Meet John Blackson
Meet John Blackson from Midland, Michigan, who started volunteering at Royal Family KIDS Camp 16 years ago. Wanting to continue serving the campers, he developed a mentoring program in 2017 and then trained to be a T.R.A.C. director. T.R.A.C. Midland launched the following year.
T.R.A.C. has impacted John’s life. Building relationships with campers has given him a deeper appreciation for the needs of the population Teen Reach serves. This led to the launch of YAP (Young Adult Program) last year to support campers and mentees to become well-adjusted members of society. The program has both a spiritual and adulting component.
John’s favorite camp story involves an unruly young man who some of the leaders did not want to return to camp the following year. John began mentoring the young man. When he returned to camp the following year, people couldn’t believe the change. John continues to mentor the young man who continues to grow and mature.
Hoping to become a naturalist, John started his post-high school education as a biologist because of his love of the outdoors. Instead, he ended up with a successful career as a research chemist working for a major chemical company in a lab without windows. Only God could orchestrate something like this.
When John is not volunteering with T.R.A.C., he helps homeschool his four local grandkids in science and math, two of whom graduated last June. He loves engaging with his grandkids at a deeper level. After a conversation with another camp volunteer, John moved an old farmhouse to his property and worked with his oldest grandson to set the building on a new foundation and recondition the house inside and out.
John enjoys backpacking and leads an annual excursion over Labor Day weekend. Last year, 10 people, including 5 grandkids, hiked the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Trail in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He and his wife, Marcia, also like to go to North Carolina to visit their son, daughter-in-law and three granddaughters. He loves building and excavating projects, canoeing, woodworking, metal working and fixing things. John shares God's Word on Wednesdays to 5th and 6th graders and adults on Sunday mornings.
John and Marcia celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 2025. They are blessed that many of their family members serve at RFK and T.R.A.C. To someone considering volunteering, John believes T.R.A.C. is a life-changing experience for both the volunteer and the camper. Despite initial apprehension and fear, Midland T.R.A.C. volunteers have a better than 90% return rate. As John says, “Once you experience God moving in such a dramatic way and see Christians working together as the body of Christ, you will be hooked!”