BROKEN ARROW BIBLE RANCH

About twenty miles south of Gallup, in Vanderwagen, New Mexico, rests Broken Arrow Bible Ranch.  It’s a faith ministry that has roots as deep as the Ponderosa pines among which it’s nestled.  For decades, the ranch has been operating as a camp, focused on Native youth in the surrounding areas and reservations.

The ranch’s providential story began long before it was called Broken Arrow Bible Ranch.  Over one hundred years ago, Andrew and Effa Vander Wagen came to the Southwest from the Netherlands via Grand Rapids, Michigan.  They established a permanent mission in Zuni on behalf of the Christian Reformed Church and opened a trading post there.  Though they did not stay in Zuni permanently, they remained devoted to spreading the Gospel.  Andrew formulated plans for a mission that would focus on multiple tribes, but passed away before his vision became a reality.

In 1956, United Indian Missions was incorporated by three couples involved with Navajo Bible School and Mission in Window Rock, Arizona.  They adopted Vander Wagen’s doctrinal and purpose statements and set out on a faith adventure.  Less than ten years later, in 1965, Ms. Cena Gibb’s, a Vander Wagen descendant, sold her forty-six-acre Summer Park Ranch to UIM at a fraction of its value.  The ranch was dedicated to providing a youth facility for missions and Gibbs stayed on as the camp nurse.

In 1981 Summer Park Ranch was renamed Broken Arrow Bible Ranch (BABR), evoking a Native symbol of peace.  Over the years, the camp grew, adding land, facilities, and enthusiastic campers and staffers. 

BABR is now about to start a whole new summer season, during which 900 youth and about 60 staff members and volunteers occupy the camp during each of eight weeks.