CARNATION – Spending the weekend at the archdiocese’s Hispanic Family Camp gave Yaneli Basto, her husband Miguel Juarez and their three children important time to be together and build their faith.

“Our kids realize we carry our faith in our activities and wherever we go,” said Basto, a member of St. Anthony Parish in Renton.

Twenty-three families totaling 118 people (plus 25 volunteers) gathered for the Aug. 26-28 event at the archdiocese’s Camp Don Bosco near Carnation. Hispanic Family Camp is a time to celebrate and strengthen families, said Edwin Ferrera, the archdiocese’s director of Hispanic ministry.

“The program has been creating memories in minds and hearts of children for 15 years,” Ferrera said. “These memories stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

Kids participate in a contest during Hispanic Family camp. (Courtesy Hispanic Ministry)

The camp tries to balance fun camp activities, like bonfires and swimming, with intentional moments of prayer and reflection, Ferrera said. Faith-building activities included holy hour with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, confessions and a closing Mass with Bishop Eusebio Elizondo.

“We integrated aspects of the (National) Eucharistic Revival,” Ferrera said, referring to the U.S. bishops’ three-year effort to renew understanding of and devotion to the Eucharist.

The holy hour was impactful for Basto. “We were able to sing together and praise the Lord,” she said. “We prayed for our kids and the kids prayed for us.”

Families said the “Eucharistic Revival” holy hour was a powerful experience. (Courtesy Hispanic Ministry)

The weekend also included practical workshops, including positive discipline and ways to keep children safe as they navigate the virtual world. Father Justin Ryan, the archdiocese’s vocations director, spoke about creating a culture of vocation discernment at home, Ferrera said.

Some of this year’s campers had attended as children, Ferrera said, but for others, the camp was a new experience.

“We could never afford it (before) and we missed opportunities to go. We were blessed to go” this year said Adriana Maldonado, a member of St. Mary Parish in Marysville. “It was our first time, and we didn’t want to miss anything.”

Maldonado attended with her husband Aaron Jesus German, their two children and two friends who don’t speak Spanish. She especially enjoyed participating in “Family Olympics” and the holy hour, which she described as “so powerful.”

Bishop Eusebio Elizondo poses with a family after Mass during Hispanic Family Camp. (Courtesy Hispanic Ministry)

During bonfires on Friday and Saturday nights, campers sang folk songs from Latin America which are dear to first-generation immigrants, Ferrera said.

Basto said her children also made s’mores. “If we didn’t do s’mores, it would be like we didn’t go camping correctly,” she said.

This year’s family camp was a collaborative effort of the archdiocese’s Hispanic Ministry office and representatives of various ecclesial movements active in the archdiocese, Ferrera said. It marked a return to a full in-person camp, after virtual workshops in 2020 because of the pandemic and a hybrid experience in 2021 with a limited number of families.

The next Hispanic Family Camp is slated Aug. 25-27, 2023, and the number of families able to attend “depends on where we go with the pandemic,” Ferrera said. “The hope is more people will be allowed to participate.”

More scenes from Hispanic Family Camp