I am a staff kid, or a SIT (Staff-In-Training), as we call ourselves. It’s me, my sister, Judy, and my best friends, Hannah, Ari and Lilly. Judy’s in eighth grade at First Flight Middle School and I’m a senior at First Flight High. My father Scott Williams joined staff in 1998 right before I was born, and we lived in Raleigh, NC. In 2010, my mother Lori received a vision of our family on an island in the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina. That day, my dad was told we needed to relocate. Now he’s the Northeast North Carolina FCA area director and my mom’s his assistant.
The Williams family: (front) Judy, Lori, Chloe, and Scott
Some kids consider their greatest memories to be a family picnic, or traveling across America. Mine are definitely my camp experiences—close to 40 of them.
The first camp I remember, which is my absolute favorite, was at Gardner-Webb University. The staff kids played sports, made crafts, and walked around campus. Each afternoon, my friend Zach and I went to the ice cream parlor, Hannah and I watched the campers’ football games, and another friend Derrick and I had scooter races. Every night, staff parties allowed us to stuff ourselves and watch movies. I felt like I was living a fantasy.
In 2009, the camp moved to UNC-Pembroke. Hannah’s dad was the school’s assistant football coach, and when we weren’t helping at check-in or taking pictures on the field, we were let loose to explore the field house, annex, and library. When we met Ari and Lilly in 2012, our friend trio instantly became a quintet. Being on FCA staff is like being one big family. We’ve been involved in each other’s life events, and we would do anything for one another.
At camps, there’s nothing that makes a child feel cooler than when a college kid talks to them. I love it when they laugh and joke with me. Huddle leaders have amazing testimonies and possess such leadership. They’re beautiful people inside and out; it’s impossible not to look up to them. As the elder child in my family, I’ve never had an older sibling to look out for me. When I go to camp, I’m surrounded by leaders who never hesitate to make sure I’m okay.
Chloe (left) and fellow SIT pause for a photo break
at FCA Camp
Camp also exposed me to Jesus at a young age. I’m proud my dad works with a ministry, but going to a public school with non-believers is difficult. I’m known as the ‘Christian girl’, and a lot of times I feel shut down for saying something I believe in. I feel the need to walk the talk; many times I slip and think, I shouldn’t have done that, and that these moments will endanger my testimony.
Sometimes, my dad is gone for an entire week, and in the transition from Raleigh to the OBX, we lived nine months in a one-room apartment in Wake Forest with him alternating weeks of staying with us and the OBX. Now we’re together in the OBX, and while every day is still a battle to schedule family time, I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Everyone I’ve met through FCA means so much to me. FCA is the one place I’ve NEVER felt ostracized because everyone there’s a whole mess of crazy and grace. I’ve made not just an earthly family, but an eternal one. That’s something I’ll treasure forever. FCA not only affects kids who attend the camps, but also those who work them. FCA influences kids too young to even understand what it means. In that stage when you believe everything, it’s important to be told of Jesus and His love.
Being a staff kid has given me the childhood of my dreams, and I know that other SIT love it just as much as I do. For now, all good things must come to an end. At least until next summer.