About 100 South Florida students of all ages painted, sang, pounded on the drums and played outdoor games during a series of two one-week camps.
But at the end of each session, there was a common theme they learned.
“Whatever you decide to do with your life, you bring it back to God. You’re always bringing it back to Him,” Grand Canyon University alumnus Sammy Beltran said.
Beltran, who graduated in 2025 with a degree in hospitality management, was part of a group of about 40 GCU alumni and students who participated in the Hearts of Fire mission camp in late June and early July in Naranja, Florida, about 40 minutes south of Miami.
Sister Lucy Clare, assistant director of evangelization at Holy Spirit Catholic Newman Center, just across the street from GCU, described the event as a vacation Bible school summer camp for children at no cost.
“It’s a mission that unites three dioceses, and we bring students from our mission in Phoenix, and then from Jacksonville (Florida) and South Dakota and unite because our sisters serve in their dioceses and their campus ministries, “ Clare said.
The children would arrive in the morning, get their nametags and attend Mass. Each student leader would be assigned to an age group or specific station. Beltran, for instance, worked with children ages 13-17.
Each age group would learn each day about a different saint, and Beltran’s group learned about St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, his life and how he was relatable to the group, followed by an activity.
Frassati, an Italian Catholic activist who died in 1925 at age 24, loved to hike and play pool. Those who lost to him in a game of pool would be forced to hike and attend Mass with him.
So the children participated in a dice game made of paper. Those who rolled the highest number “on the peak of the mountain” were deemed to have reached the top.
“They were competitive,” Beltran said with a laugh.
The next classroom was at the plaza with the prayer team, where they would hear readings of the Bible.
“One day, the Gospel was saying how to treat others with respect,” said Beltran, a student at the Arizona Culinary Institute who also works for her family’s company. “And for the activity, we got in a circle and gave each other a compliment. We’d hold hands, and a hula hoop would go in between each person. But in order for the hula hoop to pass each person, you had to give each other a compliment.
"It was beautiful to see the students talk to each other and give each other compliments. They did not know each other that well. The whole point was to treat others by the way you want to be treated within all that.”
Savannah Efseaff, a biology major with an emphasis in pre-physician assistant, worked at a music station and vividly recalled the first day students were given instruments, such as bongo drums, flutes and maracas, and told to create a song by the end of class.
“They couldn’t stop talking about it all week,” recalled Efseaff, who plays the piano and guitar in addition to singing. “It was fun to explore with the kids because they’re so creative.”
Middle-aged kids from the Jacksonville group assisted in helping the campers, which allowed the college students to share their experiences and hear how their faith is impacting their lives.
“One thing we like to keep in mind throughout the trip was we were there for service, there for radical love that poured out for the kids, so hopefully the kids could see that inside of us and have a good experience because of how much we were putting into it,” Efseaff said. “Another thing: We were there, first and foremost, to serve the kids. And there was a big age gap.”
Nights concluded with spiritually enriching events that included praise and worship, Clare said.
“This trip was very unique, because one of our religious sisters (Sister Carmen Maria) passed away during week one, and then during week two was the funeral, and so, for them, it was just really, really impactful to contemplate a life that had been actually totally given to the Lord, and just to see all the people coming to the wake and coming to speak on how much her life like impacted them.
“It's a huge moment for them to encounter our charism at our religious community, and they just spoke about all of them saying, ‘Sister, I feel like I just met your family.’"
“We try to bring the gift that our religious community is to Phoenix. But then for them to come to Miami, where the heart of it is, where so many sisters are, they're like, 'Whoa, like it's so palpable and so beautiful.'”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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