An OCF Experience to Remember

Tim Kraftson, Wheaton College

Editor’s Note: This article was written about Tim Kraftson’s experience in the summer of 2000, but his experience is reiterated over and over again by Rocky Mountain High attendees. LtCol Hemingway was the director of Spring Canyon for seventeen years, and was the director of OCF ROTC activities when he died of a heart attack in the summer of 2000.

I first had the privilege of meeting Lieutenant Colonel Tom Hemingway at an Officers’ Christian Fellowship weekend retreat for ROTC cadets and cadre from the Midwest in the fall of 1999. He was the retreat speaker and I rode up to the camp in the same van with him, only a seat away. I knew the man in the seat in front of me was LtCol Hemingway, but I had no idea who he was.

After the first session Friday night when LtCol Hemingway spoke, I realized that I had just spent three hours in a van, and was about to spend an entire weekend, with a real-life hero. His battle experiences and life experiences had proved him to be a man’s man, a hero of heroes, and a man who feared the Lord.

Over the next few days I had the honor of learning from the wisdom Col Hemingway had to share with our group. He spoke of God’s goodness and sovereignty, prayer, and the importance of obedience. I felt challenged by the words he had to share with us, and was extremely thankful for all of the things he went through for his country, and in the service of his Lord.

Throughout the weekend, Col Hemingway told us about a place called Spring Canyon, located outside Buena Vista, Colorado. It is an OCF camp that provides programs and activities for cadets, as well as adults and families. I decided that I was going to go to Spring Canyon the following summer, and Col Hemingway found a way to provide a generous scholarship that helped defer much of the cost of the trip. I ended up in one of the most wonderful places in the world, and had an incredible chance to further my walk with our Lord Jesus Christ.

As I neared the end of my sixteen-hour drive from Texas to Colorado, I drove through some of the most beautiful country I had ever seen in my life. The closer I got to Spring Canyon, the more beautiful the scenery became, and as I finally pulled in to the camp, I was greeted with a little slice of heaven, seen through God’s creation. I was also greeted by a sign that said, "Welcome Home."

All around the camp were twelve-, thirteen-, and fourteen-thousand-foot mountains, snowcapped and flirting with the clouds and sun. I knew from the moment I was there that Spring Canyon was a special place.

I participated in the Rocky Mountain High program, designed for Christian cadets in ROTC or at the academies, who want to come together for fellowship and spiritual growth. It was incredible to meet other cadets from all over the nation, from the academies, and from the different branches of the military. We became a very tight-knit group, and established friendships that will last a lifetime.

Mr. Frank Henry, and LtCol Keith Self, USA (Ret.) led our group. Each morning we woke up to have our devotions outside in the crisp morning mountain air. God’s majesty seemed all the more real and tangible with the mountains towering thousands of feet above me and a crystal clear mountain lake that was fed by a natural mountain spring a hundred feet below me. At night Mr. Henry led us in an incredible series of studies that challenged each of us. We were encouraged to walk with the Lord, wherever it was, to the next level. I had been to many conferences and retreats, but never had I been challenged and encouraged to grow in my walk as much as I was in those ten days.

At Spring Canyon, we got to have a lot of fun. Our daytime activities consisted of hiking in the mountains and doing team-building activities such as building one-rope bridges. We went whitewater rafting, mountain biking, rock climbing, rappelling, horseback riding and swimming in nearby hot springs. We also had a four-day trek during which we climbed 14,226 Mt. Chavanu. It was a blast! We were led in these activities by an outstanding staff at Spring Canyon.

All this to say that at Spring Canyon, things are different. It is a place that breeds a feeling of love, of acceptance, and a place where everybody can relate to one another, be it through having the military in common or through having the Lord in common. I cannot wait to go back! Hopefully, some day I will return with a family of my own.

If you ever get a chance to go to Spring Canyon, GO! It is an amazing way to experience the Christian military family—all our brothers and sisters in Christ who serve their Lord and country.

Just look for the sign that says, "Welcome Home."