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SEEKING TO SERVE—AND FINDING EACH OTHER
Jason and Aleah didn’t go to camp to find love. It found them anyway.
Jason and Aleah fell in love at summer camp. They call their meeting a “miracle” that only God could have orchestrated.
Aleah thought her first summer as a counselor at Agape Youth Camp in Oregon might be her last. She found volunteering meaningful, but she went home emotionally exhausted. Like other Prison Fellowship® Angel Tree camps, Agape Youth Camp serves youth who have faced significant challenges and trauma. Though the camp provided comprehensive training for leaders, Aleah still questioned if she was spiritually or emotionally ready to bear the weight of it all.
Aleah also knew her schedule the next summer would be packed. But every time she remembered the campers, she thought of the purpose she found in sharing Jesus with them. She sensed the Lord’s quiet insistence: If not you, then who?
Around the time Aleah decided to sign up for camp again, Jason was visiting a church in a nearby town. He had only planned to see a friend and enjoy worship with other believers. He certainly wasn’t expecting an invitation to volunteer at a summer camp.
That morning, the pastor described a place Jason had never heard of, a haven for kids with incarcerated parents. Agape Youth Camp desperately needed male counselors to serve on staff that next summer. Jason felt an unmistakable nudge.
He thought of his lack of camp experience and hesitated. Then he considered the years he spent coaching youth soccer and mentoring kids. The opportunity before him came into focus.
Leaving church that day, he knew he had to sign up.
WORLDS COLLIDE
Jason and Aleah arrived at the Angel Tree® camp from different churches and backgrounds. Aleah had grown up in church; Jason was a self-described “first-generation Christian” in his family.
From the moment he arrived, Jason poured his attention wholly into the campers under his care. Aleah noticed his sincerity right away. She saw him taking time for kids who needed one-on-one attention, even when it meant sitting on the bleachers away from the fun and games.
“Jason wasn’t trying to be the cool guy,” Aleah says. “He wasn’t distracted. He wasn’t flirting or trying to hang out with other counselors. He was just fully present with the boys, especially the ones who struggled to fit in.”
At first, Aleah tried to brush off her feelings. She figured other young counselors would have a crush on him, too.
Little did she know, Jason had noticed her almost instantly. He saw the way kids gravitated toward her warmth. Little girls would hold her hand or latch onto her arm for comfort. They knew they were safe and loved around her. They saw a light in her, and so did Jason.
But even as the two counselors noticed each other, both kept their distance.
We’re here for the kids, Jason reminded himself.
I can’t get distracted, Aleah thought.
Still, during leaders’ meetings, Jason left open seats on either side of him, just in case Aleah chose one. Aleah often found herself glancing in his direction. Between lesson times and games, they found themselves wanting to know more about the other.
THE SECRET PLAN
Camp wasn’t a place where people tried to look their best. Aleah felt sweaty and sleep-deprived, fueled by adrenaline and Jesus’ love. On the last day of camp, she walked into a meeting with no makeup—nothing to conceal her tired eyes or sunburned cheeks.
Before they parted ways, Jason asked for her number.
“That’s how you know it’s real,” Aleah later said with a laugh.
A few days after camp, Jason and Aleah met for tea. They talked until the café closed. Surrounded by stacked chairs and dimming lights, they began their quiet love story.
For the next year, they dated with intention and set boundaries, desiring to honor God and each other. Their budding relationship was steady and sure.
Jason had never been more certain of anything, besides his faith in Jesus. By the time camp rolled around again the next summer, Jason had a ring and a plan to propose.
He hid it in his cargo pants pocket the entire week and checked on it constantly. His stomach churned so badly that he lost his appetite. Aleah—unaware of the reason for his malaise—worried that he would end up seriously ill or even go to the hospital.
The couple hid their relationship from the campers, wanting the kids to feel prioritized, not distracted or overshadowed by some counselor romance. Only a few leaders knew what Jason had planned.
One counselor, Erin, could hardly contain her joy when Jason shared his secret plan. She made sure the camp photographer stayed late after the campers went home, just in case.
A PROPOSAL TO REMEMBER
After camp ended, Jason and Aleah met under a canopy of trees near a picnic table. They had planned to share their personal highlights from the year. Aleah had brought printed photos of their favorite memories together.
Jason wanted to share first, and Aleah heard something in his tone shift from nervous to assured. He said he loved her. He had waited to say those three words at just the right time, the moment he would ask for her hand forever.
Aleah’s heart rose in her chest as Jason got down on one knee.
Behind them, out of view, a few leaders stood by watching as the photographer captured the moment. Watching the couple embrace, they erupted into silent tears and muffled applause. When Aleah said yes, the cheers exploded.
The couple shared their first kiss there beneath the trees.
He had waited to say those three words at just the right time, the moment he would ask for her hand forever.
A MARRIAGE AND A MISSION
On Dec. 16 of that year, Jason and Aleah were married. A little over a year later, their family began to grow. Their first baby girl was due on their second wedding anniversary.
Life has not been without hardship since their love story unfolded. Jason survived a stroke in the spring of 2025. Aleah served at camp while pregnant, and Jason volunteered alongside her, grateful for his health.
“We weren’t going to miss it,” they both said.
Camp changed them in many ways—how they view children, trauma, and family, and what it means to be present. Camp shaped their hearts for ministry, especially to those impacted by incarceration. It equipped them for parenthood. It pointed them toward God’s goodness and provision.
Today, they are preparing to move north to a city where Jason accepted a position with a church as a youth pastor. They will be farther away from the place where their story began. But they will carry Agape Youth Camp’s lessons with them wherever the road leads. They hope to return as counselors again one day, perhaps taking turns serving as their family grows.
LOOK AT GOD
“Our relationship is such a blessing,” says Aleah. “But I never want the fact that we found each other to eclipse what God was doing at camp.”
Looking back, the couple says they might have never crossed paths outside camp. They were just two servants seeking to minister, and God surprised them along the way. They showed up for hurting kids and discovered healing and joy of their own. They weren’t hoping for a love story. God wrote one anyway.
As Jason puts it, “When you serve God, the blessings just keep coming—not necessarily in material ways, but in ways you could never expect. Following Jesus is always worth it.”
“Following Jesus is always worth it.”
—Jason