New Life Ranch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Life Ranch (NLR) is a non-denominational Christian summer camp located in The Ozarks and Green Country in northeast Oklahoma. The camp's vision is to be "A valley set apart for the glory of God". Its mission is to "proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and to equip believers for ministry."
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[edit] Areas of Ministry:
[edit] Summer Camp
Mission: "Provide cutting edge programming in a fun and enthusiastic manner that gives campers a chance to play, learn, develop, and grow in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Summer Camp at New Life Ranch offers staff and camp goers a spiritually, emotionally, and physically safe place to experience biblical, spiritual growth. Participants are immersed in challenging, experiential educational activities, including archery, arts and crafts, bicycling, camping, canoeing, challenge courses, climbing, drama, horseback riding, kayaking, rappelling, mountain biking, weight lifting, riflery, swimming, and tennis.
The camp traditionally offers one-week resident sessions June through August for ages 8 through 18.
[edit] Outdoor Education
Mission: “Help campers see the fingerprints of a creative and caring God, spark an appreciation for nature, and assist parents by getting kids excited about learning.”
[edit] Community Ministries
Mission: “Minister to children and youth by leading them to Christ and making disciples of Christ by equipping the whole person for the challenges of her/her daily life.”
[edit] Leadership Development
Mission: “Through deliberate activities and purposeful jobs we challenge summer campers with new experiences designed to transform them into leaders for Jesus Christ. NLR’s L.E.A.D is a year long ministry geared toward discipling and equipping college age students, within the context of Christian Camping.”
[edit] Retreat Ministry
Mission: “Serving guests for the purpose of allowing them the opportunity to be refocused, relaxed, revitalized, regenerated, and through our service to them, see and experience the love of Jesus Christ”
[edit] Family Camps
[edit] History
The earliest known dwellers of the property that is now New Life Ranch were Indians that camped along Flint Creek. This is known because many artifacts have been found all across the grounds. Lots of flintstone arrowheads have been found in the ground and many are still found today.
During the First World War, the grounds were used as a rest and relaxation retreat for soldiers weary from battle. During the 1920’s, a military man named Colonel Kellum purchased the retreat and turned it into a youth camp, and called it Kellum’s Ranch. The Great Depression of the 1930’s was hard times for all of America but particularly for rural Oklahoma. Many ranchers in the neighboring area were not able to make a living. The land is rocky and is hard to farm. So the land didn't serve a profitable purpose other than its property value. It was especially hard paying taxes on the land that the ranchers owned. Therefore many were forced to sell their land in order to pay their taxes. Since Colonel Kellum worked for the United States government, he had a steady income that allowed him to purchase these acres of land surrounding the retreat. Since there were many ranchers that sold their land, the property has a jagged edge made up of random acres all around it. The total number of acres for Kellum Ranch ended up being 972 acres.
As the years went by, Colonel Kellum kept the ranch as a youth camp. Different churches and Christian groups would bring their youth out for a week of camp in the summer. In the early 1950’s, a minister named Reverend Willard Heck would bring his own youth group from Tulsa to the camp. Reverend Heck “ran a tight ship” when it came to discipline and had a respectable youth group. He instilled integrity in his campers that came with him to camp during the summer. Mr. and Mrs. Kellum took note of that particular guest group and admired them.
During this time, God was laying the foundation of a desire in Reverend Heck’s heart to start his own youth camp. He liked the location of Kellum’s Ranch, but knew the Kellums never wanted to sell it. So he prayed about it. He felt led to ask Mr. Kellum if he would ever be willing to sell the ranch. They said, “I never wanted to sell the ranch to anyone because I would be afraid that they wouldn't take care of it nor use it for the Lord’s work. But I have watched you and your youth group when you visit during the summers. I noticed how well behaved the children are. Because of this, I would be willing to sell the ranch…to you only.” Reverend Heck purchased the ranch in 1958 and along with his partner Tom Hull, got on their knees and dedicated this ground to glory of God. It was then the name of the camp was changed to New Life Ranch. Willard said of purchasing the Ranch, “It’s been a faith work to begin with. We trust the Lord to provide the needs which he has done abundantly, and I trust he will continue to do so.” In 1960, Willard’s father built the existing chapel in memory of his wife who died in 1959. The main beams of the chapel were cut from oak trees on the Ranch. The stained glass windows were brought from the Heck’s home church in Westwood, New Jersey and are memorials to Willard’s grandparents. What a great testimony for Reverend Heck and the small retreat location that would grow over the years and be visited by thousands of campers. From a humble piece of land with a few log cabins, to many modern buildings complete with air conditioning, New Life Ranch has grown over the years into an exceptional youth camp and retreat center for the purpose of making Christ known.
("Brief History of New Life Ranch" from 2003 New Life Ranch Staff Manual)
[edit] Traditions:
During its 50 years of history New Life Ranch has developed many traditions:
[edit] Morning Camp Party (MCP)
MCP takes place at 11:11 Monday through Friday during summer camp. It is a crazy time of games, songs, and skits. A current variation on MCP is MCP Live, which is the Sunday night version of MCP.
[edit] Ultimate Flocker
The exact origins of Ultimate Flocker are not known. It may not have even originated at New Life Ranch. What is known is that Ultimate Flocker (a combination of Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and Flicker) is a camper favorite.
[edit] Hook Man
[edit] External links
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Black Mesa Bible Camp (Kenton) | Camp Classen YMCA (Davis) | Camp McFadden (Ponca City) | Camp Seminole (Seminole) | New Life Ranch (Green County) | Quartz Mountain Christian Camp (Lone Wolf) |
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