SuperCamp Graduate Jonny's True Story

Thousands of children have taken SuperCamp. Few have shown the dedication and drive to attend then one particular camper displayed in the summer of 2004.

Jonny had a life with few problems. His grades were good. He had friends and he had great relationships with his family. There was one thing missing. Jonny felt that he lacked leadership skills. He just didn’t know where to look.

Without knowing it exactly, Jonny walked the right path. He was involved in plenty of activities that could breed leadership, such as basketball and soccer. But involvement wasn’t enough. He wanted to be captain of his teams. He wanted people to look up to him.

A light began to shine for him during a lunch in the late spring. Kevin, someone who mentored him, told Jonny about a another boy he had helped signed up for something called SuperCamp. The boy changed his mind and decided to go traveling instead. If he wanted, Kevin told Johnny he could take the boy’s place. Jonny needed more information.

Kevin told him about SuperCamp. He told him about a place where children could strengthen their weaknesses in an atmosphere of total support. He talked about children learning to be supportive and being supported in return. He told Jonny that if Jonny wanted to be a leader, this was the camp that would take him there.

Jonny agreed to take the boy’s place. Kevin smiled and then hit him with the bad news. The boy’s place was open, that is true, but Jonny would have to pay for most of his own way. In other words, Jonny had two weeks to raise about $2,000. One more thing, Kevin said. If I’m going to help you with part of the tuition, you need to ask people other than your parents to raise the balance. Leadership happens when you step outside yourself and convince other people to help you achieve a goal.

The fundraising started almost immediately. Jonny spent that night working on his speech. The next morning he began the calls. First to people he knew, then to people those people knew, and then to people that he didn’t know at all. Many people refused and failed to see how they could benefit from donating money to send another child to camp. Many people agreed. They pledged what they could at first, mostly $10- $50. Then people began to pledge more. In two weeks, Jonny sat on his flight to SuperCamp.

During camp, Jonny marveled at the team leaders. They seemed so confident and self-assured. They spoke their minds, but with tact. They had something Jonny wanted and he was going to get it.

Others noticed it before he did, the gradual confidence in his speech and manner. He felt others trusting him more and he liked it. He trusted other people more and felt more at ease with his communication. Jonny knew something changed when he left SuperCamp, but he couldn’t tell exactly what.

His sports teams and church group would discover it soon enough. A few weeks after he returned, his golf and soccer teams elected him captain. A few months later, his church group asked him to preach at their church. At first, he looked out over the crowd and felt his chest tighten. He started doing the breathing techniques he learned at SuperCamp. Then he spoke with a calm elegance that led the group to invite him back again.

“It means a lot that I can influence people and set an example that others can follow.”