The pivotal moment arose when a team of board members along with mission and camping leadership toured the camp one final time. It then became a question not of “should we purchase this camp?” but “could we?” God initiated the perfect intersection between the owner’s and the mission’s timing. While the property was still not for sale three years later, the search team re-engaged the owner and in the summer of 2018 she agreed to sell. The search eventually led them back to Camp Lonehollow, a premier adventure camp aimed at enriching lives to create the next generation of leaders. Over the next three years this team of men and women continued to faithfully tour more than 50 camps and ranches. LoneHollow Ranch (formerly known as Camp Lonehollow) was one of those camps, and while not for sale, it checked off many of the boxes. On day one they toured two existing camps as a baseline for their search. The team considered both raw land and existing camps, although they preferred an existing camp so ministry could begin immediately. In 2015, after much prayer and discussion, Young Life’s camping leadership organized a search team of staff and key volunteers, asking these men and women to create and implement a search criteria for the new camp. Where to look was not … A TEXAS-SIZED SEARCH A Texas camp could accelerate this growth and propel the mission to be on the cutting edge of ministry - all of this equating to more kids experiencing Jesus! And with the growing diversity in Texas, there was a need for leadership development to be ready for tomorrow’s kids. The answer? A strategic vision of locating and purchasing a Texas camp to provide a place for kids to call home who would otherwise never experience Young Life camping. For some Texas kids, a long bus trip to an out-of-state camp was not a realistic option. But as specialty ministries also began to expand all over the state, it became clear there was a deep need for a Texas camp for multiethnic, Capernaum, economically disadvantaged and Young Lives ministries as well. The growth in the middle school and teen mom camping ministry alone made a solid case for the need to provide summer camping closer to home. To say there’s been a growing need for LoneHollow Ranch is an unbelievable understatement!įor 11 years Young Life operated Camp Buckner in Burnet, Texas (an hour northwest of Austin) as an affiliate property for WyldLife and Young Lives camping. More than 164 languages are spoken in Texas.population will live in eight states, one of which is Texas. Today, one in 10 school-aged children in the U.S.Now, eight decades after Rayburn’s rugged camp trips, the Lord has provided Young Life with a camp in the Lone Star State! Located in Utopia, Texas (about 86 miles northwest of San Antonio), LoneHollow Ranch is an answer to 80+ years of prayers. In fact, for years one couple, Dan and Jenni Hord, hiked to the top of a ridge on their family’s ranch that overlooked a camp and prayed specifically that Young Life would one day own that property. During this time, God’s people prayed, watched and listened. As Texas kids camped outside of the state summer after summer, many wondered if there would ever be a chance to purchase a camp here. and the globe, but never in the state where Young Life was born. Since those modest offerings, the mission has purchased beautiful camping properties around the U.S. We hunted rattlesnakes and armadillos! That’s what we’d do during the day and at night we’d sit around the fire and listen to Jim.” The “program” was really very simple - I look at sophisticated programs of Young Life camping - this was as far from that as anything could ever be. Jim would just take a bunch of us off into the East Texas hills and we’d camp out. Bob Mitchell (see tribute on page 12) went on many of these trips and shared about these early days: But in the years before we owned these beautiful places, Jim Rayburn took boys into the great outdoors where they made their own adventures. Since 1946 Young Life camps have helped countless kids encounter Jesus in a life-changing way. By Kristi Gholson with Jeff Chesemore Young Life’s newest camp - in the state where it all began!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |