Staff Support

New Life Island depends on generous donors to help cover all the costs associated with running a camp, including staff salaries! We are blessed with some faithful staff who love working at camp and making a difference in the lives of campers. Please consider helping the camp care for its staff by donating today!

Help Support Our Staff!

Jordan and Esther

Hello all! Just so we are not complete strangers, we wanted to share a little bit about ourselves.

I (Esther) grew up on a dairy farm in Moravia, New York and have attended Dresserville Bible Baptist Church for most of my life. It was through a sermon series on salvation that I accepted Christ as my Savior, when I fully understood my need for Jesus and what He had done for me. On a more recent note, I graduated in 2018 with a B.S. in marketing from Pensacola Christian College and have used that degree to help my church and my family business, as well as several others. I did not start college as a marketing major, however; I actually began by pursuing a youth ministry degree because I felt God leading me toward working with young people. But God showed me that I did not need a degree to work with youth, so I switched majors. I am glad I did because now I have an education that enhances my ability to be creative and look for new ways to reach kids for the Lord through New Life Island.

I (Jordan) was born at a young age in Cortland, New York, but I grew up in Down East, Maine where my dad pastored for ten years. I was saved at six years old when the Lord used a Sunday School teacher to show me that the gospel was something I had to make a personal decision about. That was the most important decision I could ever make, and I want to help others make the same choice that I did to accept Jesus. When I was twelve, my family moved back to New York when my dad became the pastor at Dresserville Bible Baptist Church. A couple milestones in my life since then have been marrying my best friend and graduating college with a B.S. in Forestry, both of which happened in 2018.

My education was focused on becoming a Forest Ranger and after graduating, I began the long process of applying for this highly competitive job, while my wife and I prayed for the Lord’s direction. We asked God that if this was His will for our lives, He would continue to lead us down this path, but if this was not, He would make it clear where He wanted us instead. We finally made it through the year-long application process, and I had passed all the tests. We were just waiting to find out if I had made the cut for the training academy when things suddenly changed. Norm and Cherie visited our church one Sunday expressing their need for help this summer, and the next day I discovered my chances of getting into the academy were smaller than I thought. I started considering more seriously what I would do if I did not make the cut for the academy and I just could not stop thinking about the need at New Life Island. Following plenty of prayer, a phone call with Norm, and advice from both our parents, we decided this was God making it clear He wanted us at camp. After a year of hard work pursuing this other job, God completely changed our plans at the last minute, and we have not stopped thanking Him.

For the summer of 2019, I had the privilege of working as Norm’s assistant running the camp program while Esther became an excellent camp videographer, and we both loved serving the Lord here. For several years we have wanted to work with youth, and God had a plan all along to fulfill this desire and use us to help reach kids with His love; all we had to do was trust and follow Him. Now we are excited to be serving here year-round, but the camp continues using the gifts of generous people to support us. We are so grateful for the gifts already given and those yet to come that enable us to further God’s cause here at New Life Island. Thank you for supporting this life-changing ministry!