By Chad Hershberger 

A ten-year-old camper, on his second adventure at Camp Mount Luther, learned to make God’s eye in the craft lodge during his week at camp. It’s a skill and craft that he still loves. He even made a large God’s eye to hang in his dorm room at college. Today, he still enjoys seeing kids making that craft and taking a reminder of camp home with them.

That ten-year-old was me. The person who taught me how to make God’s eyes was the craft director that year who we called “Crafty Carla.” Carla Everett-Ladonis went on to be the director of camp for five years and had a long career in education, influencing the lives of so many kids, including this current director of camp.

Last week, we lost Carla after a long-fought health battle. When her sister, Deby, called me to break the news, I was heartbroken. I was heartbroken still to learn that she had a liver transplant earlier in the week and when they restarted her body following that surgery, her organs just couldn’t take it. Her struggles from illness ended, but not in the way we here on earth were hoping for.

My mind was filled with memories of Carla. As a camper, I saw her as a strong leadership presence in camp, with emphasis on presence. She was always there. She was interacting with the campers, being part of the program, and taking care of the little things. I remember that as a ten-day camper after a three-day hike on the Mid-State Trail that Carla was there to pick us up in the “SWAT Van” when it started to storm. She was part of senior high dinners, sang silly camp songs, and was always smiling. Boy, do I remember her smile. And yet she was firm. She made sure you followed the rules and didn’t take the attitudes of all-knowing youth.

She and I were also pen pals. Back in those days, it was fun for campers to write letters to staff members. Some would respond. Carla and I corresponded for years that way in my youth. They were a way to “catch up” but also for me it was encouraging that this leader of camp would think enough of me to write back. Getting a letter from Carla brought encouragement to my day. I also can remember that she came to my church to give a camping presentation and I was excited to see her and show her around my home congregation!

When I got out of college and joined the Camp Mount Luther board, Carla was on it. In fact, Carla was one of the six incorporators of the Camp Mount Luther Corporation. She served on the board for the first six years of its existence and our terms on the board overlapped for a time. It was great to serve with this person who meant so much to my camp experience as a kid. And even after Carla’s time on the board ended and she was raising a family, she still was supportive of the camp and when I became director, I knew she had my back and was supporting me from afar.

Of course, now being pen pals is antiquated but it was also fun for me to become a Facebook friend of Carla these last number of years. Seeing her pictures of her family and what she was involved in and getting comments from her on my posts still brought encouragement to my day.

As I’ve thought back in the last two weeks, I am honored that I have followed in Carla’s director’s footsteps. In many ways, I have adapted what I learned from watching her in my own ministry here. Trying to be present with the campers, building relationships, and being loving, but firm- they are all things I aspire to do here. She was an incredible role model for me in the way she lived and worked and loved this place.

My wife, Pastor Sarah Hershberger, had the honor of preaching at Carla’s funeral earlier this week. I had mentioned to her about the God’s eye and Carla’s time as craft director and so Sarah brought that up in her homily. She said:

 I got to thinking about how before Carla was the director of camp, she was the craft director and got to thinking about the quintessential camp craft:  the God’s eye.  I found a little history on it, and it originated in Mexico, and the indigenous people used this as a symbol of prayer. A God’s eye is associated with prayers for our children, prayers for a good life, for safety, for abundance. The sticks represent the basic elements; earth, water, wind, and fire, and the four cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. The center of the eye symbolizes the power of seeing and understanding things we normally cannot see. It’s a camp craft that just about every camper gets to do, probably because it’s an easy craft to handle. But it’s such a rich symbol. Because in addition to this idea of seeing and understanding things that we normally can’t see, it also gives us a good understanding of how a life touches a life. So, if one person, let’s say Carla, is in one place for just a little while, her life has been intertwined with another life, and another, and another. And then those lives go out from that place and intertwine with another life, and another, and another. And in not so much time, ripples can be felt by the kindness and goodness of a single person. Life after life after life is touched, with a common thread running through it. (and it’s true of your life too!)

Rest in peace, Carla. We are grateful to God for your life among us, especially here at Camp Mount Luther. May God’s perpetual light shine upon you.