The first time I visited Oakridge Camp was in the spring of 2000. Four of us from Garland, Texas came to Oakridge looking for a place to have church camp for our children's ministry. The moment we drove up to the campsite and met Brian and Beth Ball and their precious family, we knew this is where God wanted our children to come for camp! As we toured the facilities and heard them share their dreams and hopes for Oakridge, we felt an immediate sense of connection and knew this was the beginning of a lifelong relationship.
Oakridge is a place where children and adults alike can come for some much-needed respite and rejuvenation. We can spend a week in nature focusing on God and His desires for us. We can come back to our Oklahoma family and reconnect and share what God has been doing in our lives over the past year. We've shared our joys and our sorrows and we know when we go back home, our family in Oklahoma will be praying for us as we pray for them. It's like a family reunion!
Our children eagerly anticipate getting old enough to attend Oakridge. They hear from their siblings and other children how awesome it is to go to camp. They've all seen videos and been told about the waterslide and anxiously look out the bus windows as we pull in to camp! But this is not only a place where our kids can enjoy all of the activities, but also begin building their foundation for their lives with God.
The staff at Oakridge are a compassionate and loving team. They are willing to do whatever is needed to serve our kids in any way. As our children graduate from our children's ministry, they first thing they ask is, "How old do I have to be to go to Oakridge as a counselor?" We always have so many of our teens wanting to come back and help with camp each year. To me, that really says it all!
-Debbie A., former children's minister