A Brief History of Camp Li-Lo-Li

It all started in 1951 when a small group of men from Rochester, NY—Mel Northrop, Colin Caldwell, and Stephen Smith— shared a vision to start a summer Bible camp for children. They prayed and waited faithfully on the Lord and His timing, and in 1952 they held their first committee meeting at the proposed campsite: Allegany State Park Camp No. 11, with over 100 people from the Rochester and Buffalo area attending to support the goal. Despite the fact that the men had never attended a camp before, Colin and Mel were chosen to lead the mission to found our camp because of their passion for the ministry. They started meeting weekly to research and gather information about how camps run, what they would need, and how to put a schedule together. Some weeks, Colin and Mel would stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning working to prepare for camp!

In March 1953 the newly-formed corporation chose the name Camp Li-Lo-Li as our official name, submitted by 11-year-old Betty Carol Northrop in a naming competition. Pronounced “Lie-Low-Lie,” this name stands for Life-Love-Light, all attributes of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

After the first successful year of camp in Allegany State Park, the corporation decided to start looking for their own permanent camp ground. After two more years at Camp No. 11 and dozens of inquiries, visits, and offers to possible properties, on Memorial Day, 1955, Mel Northrop and program director, Vernon Larter, visited a site that they knew was the one. After overcoming many obstacles, in the fall of 1955, Camp Li-Lo-Li purchased the land where we now hold camp every summer.

​1956 was the first summer camp was held on the new property. Only having time to build the lodge and one cabin, campers stayed in tents and the lodge was used as a dining hall, chapel, store, and sleeping quarters for the cooks! It was a very rainy and tiring two weeks for campers and staff, but the Lord was faithful in his work that first year—bringing many souls to salvation. Years 1957-1962 saw many construction projects by countless volunteers that transformed Li-Lo-Li into more of the camp you picture today as well as an expansion of the sessions offered. The ‘60s saw the addition of the chapel building and camp’s first phone line, the ‘80s ushered in a new store building, a new sewer system and the first time mail was delivered to camp (before then, it was all sent to a P.O. box), and the ‘90s saw the addition of the pool. Since then, camp has added: Fort Seneca, the Climbing Tower, the Zip Line, a new Craft Cabin, and the Pavilion to name a few! 

God has certainly blessed us with more than our founders ever could have imagined. “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15)
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Our Mission & Vision

Our Beliefs

Godhead
​There is one God, eternally co-existent in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (1 Peter 1:2-3; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

Creation
God created and maintains all things by His sovereign power. (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:15-17)

Scriptures
The Bible is God's inspired Word, without error in its original manuscripts, and is the final authority for all faith and conduct. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Man
We believe that man was created in the image of God as two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female (Genesis 1:27, Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6). 

Sin
All persons are separated from God by sin and cannot be saved by their own efforts. (Romans 3:10-19)

Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is fully God and became fully man through the virgin birth; by His death and resurrection, Christ made salvation a free gift to all who receive Him by faith alone as Lord and Savior. (Matthew 1:18-25; John 3:16,36; Ephesians 2:8-9)

Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
Believers have assurance of eternal life and the power of the Holy Spirit to live righteous lives. (John 10:27-29; Galatians 5:16)

Baptism and Church Fellowship
Believers should be baptized by immersion and participate regularly in both the Lord's Supper and local church fellowship (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:24-25)

Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ will return in the air to take up believers and later return to earth to establish His millennial kingdom. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:1-8)
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Resurrection of the Believer
There will be a bodily resurrection; the righteous to eternal blessedness and the unrighteous to eternal punishment. (John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:12-15)

Camp Li-Lo-Li is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation registered New York State.