Camp Peniel began as a vision and prayer concern in the hearts of founders, Gordon & Alice Whitelock, in the 1940’s. During the 40’s Gordon worked on the full-time staff of Young Life, pastored a church in Almeda, Texas, and began taking kids camping in the Piney Woods near Houston, Texas.
In 1945 they leased land for the camp at Double Lake in East Texas. The camp was so successful that they formed a charter by the State of Texas as a non-profit organization on December 11, 1946. By 1959 they began camping full-time, and a year later, in 1960, the Silver Hills Ranch’s two hundred fifty-six acres near Marble Falls, Texas was purchased. Since then we have been able to purchase an additional 126 acres, bringing Camp Peniel’s total to 382 acres. The rugged natural beauty of our property has always enchanted people during the years that Peniel has existed.
Over the years the camp has influenced thousands of people for God’s glory and many have come “face to face”(Genesis 32:30) with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as a result of the ministry of Camp Peniel.
Now, more than 67 years later, approximately 200,000 people have attended Camp Peniel. We know that thousands of people have come to know Christ as their personal Savior and countless others have made major decisions in the way they live their life.
In 2005, our beloved Poppa Chief was welcomed into the loving arms of his Lord and Savior, and on Thanksgiving, 2011, God called home our beloved Mommy Al. They have left behind a legacy that has touched many lives.
Through the years Camp Peniel has utilized God’s exciting wilderness for campers to see the hand of God and to learn from it. Leaders committed to Christ, well-trained and able to teach, have been instrumental in developing campers’ deepening commitment to Jesus Christ. Careful programming has been designed to accommodate the different abilities and needs of each individual camper.