Now they have two beautiful children (future campers) and a home and business in Red Lodge, Montana, close enough to smell the scent of Christikon over the mountains. We couldn’t have wanted a better growth experience for our son, and will always be indebted to Christikon for making that happen. I enjoy being on the Board and supporting the Christikon mission. My wife, Ann, and I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Bob and all the support that he and Christikon provide.

Dennis Christ — Red Lodge

Christikon has been a part of my life since I was eleven years old.  Christikon was were I learned how God can be a part of my everyday life. Christikon is where I built friendships and strength in myself as a camper, counselor and now as a Board member.

Kim Adams — Bozeman

The Christikon ministry matters because of the way it continues to touch so many lives. We are blessed to have such a place: a place of awakening and nurturing, a place of exploring and adventure, with Jesus Christ at the very center of it all. There were 740 people who came to Christikon in 2007. All left with some seeds! Thanks be to God!

Rich Parker — Big Timber

Christikon matters because it serves as a place of sanctuary from our over-booked, over-stressed, noisy lives. It's nice to leave the cell phones, laptops, and appointment books behind, and relax in Christkon’s majestic, peaceful setting.  Christikon is a place where I can be still, and feel God's presence.

Kristin Rapacz — Billings

Christikon is more relevant today than ever.  In a world of constant noise and activity we’re raising a generation of kids who live by TV, cell phones, the Internet, and video games.  Christikon is a rare place of quiet and solitude... a place where kids actually talk to one another face to face—no cell phone or text messaging possible there!  ....a place where silence is embraced, and in that silence comes discovery—of self and of faith. Christikon gives people a different world view—of themselves and how they interact with nature, of each other, and of God. As a parent, I find this to be a vitally important thing for kids to experience in this day and age.

Meredith Johnson — Bozeman

Years ago at Christikon, I heard and experienced the grace of God in a way I could understand. At Christikon, I heard the call of God to serve. That has made all the difference in my life. Through the ministry of Christikon, I hope and pray, trust and believe that God continues to touch youth and adults with the word of grace and the call to serve. I believe that makes all the difference.

Pastor Peggy Paugh Leuzinger — Livingston

I was 20 years old; and after having spent the previous summer selling chocolates, I decided it was time to do something a bit more meaningful with my break from college. I’d never been to Christikon before, but I was excited to see what was involved in being a camp counselor.

Not surprisingly, I loved it. The other staff people I met have remained some of my dear, life-long friends. But more than that, my summer at Christikon changed the career path I’d eventually take. In particular, the time spent with developmentally disabled campers made an enormous impact on me. I remember walking into my cabin, seeing one of my campers getting ready to hit another. I yelled, "Stop!  What are you doing?"  The camper replied, "I’m mad at myself, and I’m taking it out on someone else." 

I returned to PLU and declared Social Work to be my major. I took an internship working with people with developmental disabilities. After graduation, I moved to Missoula and continued that work. Finally, I wound up in graduate school at the U of Minnesota (the other U of M) and got a Master's degree in social work. 

I’m a Christikon alum who didn’t wind up in the pulpit; but my vocation has certainly been inspired by that one summer in the mountains of Montana. Currently, in my position with Big Brothers Big Sisters, I partner with the Montana Association of Churches to send "at risk" kids to Christikon for Sojourners Camp. It’s one of the many ways my life continues to be impacted by the mission and ministry of Christikon.