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Sunset from the air over Hume Lake: still water holding pink and gold cloud, pine ridges on both shores and the Sierra Nevada beyond.

The capital campaign

Ripple of Hope

One week reaches one twelve-year-old. The twelve-year-old reaches a family, a friend group, a church, and eventually people who will never know where the first ring came from.

Give to the campaignSee the Ark

Hume Lake at sunset

What is The Ripple of Hope Campaign

Expanding Impact, Transforming Lives

At Hume Lake, our facilities have served generations of campers and staff, but years of use have taken a toll. Renovating the Ponderosa Dining Hall, updating summer staff housing, building family townhouses for staff, upgrading recreational spaces, and constructing a new Meadow Ranch Middle School Chapel are all essential to maintaining the high standard of ministry we provide.

But these projects are about far more than buildings. They are about expanding our ability to reach more people with the life-changing impact of the gospel of Christ. Every renovated space and every new structure creates more opportunities for lives to be transformed, for hearts to be surrendered, and for eternities to be changed. Investing in these upgrades is an investment in the future of Hume Lake. A future where even more campers, families, and staff can experience the power of the gospel for generations to come.

The master plan

Critical projects needed at Hume Lake

Your generosity can help exponentially

  • Architectural rendering of the renewed Ark at dusk.

    Current priority · Phase one

    Ark Renovation & Expansion

    Where everyone gathers

    The Ark is where camp gathers and memories are made, and after fifty years, it’s time to revive this beloved space for expanded use.

    See the Ark
  • Ponderosa campers standing as part of Decision Night.

    Coming soon

    Ponderosa Chapel Expansion

    Ponderosa, our high school camp

    More seats in the room where high school students worship together, hear the Bible preached each night, grow in their understanding of who Jesus is, and commit to following Him with their lives.

  • Young men gathered around a shared meal in the Ponderosa Dining Hall

    Coming soon

    Ponderosa Dining Hall Renovation

    Ponderosa, our high school camp

    Three meals a day, nearly every day of the year. After decades of constant use, the dining hall is outdated and well-worn. Renovations will keep generations gathering around these tables for years to come.

  • Ponderosa campers competing in recreation in Ponderosa Pool

    Coming soon

    Recreation Area

    Ponderosa, our high school camp

    Relocating the pool and creating new recreation areas. At Hume, play isn’t an add-on; it’s part of how we reach the student who would never walk into a chapel first. Play uncrosses arms, builds connection, fosters a sense of belonging, and ultimately opens hearts to hear the gospel.

  • A group of young people with their hands raised dance and celebrate together under purple and pink stage lighting at an indoor event venue.

    Coming soon

    Meadow Ranch Chapel

    Meadow Ranch, our middle school camp

    A permanent chapel of its own for the middle school camp, the age at which, year after year, the most first decisions are made. This new chapel adds 200 seats for more young people at this pivotal age to be in the room where the gospel is preached.

  • Meadow Ranch dorm area, including Hume’s most recent large cabin project: Tahoe.

    Coming soon

    Two New Cabins

    Meadow Ranch, our middle school camp

    Beds are the hard ceiling on how many campers can come at all. These dorms raise it by 80 beds each.

  • A few of the hundreds who serve each summer at Hume.

    Coming soon

    Summer Staff Housing

    The people who run the summer

    Three hundred and fifty young adults dedicate their summer each year to serving at Hume Lake. Renovating and expanding staff housing will ensure we can provide a safe, functional, and welcoming environment for those who are key to making Hume’s ministry thrive.

  • A glimpse of Hume’s staff and their families.

    Coming soon

    Multi-Family Staff Residential Community

    The people who run the summer

    Year-round staff and families on site: the people who serve in every season and need a place to call home, put down roots, and build community together.

$48.2MCapital campaign completed, 2021

The precedent

The Lord has already provided at this scale

This vision builds on a history of extraordinary generosity. In 2021, Hume’s seventy-fifth year, a capital campaign with significant plans for the future encountered the unexpected realities of COVID. As camp operations were disrupted, the most urgent need changed. The Hume family responded generously, sustaining the ministry and positioning Hume to welcome campers back at full capacity as soon as restrictions allowed. Some projects were necessarily delayed, but the need they were designed to meet only grew more urgent: more young people need the hope of the gospel, and more space is needed to welcome them into the unique environment of camp where they can step away from the noise of everyday life and encounter the living God. Ripple of Hope carries that vision forward, inviting the Hume family to invest boldly in the future of this ministry.

