February 5, 2018
As a Marketing and Audiovisual Fellow, Brendan Jones captures the small yet significant moments that portray the essence of HoneyRock. Brendan shares how he has seen God move through his vocation as he takes time to reflect on his college experience and focus on his life path in the Fellows program.
To see more videos from HoneyRock, follow the link here.
Brendan taking camp counselor photos at the Chrouser Center at HoneyRock
One of the best parts about my job is that I am charged with finding beautiful moments, capturing them with photo or video, and then sharing them with others. These moments come in many different forms. Sometimes it’s the light outside at the golden hour, sometimes it’s a sunset- or it’s two Vanguard gap year students laughing at an inside joke. It could be two campers reunited after a year apart, turkeys and deer mingling by the forest edge, or the Northern Lights. Sometimes it’s the energy during a game of Outpost, two staff members collaborating to address a problem at camp, or maybe a good conversation during an interview for one of my video projects. There’s so much beauty here on camp - you just have to look for it. As a Fellow, I am in a prime position to find these beautiful moments because I have the advantage of interacting with nearly every cohort on camp on a daily basis.
Summer campers laughing together outside
These beautiful moments are what makes my job enjoyable. Collecting these moments is like counting my blessings and sharing them with the world is like giving a testimony. I can see God in so many aspects of the HoneyRock experience simply because I anticipate that He will somehow make His presence known through life happening around me. I believe God is in this place and He encounters people here through adversity, relationships, and the natural beauty of Wisconsin's Northwoods. I take great joy in knowing my photos and videos can help campers and residents remember their HoneyRock experiences and the ways they met God during their time here.
Breathtaking image of the red barn underneath the night sky of the Northwoods
The reason I chose to do the Fellows Program in the first place is the opportunity it presents to do some serious self-reflection coupled with the opportunity to gain work experience. As a Fellow, I spend a majority of my time working but also attend a pair of graduate-level classes - "Personal Spiritual Formation" and "Vocational Discernment" - as well as communal events, including daily devotions each morning. Each element of the program is designed to help us seek God in the here and now. Coming off of four years of college, I felt that I needed time to process my experience and the impact it had on me so that I could move into the future conscious of where God was moving in my life. The Fellows program has provided me a space to do just that. It also provides a community that encourages me in my walk with God and reminds me of the value of encouraging others as they also do their best to follow the Lord. Coming out of the Fellows program, I feel I will be more resolved as to the direction God is leading me in the future.
Volunteers setting up the worship tent for summer camp
Brendan Jones is originally from Piermont, New Hampshire, and graduated from Wheaton College in 2017 where he studied Studio Art. His passions include audiovisual communications, video making, music, songwriting, running and playing lacrosse.