As Pam Boyett’s nephew Jack approached graduation, she knew she wanted to give him a special gift: a trip for him and his father (her brother) to experience together. A quick Google search led her to Christ in the Smokies Passage to Manhood Camp, and she knew immediately this was the one. “I was overwhelmed with emotion and Holy Spirit conviction immediately upon reading about Christ in the Smokies,” she remembers.

After finding Christ in the Smokies on the web, Pam reached out to Tim, director of CITS, who was amazed at the love of an aunt/sister who would do all the legwork to find the trip, then sign up and pay for her nephew and brother to share in a very special week together.

Jack and his dad Mark attended camp and shared their very personal and intense story while they were there. Mark shared that one of the things that surprised him was how quickly everyone connected. “When you get there, it’s a bunch of different guys you don’t know. But then within three days, it’s like you are long-lost friends—and you really feel very close to everyone by the end of it.  It’s amazing for that to happen.” Mark and Jack were instrumental in that happening, as they opened their lives and relationship to the fathers, sons and CITS volunteers who were at camp.

Pam describes the outpouring of joy the two had after the adventure camp. “They had Kingdom-purpose seeds planted deep within their souls and sparks of hope in their hearts.”

“God bless all who take this step of faith to meet God in the woods, His sanctuary,” Pam says.