1945 – 2025

Eighty years, in order

Hume has been adding to this place for four generations. The campaign is the next entry, not a departure.

  1. A hand-tinted 1940s postcard of Hume Lake: a dirt road curving along the shoreline, small boats at the water’s edge, pines rising to a forested ridge.
    1945

    Christian men in Dinuba begin prayer meetings. The Hume Lake property is purchased in January 1946.

    Milestone 1 of 12
  2. A woman in a patterned dress beside a rough-hewn wooden sign reading “Welcome to Hume Lake Conference,” in a stand of pines.
    1946

    Hume Lake Conference Grounds opens: 15 volunteer staff, 670 campers.

    Milestone 2 of 12
  3. A black-and-white photograph of a large camp gathering seated on the ground around a raised wooden platform in the trees.
    1951

    Long Meadow Camp opens; now Meadow Ranch, the middle school camp.

    Milestone 3 of 12
  4. A black-and-white photograph of children walking among canvas-topped covered wagons in a clearing under tall pines.
    1964

    Wagon Train welcomes its first campers to a Wild West experience for elementary age.

    Milestone 4 of 12
  5. The steep-gabled Ponderosa Chapel, its dark red siding and A-frame roof rising among pines and aspens.
    1983

    Ponderosa Chapel is built for high school worship.

    Milestone 5 of 12
  6. Four young men in matching grey camp shirts crowded together, laughing, beneath a hand-painted “Wildwood” banner.
    1998

    Wildwood launches: immersive discipleship in the back forests.

    Milestone 6 of 12
  7. A large timber-and-stone lodge with a steep shingled roof and tall windows, framed by aspens in autumn colour.
    2000

    Joshua Wilderness Institute welcomes its inaugural class of 23 students.

    Milestone 7 of 12
  8. A group of adults and children posed together on a grassy hillside under a wide sky, arms around one another.
    2001

    The first Hume International Camp, in Papua New Guinea.

    Milestone 8 of 12
  9. An aerial view of Hume New England: green-roofed buildings and mown fields ringed by dense hardwood forest.
    2011

    Hume expands coast to coast: the acquisition of New England Keswick becomes Hume New England.

    Milestone 9 of 12
  10. A turquoise lake edged by a sandy beach and pines, with swimmers and boats on the water.
    2020

    Hume SoCal opens.

    Milestone 10 of 12
  11. A large outdoor crowd seated and standing before a stage flanked by banners, forested mountains behind.
    2021

    75 years, and the completion of a $48.2M capital campaign.

    Milestone 11 of 12
  12. A dense crowd of campers in yellow shirts cheering with arms raised, faces painted.
    2025

    Nearly 55,000 guests served across the Hume family of camps.

    Milestone 12 of 12

We are not a new organization. For eighty years, this story has been one of God’s faithfulness, not Hume’s achievement.

A 1965 black-and-white photograph from above: a few hundred campers on wooden benches in a half-circle around a fire ring, a speaker on a plank stage and a woman at an upright piano, under tall pines.
Camp meeting around the fire ring, February 1965. From Hume’s archive.

Give to the campaign

Every gift drops another stone.

Give to Ripple of Hope and Hume places it where the campaign needs it next, starting with the Ark.

One project is open today.

The Ark is phase one: the place where camp gathers and memories are made. After fifty years, it is ready for a revival.

See the Ark

Stay connected

Updates, impact stories, and opportunities to give. No noise.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 15:13
Give to Ripple of HopeStart with the Ark

Other ways to give

Not everyone gives by card

A check in the mail, a donor advised fund, or a conversation with someone at Hume. All three reach the same place.

  • By mail

    Make checks out to “Hume Christian Camps” and send to:

    Hume Christian Camps ATTN: Development 5545 E. Hedges Fresno, CA 93727

  • Donor advised fund

    Recommend a grant to Hume through your donor advised fund. Hume is set up for online requests through several of the larger providers.

    Start a DAF request

  • Talk to someone

    Hume’s Development team can take a gift over the phone, answer a question about a fund, or help with a gift of stock or property.

    (559) 305-7407development@hume.org