Jeremy Ebbers

Dear Olympia Presbytery,

I urge you to vote to keep Sound View camp open.  Without Sound View a huge part of the Bellevue-too-Olympia church family will not have a close to home camp.  As the only Presbyterian camp I know of that is west of the Cascades, it is a hub for local churches.  My home church, Newport Presbyterian, has been having it’s annual church retreat at Sound View for 6 years, this will be it’s 7th.  I love these retreats because it gives me a chance to be at Sound View.

Just being at Sound View is one of my favorite feelings.  The fresh air, the beautiful forest, the beach and the people are all reason why Sound View is important to me.  All these things rejuvenate me every time I visit.  They make me want to do my best and it reminds me to go the extra mile.  To be kind even when it’s hard or to step out of my comfort zone and help someone.  If it weren’t for Sound View I would be a shy person.  But after doing years as an LIT I learned how to step out of the comfort zone and learn to grow.  I learned how to lead and how to lead even when you’re not ‘the leader’.  To lead by example.

In the summer of 2014 I was a counselor.  That summer was one of my favorite summers in recent memory.  I grew a lot.  It was hard, tiring, stressful, but 100% worth it.  At the same time it was joyful, energizing, meaningful, humor filled and simply amazing.  I made memories that I still talk about with old staff members.  I grew closer to old friends, new friends, old LIT friends and old campers.  That was a big part of it as well, the campers.  I got to see old campers and friends who have grown up into wonderful leaders.  Everyday I would see campers grow as friends.  I got to experience God’s kingdom every week that summer and when the camp season ended, I walked out with a heart full of God’s love.

I could go on for hours about the value of Sound View and so could the campers from this passed year and years ago.  It is beautiful place that has a long-lasting impact on everyone who sets foot there.  Many of my closest friends are from Sound View and I wouldn’t have meet them if it weren’t for this camp.  I wouldn’t have gotten to know God through the people and landscape as well as I have if it wasn’t for Sound View.  It means the world to countless others and my self included.

In Christ,

Jeremy Ebbers