SR • July/August 2015
27
Conference Highlights
Wondering who will speak at Conference? Here are two speakers you won’t want to miss!
July 26 - August 1, 2015
SDB General Conference Sessions
Lancaster Bible College
Lancaster, PA
July 26 - August 1
Wednesday Evening:
REV. DAVE BAILEY
Ranch Hope was founded in
1962 by the Rev. and Mrs.
David L. Bailey. While Rev.
Bailey was in the pastorate,
he gave a speech to a local
service organization entitled,
“Youth in Trouble.” After the meeting, a member of the
organization challenged Rev. Bailey to do something
about the problems he had outlined in his talk. The seed
was planted to back up his concern for pre-delinquent
teenagers with action.
When Rev. Bailey’s “dream” was made known to the
public, an insurance man from Bridgeton, NJ, made the
first contribution ($20.00) to begin the work. It was this
gift that launched Ranch Hope. On May 5, 1964, the first
boy came to the Ranch from the Woodbury Probation
Department. Within a few months, the first residence
was filled with 12 boys. Rev. and Mrs. Bailey, with their
family, served as the first house parents. A small school
was also started on the campus with teachers donating
their time.
In the years that followed, Ranch Hope expanded to
130 acres in order to care for more young men. Ranch
Hope now serves over 90 young men and women, offer-
ing a high school education and a full-time residential
program with an emphasis on bringing the Gospel into
the lives of its students.
Tuesday
Evening and
Wednesday
Seminar:
MARK HAMILTON
Born in Australia, Mark Hamilton is the founder of
Young Life Belarus & the Baltic States. Having come
from a non-Christian back ground, Mark knows what
it means to reach out to teenagers: “When I was 15 I
saw something different in a friend at school; he told
me it was because he was a Christian. I was instantly
intrigued and it wasn't long before I gave my heart to
the Lord. From that moment, I always had a heart for
reaching non-Christians.”
He met his wife Lera, who is from New York, during a
short-term mission trip to Belarus. Today they have
five children and run ministries in Belarus as well as
Lithuania and Latvia.
When asked, “Why Belarus & Baltic countries?” they
respond, “we fell in love with the people, culture and
history of this area; there is a great need here with very
few missionaries or ministries reaching the non-Christian
youth. It is our hope, with God’s help, that we can intro-
duce Jesus Christ to every young person and give them
an opportunity to follow Him.”
