Hi! My name is Alli Cheathem, and I am the new Marketing & Communications Coordinator at Cedar Lake Camp!
I’ve worked at camp for 7 summers and was an intern here in 2021. Moving forward, I will be handling much of our social media, printed materials, and more, so you may be hearing from me!
I currently live in Cookeville, TN where I attend Poplar Grove Baptist Church and study business & workplace leadership at Tennessee Tech University.
My friend, Ben, has been doing these tasks for the past two years. In October, he married his wife, Claire, and decided it was time to move on from his position as he enters this next phase of life. I have already greatly missed his video editing skills.
With this shift, both Ryan and I felt the Lord highlighting an opportunity for change.
I believe the relationships built over the summers are a unique characteristic of CLC.
Campers often return year after year causing counselors to celebrate when they recognize their names on the list. Those campers sometimes become staff, and their former counselors continue pouring into them as their peers.
For myself, I first spent a week at Cedar Lake because my neighbor invited me. I didn’t know much about camp (and I was prone to homesickness), but trusting her and wanting to experience it with her, I went. That one week undoubtedly changed my life.
I went home with a new desire to seek the Lord. I am sure I learned a lot about the Bible that week, but what really prodded my heart was the community I saw. I could tell that my counselors all had a shared purpose, hope, and joy, and they openly talked about its source:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
All that being said, it is evident to me that community plays a significant role in our ministry. But this community isn’t only found in our summer staff. Paul says it well in Romans 12:
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
While we will remain focused on that, we also recognize that everyone in our community plays a part in that mission, and we want that to be clear through our interactions with you.
Whether you’re a staff parent, church partner, former camper, or prayer warrior, you have used your unique gifts and resources to support our ministry.
Therefore, we are trying to find new ways of being intentional and connecting with our community when we can.
Here are some ways I’m hoping to implement this ideology:
Starting this summer, I will be sending out weekly staff parent newsletters in hopes to both ease parents’ minds and share how their child is impacting the Kingdom in real-time.
For those of you who support camp financially, we want you to know that we are so grateful for you. You are a vital part of our community, and the Lord is using you to keep Cedar Lake alive. Our Board of Directors is currently considering ways we can more clearly express that gratitude and invite you into a more personal connection with our staff.
Brother Geiger cared deeply for the youth in Overton County, and we want to be a resource and light for our local community.
In this spirit, we will be hosting Camp’s Cookout at Livingston Central Park on Friday May 2, 2025 from 11am-1pm!
Cedar Lake Camp and other sponsors will be serving themed dishes for participants to taste. We see this as an opportunity to engage with our local community, and all proceeds from the event will go towards camper scholarships. More details to come. We would love for you to join us!
(If you are interested in serving a dish as a sponsor, send us an email!)
Being a ministry partner doesn’t only mean giving financially. Here are other ways you can support our work! (These are all included on our updated partner page as well)
We are using a new program that allows you to join us in prayer in an interactive way. By filling out this form, you can receive real-time, short prayer requests from our ministry throughout the year.
You can then pray for our specific needs as they come, and you’re also able to respond with a message or click a button letting us know you’re praying for us.
People often bring us items that are very useful, whether used or new.
We now have an Amazon Registry for the summer where you can see which items we need most and even directly purchase them!
If you already own items you think we could use or want to purchase from a different store, just email us and let us know so we can mark it off the list!
This is a very practical way to have an impact on our ministry.
God has gifted each of us with unique skills and abilities. Camp ministry is unique in how diverse our work can be, and we often find ourselves needing very niche skills.
Whether God has gifted you with a love for upholstery, organization, or simply the ability to climb a ladder, we would be so encouraged by your volunteering time.
Contact us by phone or email if you feel called to help in this way.
By far, CLC’s most effective form of advertisement is word-of-mouth marketing. Parents, campers, staff, and partners inviting their friends and families to camp has always been crucial for our ministry.
Please invite the children & young adults in your sphere of influence to camp.
We would also love to come speak at your community event, church gathering, homeschool group, etc. and invite kids to camp ourselves! Please reach out to us if this is a possibility.
I look forward to engaging with you all in the future! Please pray that I will honor the Lord well in this new role.
Alli Cheathem
