HAILEY R, Student 2010
ATKINS FIRST BAPTIST
I wasn’t a bad kid. I had good grades, didn’t drink, or do drugs, and I kept myself pure. But I also wasn’t innocent. I cussed every once in a while, listened to provocative radio stations, and made inappropriate jokes with my friends. Super Summer made me realize I was neither hot nor cold. I was lukewarm and that had to change. My first year at SS in 2009 was a learning experience for me. Where everything was and how it all worked so I didn’t really put my heart into it that year. In 2010, God blessed me with Hope. Not only did the speaker say every word that I needed to hear, Hope made sure I understood it and helped me to realize that just because my friends did it, didn’t mean I needed to. She helped me completely turn my life around and even after SS she helped me to minister to two of my Christian friends that had lost their way. Taylor re-gained her witness and Kristen stopped drinking. SS is a time for me to just come and connect with God. It’s a time to learn how to take the word of God and spread it to my friends. It has shown me that I don’t have to go halfway across the world to meet with other Christians or witness to people. It was an amazing impact on my life that helped me grow in my relationship with Christ. There is such a sweet spirit that you can feel while on this campus. I know that it will be here for me every summer. I hope to become a staffer and eventually help other teenage girls grow in the Lord the same way that my past staffers Liz and Hope have helped me. They are two strong women that I know if I have problems that if I don’t feel comfortable taking to mentors in my family that will be there for me and will either give me advice or inspiring words without judgment. SSA has put these two great people in my life (not including my roommates and ‘family’ members I had while at camp) and significantly impacted my life. I know that I will never forget what this camp has done for me.

BROOKE D, Staffer 2012
MOUNT CARMEL BAPTIST CHURCH
For starters, I started coming to Super Summer as a student in 2006 when I was 16. I didn't know what to expect but it changed my life for the better. I was saved on the last night there outside of Verser or what everyone else calls it, Yellow School. Let me just say that Super Summer didn't save me, God saved me! I'm so glad that he did. That entire time I was there I had a weird feeling in my stomach as if someone was punching me in the gut. I kept ignoring it but when we had our church meetings on our last night I literally felt like I was going to get sick and I realized that it was God telling me it was time. Then I went to my youth pastor and it from there. After I was saved, I felt peace and it was the best feeling in the world. I knew that I wanted to give back to Super Summer because they've done so much for me. Now as a staffer, I can't tell you how much it has meant to me. I've staffing for 4 years and I wouldn't change it for anything. God has blessed me with such amazing girls (which I still talk to on a daily basis). Every summer I get pumped up because I know that God is going to work in amazing ways. I love my small groups because that's when I get to connect with my awesome girls. I absolutely love to go to the Lobby after Big Church. God moves in such wonderful ways. Every time someone gets saved, rededicates their life to Christ , or gets called into ministry, it's a great feeling every time. The friendships that I've made at Super Summer have been more than friends, they are more like family. Sometimes we don't see each other for a year but when we do, it's like nothing has changed. We pray, laugh, and encourage each other every single day. I can't imagine my life without them. You know who you are. I've only staffed Camo and Blue school, but I know it's because God has a reason for that. To the Staffers and Adults, thank you for making Super Summer so much fun! God has worked in my life in so many ways and I feel that I can spread God's word out more. Super Summer has challenged me to not be afraid to talk to people. Like I mentioned, I adore all my beautiful girls and connecting with them that week makes it all worth it. God has opened so many doors in my life and now I'm excited to get to spread the gospel in Haiti of 2013. I can't imagine not having Super Summer in my life. It has a special place in my heart and I feel blessed. Here's to another year! 2013 WooHoo!!!!

SHANA N, Student 2009
FIRST BAPTIST STUTTGART
In the summer of 09 I went to Super Summer for the second time. Being only a Sophomore in high school Super Summer was just a place to go and have fun but that year it meant something totally different. That year I was impacted by God to an extent I can't even describe in words. While listening to Runks and the staffers I found a relationship I had never had with God before a relationship where I learned to follow in his word and not follow in the steps of my friends. I was already a saved Christian before going to Super Summer that year but for some reason the real meaning of those words didn't come to be until I took those steps off of OBU's the last day of super summer that year. When I got home everyone noticed the change in me for a while all I really wanted to do was read my bible or go to church. This lead to me losing a lot of my "friends" which didn't really bother me at all because I was happy with my life and my relationship with the lord. That year changed me so much and this coming fall I'll be attending OBU as a student and hopefully major in Christian studies. If it weren't that year at super summer I would not be who I am today. God has changed me so much in these past two years and I know that as long as I follow God he will come through for me no matter how messed up or depressing the situation is he will never give up on me and eventhough there are a few times I have thought he had given up on me he always shown through the situation and helped me get back on my feet. I know no matter where life takes me God will be there with me and that's enough knowledge to get me through any situation big or small. I know I've made this into a life story in a way but hey super summer 09 is what started my real life story and I can't wait for Super Summer 2011 to begin because I know God will make another impact in my life and hundreds of others while we are there and that's all I can hope for.

