That first evening, as people introduced their families in the auditorium, I found myself doing a rapid count in my head. Grandkids, children, me, my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents—yes, that made six generations of Gundys who have spent happy times at Friedenswald! I couldn’t help but mention that statistic, with due Mennonite humility, as I introduced our group, and I think I’ve repeated that small brag every year since. While many camp families have similar stories, likely not many stretch over quite so many generations, so here’s a brief, incomplete history.
Reflecting on the summer in my own words – by Noah Boyer-Edwards
We are faced every day with the question of how and to what extent to incorporate technology into our work and worship. How much is really lost by allowing AI to write an email for us? Should a church maintain a website? A Facebook page? Instagram? I don’t know where we should draw the line, and I don’t think anybody else does either. But I am choosing to focus on gratitude.
Serving Everyone, a Mixed History: A reflection by Peter Graber
Our family relationships were mostly with other local families and our childhood friendships were with the children in our “neighborhood.” Our Mennonite friends were people we saw in church or once a year at camp in the summer. It also meant that most of our friends were African-American.
Early Camp Memories: A reflection by the late Lew Naylor
Before he died in June 2025, Lew Naylor shared these early and formative memories of being a camper at Camp Friedenswald.