Encampments shaped life of Sabine Creek manager

Posted: 4/13/06

Encampments shaped life of Sabine Creek manager

By George Henson

Staff Writer

ROYSE CITY—The depots on Eddie Walker’s spiritual journey have been Baptist encampments, and he’s thrilled to have added another potential stop for others.

As an 11-year-old at Jan-Kay Ranch near Paris, Walker made his profession of faith in Christ.

Then as a seventh grader at Mount Lebanon Baptist Encampment, he accepted God’s calling into ministry.

“All the really impactful spiritual decisions of my life were made at camp,” he said.

God continued to use camps, especially Mount Lebanon, to confirm God’s call on Walker’s life as for 15 years, he led worship and spoke at children’s and youth camps and Super Summer events. Seven years ago, he joined the staff of Lake Pointe Baptist Church in Rockwall.

But through it all, he wanted to launch a camp that would have a lifelong impact on people’s lives in the same way his life had been influenced.

“On my dream’s list 20 years ago in college was ‘Start a camp,’” he said.

Two years ago, that dream became reality as he and his wife, Sarah, bought a working cattle ranch a few miles southeast of Royse City. The ranch’s previous owner also had operated equestrian camps for children and youth, something the Walkers have continued.

Last year, Sabine Creek Ranch, one of the few independently owned camps affiliated with the Texas Baptist Camp Managers Association, hosted its first summer youth campers.

“I wanted to build a camp that would have all the things that I liked about camp and fix the things I didn’t like. With camps, the first question is always, ‘Is the food good?’ Well, here the food is great,” he said with a grin.

The ranch not only is used for summer camps and equestrian training, but also weekend retreats for youth and adults, school field trips and outdoor education experiences.

Cross Creek Cowboy Church, started two years ago in the Walkers’ living room with eight people, meets at the ranch. Now a Lake Pointe satellite where Walker is pastor, the church attracts about 100 worshippers each Sunday evening.

The Walkers had been buying parcels of land in various parts of East Texas for years as investments, but they sold them all and plowed the proceeds into Sabine Creek Ranch.

“As of two weeks ago, we sold our last earthly investment in order to make a heavenly impact,” he said.

He is quick to say the purchase of the 330-acre ranch and start of the camp could not have been done alone.

“I can’t begin to tell you the way the Lord has provided—the people who have literally invested their lives here. A camp is never the result of one couple. It takes a large contingent of faithful servants, and God has provided us with some of the very best,” he said.

Campers at Sabine Creek have a number of recreational possibilities, but the spiritual aspect is most important to Walker.

“Our campers ride horses, play paintball, enjoy the swimming pond and most important, meet Christ,” he said.

To get ready for the campers, the ranch required a lot of construction.

“Since we founded Sabine Creek Ranch, we’ve been building. Bunk beds, cabins, bunkhouses, bathhouses, ponds, docks, stages, arena lights, parking, water system, RV sites, kitchens, classrooms. It makes my head hurt to think about it,” Walker said.

But all of that is for one reason—so that God might use a camp experience to speak to others the way he spoke to Walker all those years ago.

“During summer camp, somewhere around 10 percent of the campers who come to Sabine Creek Ranch or one of our other Baptist camps will make a life- changing decision for Christ.

“Imagine if in a church body of 80 people, eight people accepted Christ this Sunday. Or if in a congregation of 8,000, if 800 people accepted Christ this week—and the next and the next. As one bus leaves, another bus is pulling in, full of students who will encounter God in this special place,” Walker said.

He knows, however, it is God—not the place—that makes the difference in people’s lives.

“God does that work. All we really do is set a stage. … It is amazing how a simple hayride and campfire under the stars can return our focus to the God who created those stars,” Walker said.

“I’m an investor, and this is a heavenly investment. I’ve a short amount of time on earth, and this is how I’m going to make an impact on the kingdom.”