Silver Cliff Ranch

SILVER CLIFF RANCH — 1949

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

Do you consider yourself a patient person? How about when it comes to waiting on God? Often times we find ourselves with a limited view. We wonder what God is doing; we find it hard to see beyond what is right in front of us. Only two years after its purchase, Star Ranch was packed beyond capacity and the mission of Young Life was in need of another camp. This search led Jim Rayburn to a vacation resort known as Chalk Cliff Lodge, located 100 miles west of Colorado Springs in Buena Vista, CO. “In the late fall of 1949, the board of directors agreed to purchase the property for $70,000, and the first camp was held over Christmas break of that year.” The purchase of Silver Cliff Ranch not only impacted countless young lives for the next 34 years, but was part of a God-ordained camping “master plan” that could only be seen in hind-sight. In the words of George Sheffer, “Our great and loving heavenly Father worked miracles in kids’ lives through the love He displayed in the work crew and staff of Silver Cliff. As we would climb Mt. Princeton (14,197 feet) each week, we passed through another camp – one of the most exclusive dude ranches for boys in the USA.” That “dude ranch” may have never been known by Young Life if not for the gift of Silver Cliff Ranch. That “dude ranch” was later to become Frontier Ranch, a Young Life camp that hosts thousands of kids annually to this day. (MFT, p. 17)

Buena Vista, Colorado

God blessed Young Life with Silver Cliff at a time when there were too many campers and too few beds, all along knowing that it would lead to eventually finding Frontier Ranch! Can you think of examples in your life where God’s wisdom and sovereignty became evident even though you couldn’t see it? Are there currently areas of your life where you need to trust that God is in control, and He has a plan and will bring it to completion?