Michael Deems is grateful his wrestling camp and seasonal job left time to play in the dirt again last summer. The St. John Neumann parishioner, now a rising senior at Central Gwinnett High School, made room in his busy schedule to be a volunteer counselor at Camp Marian Meadows’ week-long mission camp for young Hispanic children.

It was a role he enjoyed.

“I liked the whole thing,” said Deems, one of 20 teens from area youth groups who worked at the Dawsonville retreat. “It was almost like a big brother-little brother relationship” that developed between him and Luis, his 10-year-old charge.

Because the camp provided one-on-one counselors who were playmates, bunkmates and role models, “We got close to the kids,” Deems said. “There was a togetherness” that evolved as boys and girls from economically and socially depressed environments explored mountain streams, listened to Bible stories and crafter art and nature projects with the help of teen friends.

“I still have this little ash tray that (Luis) made me,” Deems said with affection. “I thought (my camper) was the best one, but everybody thought that.”

This summer, a new group of counselors will take over as children between the ages of eight and 10 make their way to Marian Meadows July 10 through 16. Campers will be drawn from Our Lady of the Americas Mission in Doraville, San Felipe de Jesus Mission in Grant Park and Hispanic communities at St. John Neumann Church in Lilburn and Good Shepherd Church in Cumming. Counselors hail from St. Joseph’s in Marietta, St. Lawrence in Lawrenceville, and St. John Neumann.

The camp, offered without charge, is made possible through parish individual and corporate donations as well as gifts of time and talent from a host of volunteers.

“It’s a wonderful week,” said Patti Jugenheimer, youth minister at St. John Neumann and one of the camp’s adult leaders.

It “gives teens an opportunity for service” and “allows little children to get out of the city” into a free, open atmosphere where they can strengthen their faith with help from positive role models.

Mornings are filled with arts and crafts, Bible study and nature activities. Afternoons are spent swimming at a nearby lake, hiking to Amicalola Falls, picnicking and storytelling. Evenings are a time for games, hayrides, marshmallow roasts and community prayer.

The common feeling among counselors was that “it was the best experience of their lives.”

Most teens involved in the camp have attended the Christian Leadership Institute (CLI), a week-long training and faith enrichment session offered by the archdiocese each summer. Father John Ulrich, SM, who served as CLI spiritual director for the 1992 and 1993 sessions, said the mission camp is a chance for CLI participants to put faith into practice.

The camp “gives these high school kids and opportunity to really give of themselves without getting anything (monetarily) out of it. It is service out of the generosity of their hearts.”

Like CLI, the camp is a one-time experience for teens. Marian Meadows has room for just 40 guests and many young people are anxious to wear the counselor’s cap.

But involvement is not limited to counselors and directors who are on-site for a full week. Marist’s Spanish Honor Society is providing reusable plates, bowls and cups as well as money for odds and ends campers might need.

The “Soupremes,” a group of women from Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Atlanta who cook for the homeless in area shelters, prepared meals for campers, while other members of the archdiocese lent their talents as magicians, clowns and storytellers.

Harold Gourgues, a deacon who with his wife, Geneva, founded Marian Meadows in thanksgiving for Mrs. Gourgues’ recovery from cancer, said other groups of young people are welcome at the facility.

To date, over 6,000 Catholic teens and close to 600 adults have used Marian Meadows since it opened on November 1989.

Although the center is in use “practically every weekend of the year,” said Gourgues, summer weekdays are slow and space is ready available for youth groups interested in mission camps. Menus, activities and schedules have been fine-tuned so there is a working model that can be easily implemented.

“We’re hoping other parishes might see this and want to try it,” said Mrs. Jugenheimer. “We created a model that was very successful and would be glad to share our experience.”

For more information on the mission camp, to sponsor a camper or make a donation, call Mrs. Jugenheimer at 923-6635 or 972-0810.