Above Photo of Potosi Pines Camp Retreat Center
Article by Kristen Goodell, Camper and Architect of Potosi Pines Camp Retreat Center
Looking back to about 1980, I recall my first experience at Potosi Pines Church Camp as a first grader: learning the camp song (P-O-T-O-S-I, Potosi’s the name…..) and I recall the joy I felt at being at camp making new friends and learning about Jesus. I didn’t know it at that time as being in community with the Lord, but looking back and remembering the games, the songs, the hikes and the leadership that we were taught helped to make me the Christian that I am today.
Aidan with his Mom, Kristen Goodell, Architect of Potosi Pines Retreat Center
Thanks to my parents, I was able to attend camp every year and eventually became a camp counselor, helping to guide the younger kids and spread The Word. Years later, after finishing college and starting my career in Architecture, my firm received a call from the church asking if we would design their new Camping and Retreat Center. I was excited at the opportunity to design such an important space for the camp at which I had spent so much time as a child.
After visiting the camp in order to start designing the new center, I was amazed at the growth of the camp and how the camp ministry had grown from being used a few weeks a year to having campers and guests almost year round. With the addition of this new building, they would be able to expand their outreach even more. It was such an honor to have been a part of the design, and then to attend the dedication event in April of 2002 while pregnant with my son, Aidan. The joy I felt and the sense of peace that surrounded me while standing on the bridge between the sleeping rooms and the conference room, looking out at the high desert, was clear evidence of God’s love for me and his passion for using the camp to teach and minister.
Potosi Pines Campers enjoying Aidan’s Eagle Scout Project, an extended porch
Earlier this year, more than 16 years after that dedication, as my son was searching for an Eagle Scout project, we became aware that Potosi had a need for even more program space to be able to continue their ministry to even more visitors. Always wanting to do something bigger and more complex than most, and loving the outdoors, Aidan decided to add on to the existing porch to create space for the camp and visitors to worship, congregate, sing songs and spread God’s love and message. After hundreds of volunteer hours, the porch addition was completed in April 2018. I was so excited to be a part of this addition, as another way to give back to the camp that taught me so much and shaped my life.
Potosi Pines Church Camp is an amazing place to be able to experience love, community, and friendship among God’s beautiful outdoors. Happy 60th Anniversary!
