ERBC Through the Decades: the 2020s
Our year-long tour through the decades of ERBC history has brought us all the way up to the recent past. Although the 2020s are still in progress, just the past few years have been studded with noteworthy milestones that are worth recounting!
But first, one can’t discuss the 2020s without talking about 2020, and it goes without saying that it was a crazy year for Echo Ranch, as it was for everyone. As the COVID-19 pandemic developed in March and it started to become clear that the subsequent months would be anything but normal, the camp staff knew little about what the summer would look like. Would it be the first time in nearly 60 years that summer camps would have to be canceled? No one had the answer, but while the world was still getting familiar with Zoom and dusting off banana bread recipes, it was decided that the ERBC staff would move out to camp in the spring like usual (while abiding by Alaska’s policies about quarantining) and wait expectantly to see what God wanted the summer ministry to look like that year.
In the end, the summer camps that normally begin in late May were pushed back to July, with an abbreviated list of sessions and new safety measures in place. Most of the young men and women who had signed up as 2020 summer staff, despite having to make travel changes, still came and spent two months at Echo Ranch and helped lead four weeks of camp for hundreds of kids! It was a blessing to see God’s hand keep everyone at Echo Ranch safe and to allow a small slice of near-normalcy for the many campers who were able to join us that summer. And of course, God used His Word that summer to reach kids with the Gospel, some of whom made professions of faith. As if there were any doubt that God is at work in all circumstances.
Despite the bump in the road that 2020 presented, Echo Ranch was on a path of growth. In the years since, camp has seen several exciting developments that are laying the groundwork for more ministry opportunities in the future.
New Staff Housing
Over the past decade, our full-time staff team has grown, and the number of volunteers who want to come serve with us each year has likewise steadily increased, stretching our available housing at camp to its limits. After the completion of the new Chapel, the need for more housing was our most pressing construction need, and so work began on two new cottages to serve as housing for families on our staff. Much like the Chapel, hundreds of hands from all over the country came to help with this major project, and thanks to their volunteered labor, one cottage was completed in 2021 and the other in 2023. More recently, work began on four new two-room cabins to provide even more lodging for the many folks who are eager to come serve with us but can only stay for a week or two. With these new spaces, more housing has been freed up for more people to live and serve at camp – although our numbers are once again swiftly catching up to fill these spaces with new staff members and eager volunteers. But a growing camp family is a blessed problem to have!
Passage Theology Camp
In 2022, ERBC began partnering with LeTourneau University in Texas to offer a theology camp for senior high students called the Passage Institute. Passage, which is a program LeTourneau developed and hosts in other places besides ERBC, is a weeklong intensive theological study taught by two LeTourneau professors. In our context, it’s a discipleship opportunity for high schoolers who are committed Christians and want to dive deeper into their faiths in a way that they don’t always get to do at our regular, more evangelism-oriented Senior High camps. Since its ERBC inception, each year a dozen or so students have registered for our Passage session, and since it’s a two-part theology survey, many of them have attended two years in a row. The students we’ve taken through Passage have given very positive feedback about how much they learned and were impacted, and we’ve even seen a few of them come back to camp after graduating to serve as summer staff. It’s always fulfilling for us when we get to see local youth come “full circle,” going from being poured into at camp to becoming those who pour into the next generation.
Haines Renovations
When Echo Ranch took on ownership of Echo Ranch Haines, it was clear that there was a lot of potential to use this second camp location to reach out to the people of Haines and beyond, but the facilities of Echo Ranch Haines were in need of overhaul The first major new construction project we undertook was a huge one: the creation of a new kitchen for the existing dining hall. Over the course of a few years, in which our facilities team took turns traveling up to Haines to work on the project, a new wing was constructed on the side of the dining hall and outfitted to become a modern camp kitchen with much more space than the existing one. As of fall 2024, the new Haines kitchen is fully operational. Our kitchen team is beyond thrilled to be able to cook much more efficiently and comfortably in Haines!
The second major project of the Haines renovations was a new bathhouse facility. The old bathrooms in Haines are not only showing their age, they are located “down the hill” from Haines’ guest cabins, forcing overnight visitors to descend and ascend multiple times a day. A location for a new bathhouse was chosen up the hill close to the cabins, and construction was likewise completed in 2024. With these significantly upgraded facilities that allow for better hospitality and more guests, we’re in the midst of dreaming about what new opportunities we can take on at our Haines location.
Immersion 15
Another exciting development from the past few years is a new opportunity for young people who are seeking to take their involvement in ministry beyond a summer at camp. Immersion 15 is a program we’ve developed with our parent organization Avant Ministries that gives young adults who are interested in missions the chance to experience different types of ministry over a 15-month period. Participants start the program in the summer by serving at Echo Ranch (whether for the first time or as a returning summer staff), then spend the winter in Sitka, helping lead youth groups in local churches and working in the community. The next summer, they get the option to return to Echo Ranch again, or to visit an overseas field of Avant to learn and serve with Avant missionaries. Immersion 15’s second cohort is in Sitka right now, and there are applicants who are currently exploring joining the third cohort this coming summer. We’re excited to see Immersion grow more and more, and excited to see where God takes the participants we’ve had so far!
What a list of milestones from just the past four years! And, of course, these are just the “headline” developments that have taken place over the last few years. How many more times has God worked at Echo Ranch in imperceptible, seemingly small ways – conversations, lessons, and stirrings of hearts that may not make headlines, but make eternal differences in people’s lives. After all, we serve a God who dwells in high places, but also makes his home with the lowly (Isaiah 57:15); a God who reigns over the universe, yet was born as a humble carpenter. And so we look forward to seeing how He chooses to work at Echo Ranch in big ways and little ways in the future. If He wills and if He tarries, we hope that another 60 years of ministry are just beginning!