I’m so thankful to share the role Summit Ministries played in my life and am grateful to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for putting this ministry in my path. I will never forget the relationships I built with friends and leaders at the Summit conference. It is an honor to write this testimonial for Summit, and I hope to encourage anyone reading this to experience this amazing and impactful conference for themselves.
I grew up in a small Wyoming town of 700 people. I have loving parents and two amazing sisters. What does a small town have to do with a two-week experience at Summit in Manitou Springs? It holds an important role. My small town consists mainly of the Latter-Day Saints community, which, as a Christian, made it difficult at times. They were never judgmental or unkind about my beliefs—they were all good people. However, growing up, I was never surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ. I had my family, our community group, and my friends within my community, but it’s not the same as having a brother in Christ with whom you grow and help each other through your struggles.
Life was going pretty well for me until, at the age of eight, I gave my life to Christ and decided to follow him. You may wonder, “Isn’t that a good thing? Shouldn’t that be a proud moment?” Yes, of course it is! It’s a day I’ll never forget, but as I gave my life to Christ, my religion became my own, not just my parents. I came to believe I was alone in this whole thing and didn’t feel I could go to anyone with my problems or questions. As the youngest child and only boy in my family—which I’m thankful for now—I always wanted a brother. If I had a brother, I thought he would be the person I could talk to whenever I was having trouble with something at school or my faith.
I started to keep to myself and became deeply insecure. This was not done intentionally and is a habit I am still trying to break. As time went on, this isolation and insecurity became worse. I would occasionally open up to my parents, but I would always fall back into staying to myself. Through all this, I would pray to God, saying, “Why don’t I have someone, just at least one person, who is like me? Why is there not someone I can talk to about being a Christian and other things?”
Little did I know God answered my prayer and had been answering it for a long time.
In sixth grade, one of my friends moved away. We played many video games together and kept in touch by playing remotely. One day, he was playing with someone he met through a co-worker of his parents. I got to know this individual better and assumed he was a member of the Mormon church. Fast forward 5 years, and this new friend mentioned he was Christian, which surprised me! We kept talking and discovered that he used to attend the same church I attend now, and our families knew each other. We’ve since gotten so close that we have met in real life, met each other’s families, and tried to plan trips to see each other as much as possible, given the long-distance friendship. This experience allowed me to realize what having a brother in Christ was like. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had, that someone is always there for you and that you can share each other’s struggles, no matter what. This kick-started me into being excited for Summit Ministries.
Summit Ministries was familiar to me as my sisters had attended Summit conferences, and one was on staff. I was excited to come to Manitou Springs and attend a Summit Ministries conference, although I knew this would mean traveling alone to Colorado. Going into it, I thought, “I’m kind of nervous, but there are probably people who are more nervous than me, and if I don’t know anybody and nobody else knows anybody, it cancels out, and I should be fine.”
When I first got to Summit, I didn’t know what to think. I had heard stories from my sisters, but they attended in prior years with different staff, and the climate of our culture was different at that time. Knowing that Summit covers events happening in contemporary culture, I knew the classes would be different, too. As the conference progressed, I connected very well with most of the people there. I hung out with my roommates and with my small group. My group leader, Micah, helped my small group and me open up, and we all got super close to each other. This is what I had been striving for my whole life: to be surrounded by this many Christians! It was an amazing feeling.
Summit taught me I wasn’t alone, no matter what I thought. There was always somebody my age going through the same thing.
To this day, I still keep in contact with my small group leader, Micah, and most of my roommates and small group friends. To whoever is reading this, I highly encourage you to attend the Summit Student Conference. Summit Ministries did and continues to change my life daily. I am so glad I got to meet the people there that I did, and I plan on going back with one of my small group members. If anyone has second thoughts about Summit for the same reasons I did, trust me—it will change your life!
By Noah Johnson