Maranatha Bible Camp held it’s first session June 6-13, 1938 on a farm east of North Platte, Nebraska. In a few years it was obvious the camp needed a permanent home. Land was located near Maxwell, Nebraska and a fundraising post card was prepared. Interestingly, the postmark shows June 6, 1944 which turned out to be D-Day in WWII. Times were hard but a number of Christian leaders in the area were supportive of the Bible Camp and attendance continued to grow.
The facilities started out consisting of tents only. Then came the “slab cabins” built from Colorado timber sawmill rough cut wood obtained by trading loads of baled hay from the Platte valley. A swimming hole was dug to help cool off on the hot summer days.
One of the strengths over the years has been the help of many volunteers. Even after paid staff positions began to be implemented, camp could not operate with out the volunteers who assist in programming, cabin leading, maintenance, sweet shop, etc.
A strange thing happened that God used to really made the Maranatha Bible Camp location highly visible. In the late 1960s the Interstate 80 was built through Nebraska. The plan took it right through the north edge of the camp property. Much effort was made by the camp board to get the route moved. A big concession was made when the highway department agreed to create 40 acre Lake Maranatha by excavating fill sand to raise the interstate road bed up to a flood proof height. Additional land was bought at the time to make this possible.
Our thirty feet high Cross which is lighted at night with the words Maranatha Bible Camp has become a nationally recognized landmark for those travelers who frequent I-80.