NOAH G, Student 2011
HOT SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH
At Super Summer,the guest speaker was what really blew me away and made me know I needed to get saved. In the months before Super Summer I had been thinking about getting saved. I went then to our D-now and felt something I knew would eventually be my salvation and when I went on a mission trip to Arlington, Texas it struck me I didn't even know what it meant when they were saying "So many people just got saved today". So I at first thought I was "kinda saved" well when we were listening to the guest pastor; he said, "You can't be kinda saved or kinda not, your one or the other." It totally had quoted everything I was saying about myself. So the second night I got myself right with Christ and became saved. In the following weeks I got baptized and have enjoyed being the Christian I am ever since.

AARON S, Staffer 2010
MIDWAY BAPTIST CHURCH
To begin to say what Super Summer has done for me and my life brings tears to my eyes. I know that if it wasn't for this camp or the people who work so hard to put it on every year, I would not be the man I am today. Growing up I attended church with my grandparents. I was very close to them and it was just one of the many activities we shared together. But, all I got out of church at such a young age was time to hone my doodling skills by drawing on the bulletin all service and a fondness for peppermints which Mammaw had stock piled in her purse. Upon entering the middle school ministry of the church I was attending I began to notice that, because of my family's financial status, I was being treated differently. The kids hounded my sister and I, calling us names and such, and the leaders of all the classes looked at me us as either a welfare case or a lost cause. I remember being 12 and thinking, "If this is what it means to be a Christian, I don't want to be one." So I left. My parents and sister soon followed. It wasn't until high school that my best friend and partner in Boy Scouts invited me back to church. I visited with them for a few months and became very close with everyone in the youth. My sister and parents soon followed and we found ourselves enjoying it. With that church, a few months after my first visit, I found myself at Super Summer. This was like no place I had ever seen before. I, being the energetic and outgoing person I am, had just found my new favorite place. Now you have to realize, growing up I wasn't a bad kid, I didn't really hang with the wrong crowd or do drugs or anything, but I was not saved. My idea of God was a man who sat on a cloud and blessed me if I was good and punished me if I was bad. But, that year at Super Summer, all of that went away. I learned how personal God wanted to be with me. How deeply he loved and cared for me. And how desperately he wanted a relationship with me. So I gave my life to him. Wholly and completely surrendered my life to him in Berry Chapel. Since that day, God has been my best friend, my comforter, my strength, my guide. He has never left me, never confused me, and never stopped loving me. He has given me the opportunity to return to Super Summer every year to grow and to give back to the students there what He gave to me: Everlasting life, peace that surpasses all understanding, and a love that knows no bounds. He called me to be a college minister. He allowed me to be the first person in my family to ever attend a University of any kind. He has brought my family into personal, growing relationships with him. He has given us a church home that he is using us in to refine and disciple the members of. God, through the work being done at Super Summer, has changed my life. Though it has been desperately hard at points and I have had to lean on him with all I had for strength, guidance, and direction, God has always loved me. Even when I've failed him, he has never let me go. If it weren't for that year, those staffers, that summer. I know, without a doubt, I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't know or love God like I do. For this, I am eternally grateful. I pray that everyone who attends Super Summer every year is touched by God in this way. In a way that completely transforms their life. And every year I get to see God answer that prayer. So here, now, humbled again by reflecting on where it all started, I praise God for Super Summer and pray for all of those attending and all of those who work so hard to make it possible.

