It has been cleansed of its bar, cig arette machines and dances and made into a family resort which houses 300 adult guests each week. The Ranch, purchased in 1955, was a family resort of 135 acres valued at $300,000. Realizing the need for a camp for boys and girls 7 to 13, Jack and his advisors offered the owner $60,000 and got it. It was equipped like a western ranch and today accommodates 325 boys and girls each week. Several years ago two Word of Life missionaries, Rrainerd and Elva Legters, wént to Mexico to preach the gospel. They began with a camp. On the shores of the blue Carib bean, about 70 miles northeast of Merida, Mex., a Word of Life camp was opened in Yucatan state. The Legters took over the management of a boys’ camp organized by a Presbyterian missionary about 25 years ago and called it “ Palabra de Vida” (Word of Life).
With the help of several Chris tian national leaders the Legters moved the camp from a swampy wooded area to a beach site on the Caribbean. Conditions at first were quite primitive, featuring palm- thatched huts and open kitchen cooking on the ground with wood or charcoal. There was no sports equipment at all and few living comforts. Palabra de Vida began with 25 youngsters and has grown to 200. There are now water and land sports, games and Rible-centered ac tivities just as on the island at Schroon Lake. The buildings have Mexican thatched roofs and stuc coed walls, hemmed in by a fruitful banana plantation and various types of fruit trees. Mexican Word of Life’ers begin their day at five a.m. with a hymn which a boy or girl leads over a loud-speaker. After 15 minutes for dressing, everyone goes to the beach for a time of private devotions. As
the sun rises over the sea, the Leg ters lead a sunrise service of songs, prayer and message. Refore break fast campers roll up their hammocks and night clothes. After breakfast the men gather and cut wood for the kitchen fires, boys draw water and girls prepare meals for the day. Regular Rible study hours and mis sionary meetings are scheduled throughout the day. Ry these the Legters seek to raise the vision of their Mexican campers to the needs of people beyond their own country. Evening vespers is te s tim on y time. Roys and girls sit quietly in huddled groups. In the background waves wash softly on the sand. Hearts pound as first-timers declare publicly their e te rn a l decisions made at Palabra de Vida. At one meeting Gamaliel Naal came tearing around from the back of the crowd like an end in football. Out of breath, his big eyes turned up to the Legters in a sudden look of fright. With wavering voice he
Above photo shows the beautifully wooded, 90-acre Word of Life Island in Schroon Lake, N.Y. At right is group of young people at one of Wyrtzen’s inter national camps. This one is in Brazil.
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The King's Business/May 1958
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