Four Generations. One Camp.
For the Thiessen family, Stillwood Camp isn’t simply a place they’ve visited. It’s part of their family story.
That story reaches back four generations, to the early days of what was then Columbia Bible Camp.
Mark Thiessen’s grandparents were part of those early years. His grandfather helped build some of the first cabins and, years later, continued supporting the construction of new cabins at the camp.
The connection continued with Mark’s mom, Herta. First she was a camper. Later, she returned as a cabin leader.
Then came Mark.
He started as a camper, too, and eventually joined the summer staff. That’s where he met Kristy.
The two would go on to spend around 20 summers serving at camp together. For Mark, the connection stretches even further – nearly 30 summers of involvement at the camp where he had once been a camper himself.
Today, he continues to serve Stillwood as a member of the Board.
But when Mark looks back, some of the moments that have stayed with him aren’t the big ones.
They’re the moments when he discovered that something seemingly small had mattered.
You Never Know
Mark was only about 18 or 19 when he had one of his first opportunities to talk with a camper about following Jesus. They were sitting at the outdoor chapel. Mark remembers crying—possibly even more than the camper—as they talked and prayed together.
It was one of those moments when the impact of camp was right there in front of him.
But ministry doesn’t always work that way.
Years later, Mark encountered a young woman who remembered him from when she had been a 13-year-old camper. She reminded him of an interaction they’d had at the climbing wall. Mark couldn’t remember it. She could.
She told him that something he had said to encourage her that day was the reason she came back to camp. Mark hadn’t known.
And perhaps that’s one of the remarkable things about serving at camp.
You never know.
You never know which conversation will matter. Which word of encouragement someone will remember. Which camper will return. Which seemingly ordinary moment God may use long after you’ve forgotten it.
And sometimes, you don’t have to look very far to see the story continuing.
The Next Generation
Today, Mark and Kristy’s sons, Caden, Braylon and Kolsen, have grown up with Stillwood as part of their lives, too.
They’ve experienced camp from the other side of the family story: not simply hearing about where their parents and grandparents served, but finding their own places to participate.
Over the years that has looked like everything from delivering cookies and Tuck to chapel and practical jobs around camp.
Braylon and Kolsen have participated in Stillwood’s Youth Development Program, continuing to learn what it means to serve and lead. And during the summer of 2026, Caden stepped into leadership in his own ways. He helped with chapel, took on practical jobs and even learned some of those very camp-specific skills—like backing up a boat trailer.
Different generation. Different roles. Same camp.
Four generations ago, Mark’s grandparents helped build cabins at Columbia Bible Camp.
Their daughter came as a camper and returned as a cabin leader.
Mark came as a camper, became summer staff, met Kristy, and together they spent years serving the ministry.
Now Caden, Braylon and Kolsen are writing their own part of the story.
That’s the thing about camp ministry. Sometimes you see what God is doing immediately. Sometimes you don’t discover the impact until years later. And sometimes you get the privilege of watching the story continue from one generation to the next.
Four generations. One camp. And the story is still being written.