The land that is occupied by Camp Challenge was purchased around 1964 by the Church of God churches in Alaska.  The camp selection committee was Bill Miller, John Marshall, Wes Lancaster and Paul Kendall.  The four ministers felt that God chose this campsite for them, as they had been searching for ten years for a suitable property.  This is part of the story as one minister told it: 

"We had searched by canoe and float plane, by oar and afoot, but every effort to secure a property had failed. Then suddenly we had a camp site better than any we had previously considered; fifty-eight acres with a nice variationof topography and timber and a quarter of a mile of lake frontage.  The comittee met with the owner and he said that for twenty years he had refused to sell though he had many opportunities.  Due to certain conditions he was being forced to sell and had a prospective buyer.  The ministers believed that God had led them to this property and they began bargaining with the man.  They lacked, by a considerable amount, the required purchase price, and had to give assurance that they would pay cash without delay.  An interested individual extended a personal loan and the local congregations agreed to help with the remainder.  The camp site was ours."

    There wasn't a road into the camp then and no buildings.  So the campers carried some old army tents into the area selected to be the building site and set one up for the kitchen, one for a dining room and half of a big circular type tent to hold the services in.  A tree was sawed off about 3 feet above the ground and a piece of plywood was tacked to it for the preacher to lay his Bible on.  The preacher stood outside in the weather facing the crowd perched under the half tent.  Everyone brought their own small tent and sleeping bag and they had camp meeting.

                                   Singing during service 1965          Resting in meeting tent - 1965                                                                                                                       

    During 1966-67 someone loaned a D-2 Cat with a dozer blade on it and Larry Lautaret had the fun of scratching out a road into the camp and digging out the lower floor for the lodge.  It is here that a work camp was held in July, 1967 to construct the necessary buildings to accomodate the youth and adults of the Churches of God in Alaska.  John Cain, an architect from Anderson, Indiana, brought two groups of students from Anderson College to Alaska and helped build the lower floor of the lodge with a kitchen, dining room, fireplace and bathrooms.  A well was drilled beside the lodge.  Durning the summer of 1972 a group of Vacation Samaritans from southern California came up and built the second floor on the lodge.  This would serve as the chapel after being finished.  The upstairs was completed in 1976 under the direction of Camp Board members and contractors Chester Meeks and Max Bolin.

Building basement walls for new lodge                                                                  Guest Room for Evangelist Richard Swank - 1970

July 1967                                                                             

    It was in the summer of 1976 that Larry Lautaret returned to Alaska, with his wife Maxine, to serve as the first resident camp manager.  A house trailer was donated to the camp.  It was moved from Eagle River to the camp and an addition was added on to one side doubling the floor space.  A garage was added to one end.  The Lautaret's moved in and this served as the camp manager's home.
    In the early 1980's a fellow named Dick Roberts, from the Palmer church, engineered the building of the bathhouse and guided the installation of the water and plumbing and the septic systems.  Docks were built at the lake.  Four dormitory cabins were builts up on the ridge.  A craft cabin was donated and moved on to the camp ground and located near the lodge.
    The Lautaret's stayed on as camp managers for 5 years.  Chuck and Norma Fuller took over that position in 1981.  Dave and Patty Woodward became camp managers in the mid 1980's and continued to serve beyond 1999.  Four duplex cabins were built near the bathhouse.  An amphitheater was constructed in a wooded area within easy walking distance from the lodge.  RV spaces were cleared to make room for motor homes to park.  Over the years the camp has become a more modernized operation.
    The camp grew in its outreach through the dedicated efforts of the Camp Board, the camp managers, the Christian Education Committee and many volunteers.  Most important of all, God meets the campers with His transforming power and presence.  Many lives have been touched and Camp Challenge is remembered as the turning point in their experiences.
    During the first years at Camp Challenge, camp meeting was held for one week during the summer with activities for all age groups throughout each day.  As the attendance grew, separate youth camps were held in addition to the family camp meeting.  There was 4 week long youth camps for children grades 1-12.  One for grades 1-3, one for grades 4-6, one for grades 7-9 and one for grades 10-12.  Family Camp was also a week long camp.  When the Church of God camps are not using the camp, it is rented out to other church groups and organizations nearly every week during the summer and lots of winter weekends.
    Camp Challenge continues to reach out in Christian ministry touching lives and expanding God's great kingdom.

~ As written by Audrey Roberts