Lakewood Retreat

After dark at Lakewood, a group gathers around a large cast iron kettle over an open fire, waiting on popcorn. The camp says the practice was inspired by its Mennonite and Amish background, and guests wait for it under the stars. A tractor-pulled hay wagon goes out through the woods and down to the lake, and fireflies are common.

The place exists because of a closed door. In the fifties and sixties, Mennonite churches in Florida sent urban youth north to farms as "Fresh Air Children," but the culture shock often outweighed the benefit. Renting local Christian camps worked for a while, until racial tension in the South made those camps unwilling to host the racially integrated Mennonite programs. In 1965 five men were commissioned to find a property. They found 83 acres, bought in the summer of 1966, and volunteers turned the swampy wilderness into a camp with machetes and long hours of work. The first summer program ran in 1969, with two cabins and 25 campers a week for five weeks.

A turning point came in 1978. Co-director Jess Kaufman told a business meeting that Lakewood's image was changing from a children's summer camp to a year-round ministry, and from a place for Mennonite activities to an outreach to many others. The property grew to about 120 acres that year. It is now 135 acres, rising to 180 feet, hillier and more northern in feel than much of Florida. The Southern Mennonite Camp Association owns it, elects a board and meets each February.

The facility has more than 220 beds in motels, lodges and bunk cabins, plus 55 campsites, an open-air chapel at the lakefront, meeting rooms, a dining hall, a pool and a 150-foot dual zip line. Its stated purpose is "Sharing God's love through service by providing a setting in which to experience Jesus Christ." It serves churches of all Christian denominations, along with scouting, hospice and school groups, and runs its own Bible-centered summer camp. It is private and open to registered groups only.