ABOUT
HISTORY
In the 1940’s, the Pentecostal churches started having summer camps for kids. They were held in a number of locations in the Terrace area, including Braun’s Island and the Lakelse Kinsmen camp. It wasn’t until the Rathjens came in 1965 that things began to happen on a permanent camp for the northwest Pentecostal churches.
Pastor Rathjen began looking for a piece of land on which to build a camp and ran across the land located near Williams Creek. He began to pray about it and a short time later he inquired of a real estate agent whether the land was for sale and what the price would be. The agent apparently quoted him a price of ten thousand dollars for the piece of property. Pastor Rathjen replied, “Sorry, the church does not have that kind of money.” He counter offered five thousand dollars. The real estate agent apparently stated the owner would not accept that price, so Pastor Rathjen decided to contact the owner who lived in England. A short time later the response came back from the owner - the land was to be sold to the church for the offered price of five thousand dollars.
The property was subdivided and part of it sold to pay for the principle cost of the land. Even before the camp property was bought, the church was offered some of the buildings used by Alcan as dorms and cookhouses that had been used for the construction of the smelter. The men of the Terrace and Kitimat congregations worked steadily through 1966 and 1967 clearing the land at the camp and hauling the buildings from Kitimat.
The buildings were bought for next to nothing; the cookhouse was purchased for five hundred dollars. The trick of the deal though was getting the large building from Kitimat to Terrace. The cookhouse had to be cut in sections with a chain saw and then trucked up highway 25 (now 37) across a number of bridges.
Construction of the camp was regarded by many people as a very rewarding time. It took a great deal of labor by church members to set the facility up. The Smithers and Prince Rupert churches would also join in the construction of the camp. Everyone would bring their meals out to the camp during the afternoon and evening, and they would have a great time of fellowship. It was regarded as a time few people would want to miss.
Camp was held at the Williams Creek property one year after construction began. With the development of the Lakelse Pentecostal Camp, the rallies that were held at the different Pentecostal churches around the northwest were now held at camp.
Over the next years, many more buildings were added to the camp. Before the camp chapel was built rallies and meetings were held in the cookhouse. In the 1970’s a new roof was put on the chapel. It took 100 squares of shakes to do the chapel roof, all of which were made from trees cut and split on the property. In the 1990’s, a new cookhouse was built away from the creek and on higher ground. The original cookhouse was often flooded out by seasonal high creek levels.
In the early days, work bees became a yearly event every spring. Maintaining the buildings and grounds by many volunteers continues to be a yearly event and enjoyed by many.
For 55 years, summer camps have changed the lives of hundreds of lives. Kids, teens, and families continue to enjoy games, crafts, sports, great food, new friends, and life changing chapel times.