New Life Island History
The Garden State Fellowship of Regular Baptist Churches began a camping ministry in the early 1950’s. Dr. Joseph Stowell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Hackensack N.J. gave Warren Simmons the task of starting a camping program for the state fellowship. The Fellowship didn’t have a camp of its own so they rented various facilities and ran their program there. The rented camps include Camp Pinnacle near Albany, N.Y. and Camp Linwood, in New Jersey.
Mr. Bob Brower and Rev. Ralph Weer also had a vision for a camping facility that would be owned by the GSFRBC. They labored and lobbied, looking for a suitable campground, and trying to convince others of its necessity. Dr. Bob Gage, then pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Erial, NJ had friends who were members of the Philadelphia Presbytery. Through them he heard about a camp, on an island, that they had for sale. That island is now ours.
Back in 1786 a treaty was signed between the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey which stated that the Delaware River islands would be considered a part of the state that they were closest to. This treaty made our island part of Pennsylvania.
Our island has had many names. It has been called Bennington’s, Wyker’s, Yerkes, Godshall’s, Fabian’s and Pennington Island. It is listed on most maps as Pennington Island. The Boy Scouts called it Camp Minitink.
The island has been used for a shad fishery, a farm, and has been home to three different camping programs.
The island was purchased by the Camden Council of the Boy Scouts of America sometime around 1917. The selling price was $500.00. The Boy Scouts built the dining hall, the huts and other buildings.
The Boy Scouts sold the camp in 1946 to the Philadelphia Presbytery. The Presbyterians built most of the buildings in the early 1950’s. Some have dates written in or on them.
In August of 1955 two hurricanes, Connie and Diane, came roaring up the coast and right up the Delaware Valley. In less than two weeks northern Pennsylvania received more than 18 inches of rain. This caused the highest flooding in recent history. High water marks found in the dining hall show that the water was approximately 2 1/2 feet deep inside the building.
The island was purchased in April of 1972 by the GSFRBC at a cost of $174,500.00. Camp was held that summer. A contest was held to name the camp and a young lady came up with the name, “New Life Island”. 1973 was the first summer that the name New Life Island was used.
The footbridge was installed in December of 1986. The funds for the bridge grew out of the savings of Judi Jobson. Judi came to NLI as a camper and loved camp. During one winter her family suffered a house fire in which Judi lost her life. While going through their destroyed home the Jobson’s found Judi’s savings that she had been setting aside for the camp. Mr. Jobson presented her gift to Ralph Weer, the NLI director, and those funds became the start of the bridge fund. The bridge is the only structure on the island that is named after or dedicated to an individual.
April of 1992 saw the arrival of Norm and Cherie MacKenzie and their family, Noah, Kristin, and soon to arrive, Alex. Norm MacKenzie was the Executive Director from April 1992 until his passing on March 29, 2021. During his time on the island, Mr. Norm was known for his love of God, people, and creating a fun, safe camp experience to evangelize and edify campers so that no one leaves the same.
In September of 2004, April of 2005, and June of 2006 the island was flooded. Three floods in such quick succession is an unprecedented event. The 2006 flood came during staff training week and closed the camp for the summer. Through all this time God remained faithful to the ministry of New Life Island.
Jordan and Esther Rofe joined the team in May of 2019 when they felt the Lord's call to move from their home in central New York and serve at camp. After Mr. Norm's passing, Jordan became the Camp Director in 2022. He and Esther now have two children, Alaina and Caleb.
On March 13, 2020, The GSFRBC sold the camp to New Life Island and it became its own 501(c)3 non-profit Charitable Organization.
It is our desire to build on the foundation of faithful service which was established by these dear people. Those who come to New Life Island as staff today have a wonderful heritage to perpetuate, faithful footsteps in which to follow.
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