Our History

The ministry of Jews for Jesus has a long-standing commitment to invest in young people. We agree with the quote, “Children are the living messengers to a generation we will never see.” We know our efforts in this area help fulfill L’Dor V’dor, “from generation to generation.”

Camp Gilgal began through the vision of Moishe Rosen, the founder of Jews for Jesus. In 1990, he asked David “Moose” Garrett and Bob Mendelsohn to begin a Messianic camp for Jewish boys ages 9-12. At the time, nothing like this existed, so it was an experiment. It went well, and the following year we made it a coed camp.

As our campers got older, realizing they would no longer be able to attend Camp Gilgal, they petitioned Moose to begin a teen camp (1994) and then again for a camp for older teens, which launched our adventure camp in 1999. That same year, we started Camp Gilgal WWW (wonderful winter weekend) to provide another opportunity for campers to connect during the year.

Since our beginning in 1991, young people from all over the United States--as well as from Russia, Venezuela, Canada, Mexico, China, Israel, and France--have attended Camp Gilgal. We have also run programs in Germany and Ukraine.

Wherever Camp Gilgal happens, Jewish children and youth have been provided with the opportunities to come to know Yeshua in a personal way, to grow in their faith, be affirmed in their Jewish identity, to make life-long friends, and to have fun.

Nearly all of our Camp Gilgal staff are veteran campers who just can't imagine a summer away from camp.  A growing number of our campers are children of Camp Gilgal campers. Camp Gilgal alumni are scattered all over the world, and a Camp Gilgal Alumni Association is in the works to keep the encouragement, community and fun going.

So, why Gilgal? The name "Camp Gilgal" comes from the book of Joshua. The account talks about the Jewish people crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Gilgal is the name they gave to the place where they first camped. It was while the Jewish people were camped at Gilgal that they renewed their covenant with the Lord.  It was also the first time they ate from the produce of the land (bringing an end to God's daily provision of manna). While we are "camped at Gilgal," it’s a time for us to renew our covenant to follow Yeshua, and to encourage the campers to do the same.