t wait to be old enough to be a team leader.
Challenge is team based, teen led, and I am always so proud of how hard the team leaders work at maintaining this safe and fun environment for the girls in their charge. They take the job of leading very seriously. I think they also see it as a mission, or a calling, that they fulfill happily. Some of the current Team Leaders started out as campers in 5th grade. Now they are in high school, or even college, and they keep coming back. They wouldn’t trade Challenge Camp for any other camp out there.
Challenge Camp has become an important, even essential part of my family’s activities for the year. Sometimes our daily lives are filled with worldly things, urgent and important, of course; things we do need to take care of, but in the end, might not bring us closer to God. Something like Martha, who was worried about many things, we can often become overwhelmed by the world. Challenge Camp is a great opportunity to put those things aside and focus, like Mary, on the most important part. While having lots of fun in the process.
The grounds at Incarnation Center are beautiful. The girls are surrounded by nature. They can go to the lake every day. They can participate in great activities like zip line, water slide, messy olympics and a dance party or two; but they also focus a part of their day in learning what it’s like to follow Jesus more closely, how they can bring Jesus into their daily lives and bring others to love Him as well. We also have the gift of the Blessed Sacrament there with us all week, thanks to Fr. John Pietropaoli, our chaplain. The girls celebrate daily mass and get an opportunity to learn more about the Church and the Priesthood when they have Q&A sessions with Fr. John.
We know there are many other places you can go this summer, but Challenge Camp truly is one of a kind. If you want to provide your children with an opportunity to learn more about Jesus, deepen their relationship with Him and provide them with a faith foundation that will last their entire lives, Challenge Camp is the right place for you. We pray you will consider this for your family.
