History of The Oaks and Birth of Oasis Ministry Ventures
It all began with a vision.
2024.
At both Spark Change Retreats e served 15 ministries in all; 100% returning from last year, plus 5 new churches/organizations with 448 students and leaders total!
CJ Emulous and Joe Gutierrez were anointed in their messages on their respective weekends, and God brought a great harvest of commitment and growth. Our seminars built the foundation and nurtured the young seeds of faith with biblical application to life. And, all got to re-create through recreation including laser tag which we offered for the first time, crafts, mural art, and much more.
Catalyst Camp 2024 is also launching with a traditional full week of camp as well as a condensed week of camp!
2023.
It was a wild ride to keep our Spark 3 Winter Retreats going - first postponing due to 5' of snow at Big Bear, then moving to Palomar from Pine Summit due to continued road closures two weeks later. God made a way... Speakers moved, bands moved, groups moved, volunteers moved, and GOD MOVED.
Through our partnerships with Passion LA and Urban Serve teams from Faith Community Church in Palmdale, CA and CenterPoint Church Northeast in Milford, PA, plus several individual volunteers, we had a dream team of staff facilitating camp. We were blessed to see ten students follow Christ and many other dedicate new areas to His lordship and leadership at a Catalyst Camp 2024.
Partnering with LACS again, middle schoolers were able to take in the beauty of the Chimney Peak Wilderness, hike a cinder cone, climb at Fossil Falls, and more on the East Side of the Sierra Nevada’s as they built their leadership and faith outdoors.
2022.
Oasis Ministry Ventures relaunches one of the most fruitful programs of The Oaks, the West Coast Teen Retreat or ‘winter camp’, at a new site, the Salvation Army’s Pine Summit Camp in Big Bear, CA. The first weekend in January is postponed due to the Omicron surge and combined with a March event. Over 450+ attend coming out of COVID and 100+ students “Keep that Same Energy” by looking steadfastly to Jesus and trusting him. 14 ministries are represented. Praise God!
Partnership with Los Angeles Christian School (LACS) is renewed. In October, 7th and 8th grade students journey to Joshua Tree National Park for a four day leadership development camping experience. These future leaders of the urban church grow, are stretched, and see God in new ways through His creation and the incredible beauty of the desert.
The board and leadership commit to launching summer camp again in 2023!
2021.
Oasis Ministry Ventures (OMV) forms to raise funds to purchase The Oaks property and continue its ministry. OMV is instrumental in reaching out to many Christian ministries for partnership and to making them aware The Oaks is for sale. One of these ministry’s donors successfully purchases the property in January of 2022, keeping the property in the Kingdom under the stewardship of Union Rescue Mission (URM). The Lord makes a way, yet the transfer happens too late for an agreement to operate camps in Summer of 2022 to be negotiated with URM. His ways are not our ways.
2020.
The camp now has over 710 acres and can house up to 375 overnight guests. In 2019, over 18,000 guests from 250+ groups retreated at The Oaks! Since the inception of summer and winter camps, over 10,000 urban youth attended programmed camps at The Oaks. In March, 2020 COVID brought the closure of The Oaks. World Impact makes the difficult decision to spin off The Oaks as a camp and conference center. The property is shut down, staff are released, and it is put up for sale.
2006.
Since 1987, the number of campers who came per year to The Oaks grew from 2,000 in 1990 to over 13,000 in 2006. With God’s guidance The Oaks now served urban youth and families as well as churches of Southern California.
1999.
With youth camping established, in 1999 The Oaks started development of a family conference center. Nelson and Fickett Lodges, motel style housing, were dedicated in 2001. These increased housing capacity to 270. Two weekends of Family Vacation Camps started in the summer of 2002. Families from World Impact urban church plants attended and were blessed with a family vacation filled with food, swimming, crafts, worship, and fellowship. Hayford Hall was dedicated in October 2004. This state-of-the-art facility has a 400-seat auditorium and seven break out meeting rooms. In the spring of 2007 two additional motel lodges (Boone and Stewart), a second dining room (Grier), and a child care facility were added.
The Completed Family Conference Center
1997.
The Leaders in Training program started in 1997. This program was aimed at developing inner-city teens into next generation leaders for the cities. This three-year program coupled an intense summer of training with a curriculum in the cities during the school year. The Oaks added a Winter Teen Retreat as well as the summer program growing from three to five weeks of camps. Up to 550 campers were now attending. Additionally, the Outdoor Education program began and grew to nine weeks each spring. World Impact’s Los Angeles Christian School started bringing their 5th and 6th graders for life-changing experiences. The zip line and leap of faith were added stretching the faith of hundreds of campers.
1995.
In 1995, the Lord blessed the camp with an additional 475 acres of surrounding land. An Act of Congress was needed to acquire this National Forest land and Rosey Grier, a long time supporter of World Impact, helped make this happen. The Pastor’s Retreat was dedicated for the renewal of Christian workers. Hamblin Lodge, a 260 seat dining room, was built in honor of Stuart Hamblin. Programs grew by leaps and bounds as adventure elements of rappelling, rock climbing, and a challenge course were added.
1987
The Lord provided continuous growth! Growth began with a maintenance facility in 1987 and two additional cabins bringing guest capacity to 148. The Prayer Chapel was added in 1989. Staff housing was built at the same time, along with numerous amenities. An intern program to disciple urban young adults began in 1994.
1986
In August of 1986 God led the Rolling J. Ranch to give control of the camp to World Impact. The donation included a total of 172 acres. World Impact changed the name in 1990 to The Oaks in response to God’s call to build “Oaks of Righteousness, the planting of the Lord, for the display of his splendor.” Isaiah 61:3
Origins
The Oaks Camp & Conference Center valley was originally known as Juday Flat, named after the Juday family that homesteaded the property in the early 1900’s. In 1960, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Juday donated 122 acres of their land to the Brigade Trails Association which operated it as Juday Meadows Camp with the specific intent to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Around 1974, Brigade Trails and Juday Meadows Camp merged into Rolling J. Ranch which continued the Boys Brigade Camps and added family camping.
This is where your vision comes in.
Help us expand Christian camp ministry that empowers urban youth and families beyond the boundaries of The Oaks property.