2025 DPF Peace Interns Ruthie, Chrys, and Ella in front of “the Chalice Wall” at the Guest House at Allisonville Christian Church during Peace Intern Training Week.
My name is Ruthie Weeks, I’m a 50th anniversary Disciples Peace Fellowship Peace Intern, and camp sort of runs in my family.
Both of my grandfathers are Disciples ministers, and both of them have a legacy of working and serving at camp. Bob Raiford, my Pa, has served and had adventures at countless camps, from being a lifeguard after college at Camp Caroline, to getting a tick out of a little boy’s ear at Camp Kum-Ba-Ya, to directing Camp Balaam at Camp Christian. Gary Weeks, my Grandpa, spent many years serving as the Camp
Administrator at Central Christian Camp in Guthrie, Oklahoma, making camp accessible to all through Make Promises Happen. The church camp trend continued when my dad, Michael Weeks, also became a Disciples minister. My mom, Michelle Weeks, met and got to know my dad when he became the Executive Director at Camp Christian and by a twist of fate, they directed a camp together. They got married and had me, and I was lucky enough to live at Camp Christian until I was seven! Living at camp allowed me to experience the most beautiful early childhood, through mornings relaxing underneath the leaves of my favorite tree, afternoons enjoying the paddle boats on the lake, and evenings in the pool. I absolutely loved everything about camp and could not wait until I was old enough to actually attend.
My family moved to Virginia, but that did not stop my love for camp. The summer we moved, I attended Craig Springs, and grew to love it there, spending at least one week each summer up on the mountain. Camp is an integral part of my connection to God. At camp, Christian community is in its most perfect form, where everyone feels comfortable to be authentically themselves, making friends with people from all walks of life. We spend time in nature, we sing silly songs, we play, and we worship. Time spent at camp is always the best of the year, and something I am constantly missing and looking forward to.
This past fall, my Grandpa passed away. My family and those who loved him gathered to celebrate his life, and I heard many stories of the impact he had at Central Christian Camp. We looked at old pictures, and I even found a newspaper article that featured Make Promises Happen and my Grandpa. While I had always been aware of the Disciples Peace Fellowship, I began to truly consider serving as a Peace Intern for the first time. Camp is so important to me, as it was to the people before me, and the people before them. I felt a strong call to spend my summer living out Jesus’ vision through advocating for peace and justice, sharing this vision with the next generation.
My time as a Peace Intern began with a fabulous training week, where I had the privilege of getting to meet so many people doing incredible work for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I loved growing closer with Ella Johnson and Chrys Beckley, the two other Peace Interns for this summer, Rev. Brian Frederick-Gray, the DPF Mission Director, and Rev. Sarah Zuniga, our Peace Intern Chaplain. I am now at Camp Christian in Gordon, Georgia, where my personal camp journey started, and this full circle moment means the world to me. I will then travel all over the country, visiting camps, attending mission trips, and meeting at General Assembly.
Everywhere I go, I will seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.