On a sunny day in mid-July, I arrived at Innabah Camp & Retreat Center to the sound of children laughing in the camp’s sparkling new pool. I was there to see the site for the first time and to learn about Challenge Camp, a beloved summer camp tradition at Innabah, dating back to 1968. Although four different overnight programs were running that week, the atmosphere wasn’t frenetic; it felt full of life and joy.
Challenge Camp is a weeklong overnight camp tailored for people with intellectual disabilities featuring all the classic camp activities like archery, canoeing, swimming, crafts, and daily devotional time, to name a few. Camp Innabah runs Challenge Camps each summer for youth aged 12-21 and for adults aged 18 and over. This summer, Innabah ran ten Challenge Camps over the course of six weeks with a total of 217 people attending – that’s a third of the camp’s 657 summer campers, a handful of whom I had the chance to meet.
I began my visit by meeting Samantha “Sami” Charles, the director of Camp Innabah. She walked me to a corner where a hay wagon filled with waving Challenge campers soon turned onto the road. As the campers descended the hay wagon, they greeted Sami with big smiles. She, in turn, greeted each by name. One camper introduced himself as “Thomas the Legend.” I later learned he’s been attending Challenge Camp for more than ten years. “I love it,” he said. “It’s a really beautiful place. It’s God’s place and it’s a second home for me.”
Thomas is not alone. Many of the adult Challenge campers return to Innabah year after year and some for multiple weeks each summer as availability allows. Every year Challenge Camp fills to capacity and maintains a waitlist, with word-of-mouth serving as the only marketing necessary. Innabah prioritizes allowing as many individuals as possible to experience the program each summer. From September through May, campers can stay connected through Challenge Days, a day program Innabah runs every Tuesday, and through monthly weekend Challenge Retreats.
After the hayride, the campers headed into the lower level of Bethany lodge where they gathered around tables, quietly watching Disney’s Hercules – some chatting amongst themselves, others doodling on paper. While their week at camp involves many structured activities, the schedule also includes much needed downtime, whether that’s watching a movie or taking a nap during daily rest time.
Kim, a bubbly camper who has been coming to Innabah for at least twenty years, even said rest time was one of her favorite parts of camp. Sami affirmed that for some campers, Challenge Camp is their primary vacation for the year. “They take time off work to come here and this is what they’re choosing for vacation. So, for some of them it is about relaxing and just getting to be here.”
So, what is it about Challenge Camp that has made it such a popular and beloved staple of summers at Camp Innabah and in the lives of so many campers? As I chatted with more campers, they named all sorts of things they love about their week at camp – archery, crafts, swimming, and song time. Meals cooked by kitchen manager Steve also made the list of favorites. I can attest his mac n’ cheese is delicious.
But another theme emerged that had little to do with activities or programming – the people. Hannah, a 21-year-old camper shared, “I like hanging out with the staff and making new friends.” In fact, every camper I spoke with said that one of the best parts of Challenge Camp is getting to make new friends and see old ones.
The comradery was evident when I was speaking with a young woman named Rosie while her fellow campers worked on crafts in the next room. A young man named Albert walked by us with a huge smile plastered across his face. “Happy? Are you happy? Smile!” he beamed. Rosie turned to me, “One thing that makes me happy is Albert. I like when people make me laugh.”
With so many Challenge campers returning year after year and staying connected through year-round programming, it is no wonder that they develop friendships with the staff and each other. Yet as I had conversations with several staff members, it became clear that something more, something Spirit-filled was happening at Challenge Camp.
Eli, a summer staffer, shared that he was originally “dragged” into working at Challenge camp by his mother’s friend in 2022. But his mind was immediately changed once he arrived and began spending time with the campers. “I don’t think I’ve ever been somewhere else that has so many open-minded people that just genuinely care for you and do not judge you.” he said. “There’s no other group where I can just walk into a room and I’m gonna have, like, 10 people shout my name with excitement.”
Other staff echoed Eli’s sentiments. Pete, a software engineer who started at Innabah as a camper and has worked there in various capacities since 2012 shared, “[Challenge Camp] is really rewarding because everyone’s unbelievably excited to be here. [The campers are] so sweet and they’re so excited to see you, and…every activity is just like a gold mine of happiness.”
For director Sami, it was Challenge Camp that made her fall in love with Camp Innabah in the first place. She and Addie, who is her sister, first went to Camp Innabah as infants, tagging along with their mother who was involved in Challenge Camp. Despite growing up at Innabah, Sami shared, when she first signed up for overnight camp as a child she was “a terrible camper.” “I was so homesick, even with my mom on the next hill over,” said Sami. “I just wanted to be with the Challenge campers. [They] just have such a way about them that spreads joy. And I think I was attached to that, like there was never really a moment where there wasn’t joy.”
Addie, who was directing one of the Challenge Camps that week, said she sees God at work in the campers and how they approach life. “Sometimes they’re really silly and you just can’t stop laughing,” she said, “and I think that kind of joy is just a huge bucket filler. It fills my bucket at least.” Addie also acknowledged the prejudice and discrimination people with intellectual disabilities sometimes face in the world. She gave thanks that at Innabah, Challenge campers can be fully themselves and participate in camp life, without being limited by other people’s assumptions about what they can or cannot do.
As staff members described their experiences with the Challenge campers, the word joy came up again and again – not just a momentary feeling, but a joy that accepts unconditionally, multiplies when it is shared, and creates a deep sense of belonging. Certainly, Camp Innabah works hard to create a place where all campers can experience joy and belonging; from accessible lodging to the new swimming pool with its ramp and the floating dock that allows campers to ease into the creek. But during my visit, it became clear to me that at Challenge Camp, the campers themselves offer the gift of joy through belonging as much as they receive it.
For Sami, creating that sense of belonging is part of what she hopes Challenge Camp communicates to everyone who comes to Innabah. “There’s an awesome space here and you belong here,” she said. “All of our campers belong here, and we want people to come experience the joy too.”
By bringing their full selves to the camp experience, Challenge campers make a space where others feel safe to do the same. In this space of authenticity and mutuality, God’s Spirit seems to show up everywhere: in weekly worship and the daily song time and Bible Discoveries, but also at the pool, on a hayride, or sitting in the store field eating ice cream and talking with a camper.
For Pete, that is what makes Camp Innabah so meaningful. “Camp is more a church than anything,” he said. “I get more out of this than pews on a Sunday. This hits more.”
Maybe that is part of the gift of Challenge Camp: when people know they belong, they have room to be who God created them to be and to experience the joy of Christ “down in their hearts to stay.”
If you would like to learn more about Innabah Challenge Programs or volunteer, please contact Sami at scharles@innabah.camp.