GARRETT F, Student 2006
WOODLAND HEIGHTS BAPTIST CHURCH
Super Summer. A very appropriate name for what God does through this camp. I attended Super Summer Arkansas as a student from 2000-2006. From the summer after 6th grade until the summer after my high school graduation, Super Summer Arkansas was a staple of Christ in my life. The Lord really used this camp to show me personally what it meant to follow Christ. Even I, being the most unfocused and disrespectful child, was no match for the way the Spirit chose to fall on OBU's campus every summer. Even if I chose not to use it, I received so much solid, Biblical teaching over the years as a camper. Unknowingly, I attended while the Lord was shaping my mind. Unknowingly, I came every summer while He was preparing my heart for future ministry. I made a real decision to seek the Lord in January of 2005. My final two years of Super Summer as a camper were exponentially better, because I started appreciating how much God was there. I took the teaching to heart, and what God had started back home at church, He solidified through Super Summer. I feel God prepared me for college through Super Summer, giving me not only teaching, but deeper understanding. He allowed me to understand that you could have fun as a Christian, and better yet, unshakable joy rooted in Christ Jesus. God changed my life, and Super Summer Arkansas was a big part of how He chose to do it. Given the offer to trade my experiences with God at Super Summer for anything in the world, you would be hard pressed to find me accepting such an offer. I see now that Super Summer Arkansas is not what is special, it is God Almighty. The leaders of Super Summer Arkansas pray and pray for God to come. For Him to show up. For Him to move. For Him to teach. For Him to lead. For Him to touch hearts. Without Him we become nothing and are our time together futile. If God wasn't the number one priority of this camp, my church wouldn't have brought me, I wouldn't have staffed 4 years in a row, I wouldn't have been changed at all, and I sure wouldn't be typing these words right now. Super Summer is about God's glory. Super Summer values the Word of God and it's evident in our time spent there. Some would call it too much, over the top, or out of place for such young people to be in the Word of God at such a great extent, yet I feel the Lord would look on it as beautiful. I would have to write a book to describe the extent to which God has watered and grown the relationships He allowed me to make at Super Summer. I've been able to help serve in many different opportunities that came about through people I met at Super Summer Arkansas. One of those of greatest influence on my life is the man who is the reason Super Summer is how it is today, Randy. Although unaffiliated with Super Summer Arkansas, Randy is still very much so affiliated with Christ, and has encouraged me as a result. I could go on and on. What comes to my mind when I think of Super Summer Arkansas? Christ centered. Gospel centered. Eternally focused. Student focused. So much fun. My cleft of the rock. To God be the glory.

HANNAH F, Student 2010
CEDAR HEIGHTS BAPTIST CHURCH
Super Summer for me was a time were I gained a greater understanding for God's will, and I began to be concerned with Talking to God even more! I felt like it was super easy to worship Him during the Services, and the speaker was phenomenal. I made such good friends, and even though my church is not intending to go this year, am making plans to attend with another church. My "Mom" was so sweet, and so easy to relate to! It was SUCH an enjoyable experience being there!

CHALET' M, Student 2005
HEBER SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH
The first time I ever attended Super Summer was the summer after my 8th grade year. I had always gone to church camps and loved them but never came to this one. For some reason God led me to this camp and I'm so glad he did. My life was forever changed by Super Summer! I was saved at the age of 8 years old when I lived in MS at my aunt's church at Pine Grove Baptist. I came to Super Summer with my church at the time (Heber Springs Baptist) and I'll admit I was kind of nervous at first. The first night I met my staffer and all of my "sisters" or family group and we became pretty close all week. My staffer at the time was Kristen and her rec partner was Paul. I became very close with my sisters and still talk to some of them today. The first night of worship Ronnie Hill was speaking. He was talking about the ABC's of Christianity and I began to really question my faith. I had already been having doubts whether or not I was saved so I asked God to come into my life and went to Barry Chapel with the other students who did the same thing. One staffer Lauren grabbed me by the arm since I was walking by myself and she helped explain everything to me and now I know without a doubt that I am for sure saved. I have been back to camp every year since then and it is the highlight of my summer. Last year I got to help someone with the same questions I had that year. It was her first year and the first night of SS/JV. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to share with someone who was going through the same thing I went through. I normally would not have the nerve to share the word with someone but I have been inviting people to church now and been able to talk about my faith openly since being a staffer. I have been a staffer for 2 years now and hope to be one this year. I am very close to 2 of my previous staffers. Raven and Paul both had a huge impact on my life and I know that if I needed something I can count on them. I have been going through a state of depression recently and they will both occasionally check in on me and my first year as a staffer they helped me out with alot when I was nervous about staffing. SUPER SUMMER CHANGED MY LIFE!!!

TATUM T, Student 2011
FBC WALDRON
For the past two years, I had heard about how fun Super Summer was and that I should go, but I always kinda brushed it off. When my youth pastor first mentioned it, I decided that maybe I should check it out. My friend suggested that I go and that's who I decided to room with. I talked to mom and dad about it and I didn't have to beg that much. They decided that this church camp would be good for me. As soon as I got there, I knew that I could get used to that place. Little did I know, it wasn't all fun and games. That night, Jon Randles got down to business. He made me aware of so much that had never even crossed my mind before. The band, Two Empty Chairs was probably the best band I've ever seen live. You could tell that they were singing for God. My family was so supportive and during family group, I felt just like I was at home talking to my sisters. I trusted them all so much because we had a lot in common. The cafeteria food was alright, but I was a SUCKER for that soft-serve ice cream machine. Recreation totally and completely wiped me out. Anyways, back to the point. Super Summer 2011 helped me to realize that the word 'Christian' isn't all it's cracked up to be. I can't just be a casual Christian; I have to be a dangerous disciple. :)