Blair Marini

Blair Marini was 12 years old when she first attended Warren Willis Camp, and she hasn't missed a summer since. Although she has graduated from camper to counselor, she recalls her first experience at camp as "transformational."

"I had never been in a Christian setting where I had so much fun," she said. "I learned how to have fun with my faith. I fell in love with this place and with God."

For Marini, and most of the leadership team that interacts with more than 430 elementary, middle school and high school campers per week, Warren Willis Camp is "hallowed ground."

"It is a place where Christianity goes from our heads to our hearts," she said. "I get something here that I don't get anywhere else. Every time I leave, I'm a changed person."

Marini could easily have been a one-time camper since her family moved from Orange Park, Fla. to Charlotte, N. C. after her seventh grade year. Instead, she and a core group of friends came back every year through middle school and high school. Now she leads small groups of children and youth, who also want to return each summer to renew friendships and see how God will bless the experience.

"I feel the presence of God in this place," she said. "It is peaceful, it is beautiful, it is a place to spend time alone with God."