Boggs was a camp counselor for two years at rural Henning camp

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A chance phone call his brother received from Lutheran Island Camp a few years ago set off a series of events for Evan Boggs that almost seem so unbelievable that you would need to hear it first-hand to believe it is true. 

Shortly before camp started in 2022, Lutheran Island Camp Program Coordinator Julia Johnson called Boggs’ brother wondering if he knew of anyone who would be interested in being a camp counselor at Lutheran Island Camp. The camp was short a few counselors and Johnson was reaching out to college students she knew who may know of a person who would be a good fit for the rural Henning camp.

“I actually came to camp on a whim,” said Boggs. “I was sitting pool side in Florida and visiting my brother when he got the call. “I said ‘why not I didn’t see anything else happening with my summer.’”

Boggs quickly fell in love with the camp and returned the following summer to be a camp counselor once again. Not only was the camp a place where he could help regional youth grow in their faith, but it was also the place where he met his future wife, who was also a camp counselor at the time Boggs was at the East Battle Lake camp. The two were married in a special wedding ceremony at Lutheran Island Camp on December 22, 2023.

Now with a young child, the Boggs family is making a return to Lutheran Island Camp, but in a much different role than a camp counselor—the Nebraska native was recently named as the program director at Lutheran Island Camp.

The son of a pastor from Nebraska, Boggs earned a degree in plumbing and began working the blue collar life, before feeling the need to change careers. Lutheran Island Camp was looking for a program director around that same time and the new husband reached out to his former boss to see if she thought he would be a good fit for the position.

“I was working in the blue collar world and I just didn’t feel fulfilled in the work. I loved the work, but it wasn’t fulfilling,” said Boggs. “I reached out to (Lutheran Island Camp Executive Director Stacy Lung) and I said what would this look like if I applied.”

His former boss encouraged him to apply for the position and Boggs was named as the new program director at the camp, which has become such an important part of the past four years of his life.

“God is definitely working full circle,” he said. 

Boggs began his new position shortly after the first of the year and has made the unique island in rural Henning his family’s new home. As program director, Boggs will work on the programming for the summer and offseason retreats/camps. He is currently working on getting counselors and new staff members in place before the summer. In addition to himself, his wife Mattea Boggs will work as a program coordinator at the camp as the couple put their focus on raising their eight month old child. 

“We have a lot of fun things planned for the summer,” said Boggs of the programming. “Basically we are just going to have our summer filled from June 7 to August 7, just full of different programming.”

Now on the other side of things at the camp, from counselor to one of the people in charge of the summer and offseason programs, Boggs said he is looking forward to making memories and sharing his experience of how a chance phone call while sitting by a pool changed his life in a positive way.

“I’m excited to see how God uses this position in the way it works for camp. We get to reach kids through Jesus and camp and I am excited to see what that looks like from that perspective,” he said. “I get to see (the campers) have a good time on the camp through programming. I am excited to see how God uses this role and how he uses it to glorify him through the work here.”