Everyone at CAMP-of-the-WOODS knows the dish pit isn't exactly the most sought-after place to spend a summer.

The work is repetitive. The shifts can be long. And unlike many roles around Camp, much of what happens behind those kitchen doors goes unseen by guests.

But when Alex Culp looks back on his time in the dish room, that's not what he remembers most. He remembers the people who invested in him, the opportunity he was given to invest in others, and a job that became an unexpected place for Christian discipleship.

"I don't think any of the stuff we learn about leadership really means anything until you have a chance to see how that actually works," Alex said.

For him, one of the first places he saw it work was over a sink full of dishes.

Leadership Worth Following

Alex first heard about CAMP-of-the-WOODS through his father, who served on Summer Staff when he was in high school. Years later, Alex followed a similar path, spending his first summer at Camp working in the dish room.

It was there that another example of leadership began shaping him.

Alex's Dish Captain that summer, JP, showed him what it looked like to lead through both hard work and genuine care for the people around him. He taught his team how to work efficiently and get the job done well, but Alex remembers something even more clearly: his attitude.

"Though his job was difficult, he rarely, if ever, complained," Alex said. "He fostered a positive work environment, balancing hard work with fun."

JP also began morning shifts with devotions, shared how Jesus had changed his life, and took an interest in his staff beyond their work in the dish room.

"He cared about our life outside of work, developing friendships with us individually," Alex said.

JP's influence didn't end when the summer did. When Alex began considering LIFT, JP encouraged him and was willing to answer questions about his own experience in the program.

The impact stayed with Alex.

More Than a Dish Pit

Through LIFT, Alex spent the following year studying Scripture, learning about Christian leadership, being discipled by spiritual mentors, and growing alongside a community of young adults pursuing Christ.

But summer gave him the opportunity to put those lessons into practice.

"I think everything we learned in LIFT, all our leadership classes and practicing being like Christ, is practiced best in the summer practicum," Alex said.

When Alex chose to return to the kitchen as Dish Captain, he knew exactly what the students stepping into the dish room for the first time might be feeling. For many, it would be their first summer at Camp. For some, it would be their first job.

He also knew how significant one summer there could become.

"The impact [JP] had on me was my inspiration," Alex said. "I chose to become Dish Captain with the hope that by God's grace my staff might have a similarly significant summer. I prayed that like God had used JP, He might also use me."

The job itself hadn't changed. There were still dishes to wash, long shifts to work, and plenty happening outside the kitchen that might have seemed more exciting.

What had changed was the way Alex saw it.

"Everyone at Camp knows that working in the dish pit is not the most exciting or desirable job," Alex said. "But working with JP showed me it was more than what everyone else saw."

Alex had experienced firsthand that the dish room could build humility, character, communication, and leadership. But he had also come to believe it could be something more.

"It is an opportunity to experience transformative Christian discipleship," he said.

For Alex, that meant seeing a group of people come together around a shared pursuit: growing individually as followers of Christ, learning to live in unity as the body of Christ, and reflecting His love to others through their work.

Suddenly, washing dishes wasn't simply a job that needed to get done. It was another place where God could work.

Faithful in the Unseen

That realization has also reshaped Alex's understanding of leadership.

"It's not high-profile work. Not everyone sees what we do, but God sees," Alex said. "I think part of servant leadership is that it's not about you or your status you hold. It's about serving God's kingdom and serving the people that He puts in front of you."

Years earlier, JP had chosen to do exactly that. He showed up, worked hard, cared for his staff, opened God's Word with them, and made an ordinary workplace a place where a young Alex could see Christlike leadership in action.

This summer, Alex had the opportunity to do the same.

Now, as his year in LIFT comes to a close, Alex is carrying those lessons beyond CAMP-of-the-WOODS.

*Alex in Mexico with Tom (missions leader) and Rick (Alex’s grandfather).*

His next step will take him to Mexico, where he'll spend a year in a cross-cultural ministry program learning Spanish, serving alongside others, and continuing to grow as a Christian leader.

The setting will change. The work will look different. But the lesson Alex first learned in the dish pit remains: no place is too ordinary to be used by God.

Sometimes discipleship looks like a classroom, a Bible study, or a conversation with a mentor. And sometimes it looks like showing up to a sink full of dishes with a good attitude, caring about the person working beside you, and faithfully serving when few people will ever see it.

That's the kind of leadership Alex first received—and, by God's grace, the kind he hopes to pass on.

Interview & Story conducted by Summer Staff Chase Petry

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