September 2, 2025 // Diocese

USF Students Spend ‘Life-Changing’ Summer at Damascus

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

When pondering how to describe Damascus Summer Camp, Michelle Perez, a junior at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, said, “It’s almost like Catholic Disneyland.”

“When you come to this summer camp, almost every kid is smiling, which reminds me of Disneyland,” Perez told Today’s Catholic. “There is just pure joy throughout the whole week, and seeing Jesus in the monstrance is almost magical. The light shines down, and He glistens.” 

This past summer, seven students and alumni from Saint Francis devoted their summer breaks to serving young people at Damascus (formerly known as Catholic Youth Summer Camp). Along with Perez, they are: Maddy Bryan, Joanna Evanich, Grace Hein, Brigit Delaney, Grace Warner, and Leander Evangelio.

The organization aims to cultivate love of the Lord in middle school and high school-aged Catholics through adventure and high-energy activities. Throughout the week that they’re at Damascus, campers are able to take part in high ropes courses, swimming, archery, and other typical camp activities, as well as encounter the Lord every step of the way.

“Yesterday, was my first time going up on the high ropes with the girls,” Perez told Today’s Catholic earlier this summer. “I was scared, but I felt the Lord tell me to just go for it. It would be a good thing to do with my small group of girls. We were all harnessed and went together. It was so fun.”

Perez continued, saying: “At one point, my group and I were so comfortable up there we’d try and push each other off the logs. I’d fall and then be left dangling for a second and come back up. Our group had a dance party on metal strings. … It’s moments like those that I feel so connected to the campers.”

Young people come from around the country to experience what Damascus has to offer at its main campus in Centerburg, Ohio, which is located approximately 45 minutes northeast of Columbus.

Joanna Evanich is a recent graduate from Saint Francis and is now a full-time missionary at the camp. Evanich told Today’s Catholic that her experiences at Damascus have changed her life.

“I grew up Catholic and went to Mass every Sunday, but [when I was in high school] I felt like something was missing. … I was very wounded and very broken,” she said.   

“It was here at this camp that I heard Jesus speak to me for the first time. … I clearly heard him say that I was worthy and loved. This changed my life,” she continued.

After having a profound encounter with the Lord at the camp, Evanich decided to apply to join the staff as a camp counselor in the summers of her college years. She has not only grown deeply in her faith through her summers as a counselor but also has learned to deeply empathize with this generation’s teens.

“There is so much fear in today’s youth, and I can just really see it, especially in middle schoolers. Many are incredibly lonely, too, and it’s shocking because they are just so young,” she said.

Evanich said she has seen a profound impact on the young people during their time spent at Damascus.

“I love seeing those walls break down when we are in small group with kids,” she explained. “I get to see them finally experience a true brotherhood and sisterhood.”

Another unique quality of the Catholic camp is its staff’s willingness to embrace the noisiness of youth.

“We let them be rowdy and rambunctious,” Evanich said. “It gets very loud at meals, and we play games, but it also cultivates that brotherhood and sisterhood. It lets them get everything out.”

She added: “At Damascus, they don’t need to fit the mold or be perfect. I feel like so often they feel the pressure of that in today’s world. They don’t have to strive to be perfect because the Father is always there waiting for them.”

Maddy Bryan, a junior at Saint Francis, was intrigued by the life of a Damascus staff member after attending one of the weeklong camps.

“After the camp, I was driving back with [Evanich], and she was telling me about staffing and everything that comes with it. I was just so intrigued by her experiences that I applied for the next summer,” Bryan said.

This summer, Bryan served as a member of what is called the “program staff,” a group that works behind the scenes to keep the camp running smoothly.

“[Program staff] goes to bed after everybody else, and we wake up before everyone as well. It is an invitation to completely give of myself and pour myself out.”

Through the hard work, camaraderie with her co-workers, interaction with the campers, and being surrounded by Christ, Bryan said she has grown in her faith because of her Damascus experiences.

“I came into the summer not consistently praying because it was a rough semester, but I’ve been so fulfilled spiritually this summer,” Bryan told Today’s Catholic. “I want to take my new prayer habits and hold onto them when I’m back in Fort Wayne.”

Bryan continued, saying, “I’ve also definitely learned … that Jesus wants all the ugly parts of you, even the bad parts you are ashamed of.”

Bryan said one particularly rewarding moment came when she witnessed a group of young girls kneeling before the monstrance.

“Out in a hallway, there was a priest holding the monstrance, waiting to go into a room to set up the altar,” Bryan said. “There was incense, and he was just standing still, waiting. A group of middle-school girls also in the hall noticed Jesus was there, and they just stopped and knelt down. They gazed up, and I heard one say, ‘I love you, Jesus’ out loud, which was just so beautiful.”

Grace Hein, a junior at Saint Francis, originally thought she would spend her summer either working in a hospital or working on her soccer skills.

“I’m in pursuit of soccer and nursing school at USF, and so much of the world says you need to get it together and either work in a hospital in the summer or play soccer all the time,” said Hein, who told Today’s Catholic that she was trying to decide between the two options for her summer when she heard Christ invite her to consider a third. 

“I just felt the Lord really say, ‘Grace, leave it all behind and pursue my heart.’ That is how I knew I needed to be a missionary for Damascus,” Hein explained.

“Damascus is a place to learn to love,” Hein said. “It is here in this summer camp, specifically, that I have truly learned to love, because it is quite intense. We go from one thing to the next, and having nine campers with me all day is crazy. But you can still love others in it all. I love by praying that my campers truly encounter Christ when they are here.”

Brigit Delaney, a junior at Saint Francis, worked on the medical staff during her summer at Damascus.

“When you’re on the medical staff, you have a unique opportunity to have one-on-one interactions with campers,” Delaney said. “I get to look them in the eyes and say, ‘How can I make you feel better?’ I imagine this type of loving other people is how Mary likes to love … almost in a very motherly and gentle way.”

Delaney added: “Today’s youth want to be listened to and loved. Sometimes they are homesick at camp and miss their mom or dad. I get to give them some attention and be a calming presence in their lives.”

She concluded by saying: “Being a missionary over the summer has taught me about God’s faithfulness. … He is a good Father. I’ve seen the Holy Spirit come into moments this summer and work through me. … Christ is providing for us.”

Clare Hildebrandt is a staff writer for Today’s Catholic.