Next 50
Here’s where we’re going next
For over 50 years, God has used The Wilds to change lives through unforgettable camp experiences rooted in biblical truth and Christ-centered relationships. Now, we’re looking ahead. Our Next 50 Development Plan brings a unique opportunity to expand that impact—reaching more young people and strengthening ministry for generations to come.
See what’s ahead and explore how you can be part of it.
What is the “Next 50”?
The Next 50 Development Plan is our vision to prepare The Wilds to serve future generations through focused investments in camper experience, accessibility, and camp improvement. Watch the overview video and download our PDF to learn more about the heart behind the plan and what we believe God has in store for The Wilds in the next 50 years.
Categories of giving
To help you see the impact of your generosity, each initiative is grouped into one of three giving categories. Together, these areas reflect our commitment to enriching the camper experience, making camp accessible to more young people, and improving facilities for long-term ministry.
Camper experience
We work hard to keep the camper experience fresh and exciting so that young people will want to keep coming back year after year. These initiatives help ensure campers are always having fun while also spending extra time under the influence of God’s Word.
Camper accessibility
Every young person should have the opportunity to attend camp. This category of giving helps remove barriers by keeping costs low, expanding capacity, and providing scholarships for those in need, allowing young people to hear the gospel and helping financially unstable campers attend camp.
Camp improvement
While facilities are not the heart of camp, they do matter. This category allows us to better steward our property through repairs and essential updates, providing a welcoming, durable, and excellent camp experience that can serve campers for years to come.
Featured giving initiatives
Every project is designed to help young people grow, connect, and encounter the gospel. While each initiative supports a specific need, together they reflect our long-term commitment to stewardship, excellence, and lasting ministry impact. Explore some of the active projects we are currently seeking to fund for each of our ministry locations and see how they support the future of The Wilds.
Full-time Staff Housing Phase 1
Year-round camping ministry depends on our committed full-time staff to carry out our God-given mission. Creating a new duplex housing area will help provide stability for our staff, allowing The Wilds to continue thriving over the next 50 years.
Goal:
for 4 staff homes
Modernizing Girls’ Cabins
Our original girls’ cabins were built in 1933! While we’ve given them a lot of TLC since The Wilds of New England started in 2008, we believe that modernizing each one by adding a bathroom will significantly improve the camp experience for our female campers and counselors. This project will also pave the way for added camper capacity in the future.
Goal:
Full-time Staff Housing
While CampsAbroad avoids owning property, we’ve found that basing new hires at The Wilds flagship campsite in North Carolina greatly enhances the quality of their training, allowing them to get up to speed more quickly. Living on the campsite also reduces their expenses, allowing them to raise support more quickly.
Goal:
What’s next at The Wilds
There’s always something happening at The Wilds—and always more to build, restore, and improve. From adding new housing and renovating beloved camp spaces to strengthening the overall camp experience, these upcoming projects are designed to help the ministry grow for years to come. Take a look at what’s ahead and discover how you can help bring these opportunities to life.
Click a location to view camp-specific projects.
Escape Rooms
The Wilds specializes in unique activities: creating experiences that campers can’t normally do at home. We want to build a new space for escape rooms that can be reinvented every few years. Escape rooms can appeal to campers who want to gather a group of friends to take on a fun, interactive challenge.
Goal:
Craft Shop Remodel
The Craft Shop is one of the most popular Freetime activities, giving campers a creative space to make keepsakes that remind them of their time at The Wilds of North Carolina. Expanding the Craft Shop will allow us to serve more campers at once in a brighter environment for creativity, connection, and meaningful conversation.
Goal:
Health Service Facility
In the summer, our nurses provide care for hundreds of campers and staff each week: providing rest, managing medication, and treating the everyday bumps and bruises of camp life. A new, larger Health Services Building will allow our staff to provide even better medical care to our campers.
Goal:
Coffee Shop Expansion
Cool Beans Coffee Shop provides one of the most natural settings for meaningful gospel conversations and discipleship at The Wilds of North Carolina. Renovating and expanding the coffee shop will increase capacity and seating, allowing more campers to gather and connect during the busiest weeks of the summer.
Goal:
Junior Boot Camp Covered Porch
During peak weeks of the summer, our Junior Boot Camp facilities are filled to overflowing with boisterous young campers—especially our main, indoor gathering area. Adding a covered porch to the main building keeps everything centralized while freeing up indoor space for seating.
Goal:
Full-time Staff Housing | Phase 2
Many of our younger full-time staff families currently live in A-frame cabins or modular trailers that stand decades past the expected lifespan for buildings of that sort. We would like to replace these aging structures with duplexes, helping keep younger families settled and comfortable for the long haul.
Goal:
$1,500,000
for 4 staff homes
Dining Hall Expansion
During high-demand weeks of the summer, our Dining Hall is stretched to its limits, with every available seat filled and space feeling uncomfortably tight. Expanding the main dining area will add seating for several hundred additional people, giving us flexibility to support continued growth during the busiest weeks of the summer.
Goal:
Fireplace Room Remodel
For more than 50 years, the Fireplace Room has been at the heart of our spring and fall camps, welcoming nearly 10,000 campers each year. Updating this original, iconic space will ensure that it continues to provide a welcoming place for campers to hear God’s Word without distraction for the next 50 years.
