Bethel Camp: A History

The purchase of the Bethel Camp property probably wouldn’t have even been considered if it wasn’t for the construction of the dam at Buckhorn Lake in the late 50’s. The Mennonite church on Gays Creek was located in the floodplain of the new dam, and they had a decision to make. The Corp of Engineers were willing to pay $20,000 for the church property, which would go a long way to aid in relocation.

At this time, Turner’s Creek Eggs had a thriving business delivering eggs to all the small country stores between Jackson and Hazard. One of the delivery people noticed a “for sale” sign at the Bethel Children’s Home property, and wondered if it would be a good place to relocate the church.

___ contacted the Conservative Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (now known as Rosedale Mennonite Missions) and asked if they would support the eastern Kentucky ministry by providing $10,000 to enable them to make the purchase.

In January of 1957, the property that would become Bethel Camp was purchased for $30,000 from the Bethel Children’s Home. It consisted of about 300 acres, plus a number of buildings

Ministers and mission personnel in the local Mennonite churches supported the purchase and agreed that it could have a positive and lasting impact on our community. Their three main goals for the property were:

• To provide for Kentucky youth a camp where they “could associate with other young people and receive periods of instruction under qualified supervision.'“

• To provide a winter Bible School for Kentucky young people.

• To provide a location for mission personnel being forced to move because of construction of the dam at Buckhorn Lake.

Later, there was discussion of beginning a high school on the property, an idea that never materialized.

One of the buildings on the property was a two-room schoolhouse, which was renovated, and became the new location for the church. David and Rhoda Showalter and their family moved into one of the houses on the property in 1958, and soon started the Sunday School, which would later grow into Little Buckhorn Creek Mennonite Church, which still meets there today.

The first youth camp was held in August of 1957, and a Winter Bible School in January of 1958. The following summer, a second week of camp was added for younger campers.

By the mid-seventies, a week for handicapped campers was added to the camp schedule, as well as two weeks of camp for campers from Indiana and Ohio.

Until the mid-nineties, there continued to be separate weeks of “Northern” and “Southern” camp. Currently, our summer weeks are full - with 8 weeks of camp for young people ranging from those who have just competed 1st grade to high school seniors.