A Massanetta Story (Lizzie Hepler)

Massanetta Springs has been a second home to me, since I was 8 years old, when I first came to Bible and Church Music conference with my church, Augusta Stone. Like many people, I have been coming to Netta every year since in some form until 2020, unfortunately, but I’m so glad to be back! Massanetta has been a constant, not only in my life, but in the building of my faith. I have gotten the opportunity to explore so many different avenues to my faith and leadership within my faith through Massanetta and the people I have met and connected with throughout the years. For many years, I only attended BCCMC as a camper, but through those years I learned so much about the bible, the church, how to explore my faith outside of my church, and how to take what I’ve learned back to my home church to share. I eventually attended different conferences like SALT and got involved with the Shenandoah Youth Presbyterian Council, however I never had the privilege of attending middle school conferences. However, through the relationships I made, I was encouraged to apply to be an enabler, now called advocate. I was blessed to be a part of Called Together in June and Gone Fishin’ in both June and July, because of a last minute fill needed and previous relationships I had made. That summer was full of blessings and taught me so much about being a leader, stepping up when called, knowing my limits, and enjoying one of many of my birthdays at Netta! The summer I started as an advocate, I also was a counselor for BCCMC, which was truly a full circle moment for me from being a camper. I continued to be a counselor each year, and those years really expanded my faith and showed me there are so many different ways to worship. I absolutely loved and cherish those years of getting to share my faith and love of Netta with the young people of the church. One of the most memorable Massanetta experiences I have is being part of Netta Day camp in 2019. I loved being able to live at Netta the entire summer, work with an AMAZING staff, getting to work with some incredible kids, and spending another birthday of mine at Netta! Finally in my most recent Netta adventure has been being asked to join the board, and that has been the greatest honor. I absolutely love Massanetta, and I am so glad that I can continue to be a part of the growth of this place in leadership, faith, love, and community.