About Us

Camp One Way is a Christian campground and retreat center. We are not affiliated with any specific church or denomination, but are blessed to be supported and visited by many different churches, groups, families, and individuals.

The Mission of Camp One Way is to provide a haven where people can experience God's Love.

The Vision of Camp One Way is that individuals will experience God's love through creation and genuine Christian community.

We HOST retreat groups year 'round - providing meals, lodging, and our facilities to churches, family gatherings, clubs, and all-kinds of other groups. For more information on planning a retreat at Camp One Way, click HERE.
We PLAN and LEAD our own camps, retreats, and other events for children, youth, and adults in our area. To find out about some of Camp One Way's upcoming events, click HERE

Click Here to Meet the Camp One Way Staff!

The Story of Camp One Way

Camp One Way was begun informally in 1972 by two women, Alice Eversole and Glenna Apsley, whose desire was to see the youth from their church grow in their relationship with Jesus and in their ablilty to witness their faith to others. It started on a 6+ acre plat of land with a small fishing cabin and lake, known on plat maps as "Lake Waddy." The property was owned by the women and was used as a summer camp for their church and invited guests during the 1970s. A steering group of interested individuals began to raise some funds to build a couple of sleeping cabins. The two women continued thier occupations in the education field in Decatur, IL.

As interest grew, the decision was made in the late 1970s to formalize the camping ministry. A retreat center with kitchen, bath and shower rooms, and large meeting room, as well as private living quarters in an apartment, was built by the women. The organization was incorporated as a not-for-profit entity in 1979, was licensed as a youth camp, and received its 501 c iii federal designation in 1980. A Board of directors was formed and began to oversee the ministry.

In 1982, a Christian nursery school was begun, summer camps continued, and rental groups used the facilities year-round. Miss Apsley began to work full-time at the camp. As the 1980s progressed, the lack of sleeping facilities as welll as the need for more staff became critical. Therefore, in 1986, the founders sold the property to Camp One Way, Inc., and both became full-time employees. A part-time program staffer was added in the late 1980s, and fundraising began in earnest as dollars were raised to erect an expansion to the retreat center - housing a larger kitchen, dining room, preschool room, and sleeping areas for 60 persons. Once the expansion was completed, demand for its use grew steadily.

In 1993, a friend of Camp One Way donated 42 wooded acres north of the camp. It has been developed as a wilderness camping are, with tent camping space, a pavilion, and trails through the woods. The 1990s saw steady growth in the organization in all areas: governance by a policy Board, addition of professional staff, expansion of programming, a wider audience, indentification of mission and mission "field", and in fund raising skills.

In the past several years, Camp One Way has seen the completion of a campaign to build a staff house on the wooded acreage - funds raised, house erected and totally paid for. The preschool was closed in 2005 because of being unable to compete with area schools' pre-kindergarten classes, and the space that was previously used for the preschool has been transformed into a much-needed expansion of the kitchen. We've also recently experienced a change in staffing patterns from a top-down leadership model to a team model.

As we look toward the future of Camp One Way, we have lots of hopes and dreams! Part of planning for the future includes further woods development and some new ideas in youth mission camps. Please join with us as we pray and plan to make our ministry here at Camp One Way all it could and should be!