SAM BURPO
Sam grew up in an Air Force family that relocated several times during his childhood years. He was always searching for new friends and new adventure, but yet at the same time searching for direction, ways to fit in, and a solid sense of identity. Sam’s first personal encounter with Christ’s transformational love happened at the age of 13 as a camper at Kanakuk Christian summer camps in Lampe, Missouri. Watching and noticing the way that his camp counselors and the other staff there lived their lives in community with one another so filled with adventure, courage, purpose and confidence straight out of their identity in Christ was a catalyst for the breakthrough realization of God’s great love for him and the calling He had put on his life.
Determined and excited to become more like Jesus and these young men-of-God examples he had met at camp, Sam sought more and more opportunities over the years to grow in his faith and as a leader, aspiring to one day become a camp counselor as well. After turning 16 Sam found the opportunity to take a 21-day Outward Bound Wilderness training course through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana. Tremendously challenged and having pushed through doubts and fears he didn’t know he had, Sam returned home with aspirations of becoming a wilderness instructor someday as well.
High school went by and a few busy college years passed, but from deep down those aspirations and calling God had given Sam resurfaced. Beginning the summer of 2013 and over the next 8 years, Sam began pursuing God’s calling for him in the direction of outdoor ministry. Sam applied and became a camp counselor for Kanakuk and shortly after switched majors and changed schools to begin studying in the degree field of Outdoor Adventure Leadership. He continued on to serve over the years as a camp counselor at two other Christian summer camps as his OAL training took him from Colorado, to Wyoming, to Oregon, then to Montana. God has taken an adventure-hungry 13-year-old searching for purpose and identity and led him through the wilderness into a calling and a future with purpose he could never have dreamed of.
In August of 2021 Sam responded to a call for a last-minute fill-in assistant instructor role helping lead one of Mountain Gateway’s wilderness intensives in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, and through that course God opened an exciting door for Sam to join the Mountain Gateway team.
Sam now serves on staff for Mountain Gateway as a photographer, wilderness instructor, and support staff to assist the leadership teams and the Mountain Gateway Academy students.
Determined and excited to become more like Jesus and these young men-of-God examples he had met at camp, Sam sought more and more opportunities over the years to grow in his faith and as a leader, aspiring to one day become a camp counselor as well. After turning 16 Sam found the opportunity to take a 21-day Outward Bound Wilderness training course through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana. Tremendously challenged and having pushed through doubts and fears he didn’t know he had, Sam returned home with aspirations of becoming a wilderness instructor someday as well.
High school went by and a few busy college years passed, but from deep down those aspirations and calling God had given Sam resurfaced. Beginning the summer of 2013 and over the next 8 years, Sam began pursuing God’s calling for him in the direction of outdoor ministry. Sam applied and became a camp counselor for Kanakuk and shortly after switched majors and changed schools to begin studying in the degree field of Outdoor Adventure Leadership. He continued on to serve over the years as a camp counselor at two other Christian summer camps as his OAL training took him from Colorado, to Wyoming, to Oregon, then to Montana. God has taken an adventure-hungry 13-year-old searching for purpose and identity and led him through the wilderness into a calling and a future with purpose he could never have dreamed of.
In August of 2021 Sam responded to a call for a last-minute fill-in assistant instructor role helping lead one of Mountain Gateway’s wilderness intensives in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, and through that course God opened an exciting door for Sam to join the Mountain Gateway team.
Sam now serves on staff for Mountain Gateway as a photographer, wilderness instructor, and support staff to assist the leadership teams and the Mountain Gateway Academy students.