Goal:
Camper experience
Camper accessibility
Camp improvement
Program Activities
Sharing God’s Word with campers will always be top priority at The Wilds of New England. Many campers do come to hear the Word…but they also come to have fun! And having fun actually prepares them to receive God’s Word. That’s why we need to keep our program activities, like Cool Beans and Lazer Tag, fresh and exciting.
Goal:
Kitchen Renovation
Larger dishwasher, reinforced flooring, updated utilities, expanded cold storage, more counter space, bigger griddles. You name it, our dated kitchen facility desperately needs a major renovation. Modernized kitchen space helps our staff be more efficient and enables us to host more campers during our busiest summer weeks.
Goal:
Building New Boys’ Cabins
Our male campers and counselors have stayed in military-style tents since The Wilds of New England began. As tents go, they are serviceable, but after remodeling our girls’ cabins, we don’t want to leave the boys behind. We can meet this need by constructing 12 new cabins with indoor bathrooms.
Goal:
Six New Non-Camper Cabins
(Speakers, Sponsors, Operational Staff)
While teens remain our primary focus at The Wilds of New England, others also come to camp each summer. Adult sponsors, guest speakers, and our faithful summer staff all need places to stay. Additional cabins for these key partners will help strengthen the ministry and prepare us to serve effectively for the next 50 years.
Goal:
Camper experience
Camper accessibility
Camp improvement
Trip Funding
There’s not much money in international camp—especially in the developing nations we prioritize! CampsAbroad operates fully on donations. These funds allow our teams to travel to 20 or more international locations annually, providing program equipment, supplementing camp expenses, and making ministry happen. Generous donors literally keep CampsAbroad going!
Goal:
annually
New Staff Funding
Because CampsAbroad does not own property or directly operate specific camp locations, adding staff is how we grow. Our CampsAbroad field representatives raise their own monthly support, but funding their first two years of salary provides a significant jumpstart toward the end goal of full support.
Goal:
$75k per staff member
Refresh Regional Conferences
As our network of ongoing camps has grown, so has the need for camps in various countries or regions to gather together for mutual sharpening through ongoing training. Regional conferences for local camp leaders require a lot of coordinating, but are well worth the effort!
Goal:
annually
Kingdom Stories Project
Having served internationally for over 25 years, CampsAbroad has incredible stories to tell of God’s work in remote areas, often in countries off the beaten path. We would like to bring these stories to light for the Church through documentary-style videos but need funding to make that happen.
Goal:
Camper experience
Camper accessibility
Camp improvement
Fundraisers made possible
God has allowed The Wilds to accomplish so much through the generosity of faithful supporters. From projects both large and small to international outreach, each fundraiser we’ve completed has played a part in strengthening our ministry and allowing us to serve our campers better. Subscribe to our email updates to keep up with how these projects are progressing.
Dining Hall Renovation
STATUS:
Fundraising complete. Construction ongoing.
Thanks to your generous contributions and prayers, we are thrilled to share that fundraising for Phase One of our Dining Hall Renovation is complete! The Lord has provided the full amount needed to execute our kitchen expansion and improved kitchen utilities. Construction is scheduled for late fall 2026 to early spring 2027. We anticipate launching Phase Two (Dining Hall Expansion) in several years.
Junior Boot Camp Basic Training
STATUS:
Fundraising complete. Construction ongoing.
In the fall of 2024, Hurricane Helene destroyed several of our junior camp play areas. Thanks to the generous support of our friends, we are able to build a new fort-style playground in a new location—close to the main meeting area for the camp, creating more opportunities for spiritual conversations. We hope to begin construction in the fall of 2026.
New Girls’ Cabins
STATUS:
Project complete
Our cabins are a special part of The Wilds of New England experience—a space for friendship, laughter, and quiet moments with the Lord. Through God’s provision, we were able to completely replace two of our oldest girls’ cabins (over 100 years old!) with two spacious duplexes, providing more living space, additional beds, and covered porches for conversation areas. These new cabins were used by campers and staff in the summer of 2026.
Soccer Arena
STATUS:
Fundraising complete. Construction ongoing.
Soccer is truly the world’s sport! It is also a favorite of our campers at The Wilds of New England. Our new outdoor soccer arena with bounce-off walls, netting, and evergreen turf will provide a whole new level of excitement for our campers—both players and spectators. We are thankful that gracious gifts for this project enabled construction in 2026 to be ready for summer 2027.
Trip Funding
Every year, we look to generous donors to fuel our efforts around the world. To avoid burdening the missionaries and indigenous churches we assist, CampsAbroad has committed to cover team travel expenses as well as program equipment and training materials. God has faithfully provided just what we need year after year, even as demand increases. Some give monthly, others sponsor trips, still others give once a year, but every donor is special to us and to our God. Thank you!
Camper experience
Camper accessibility
Camp improvement
Have questions
about donating?
Donate by mail
The Wilds Christian Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 509
Taylors, SC 29687-0009
Donate by phone
Call our donations department
at (864) 331-3267.
Tax information
The Wilds is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions to The Wilds are tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law. Our federal tax ID number is 57-6036401
Leave a legacy that lasts
You can support The Wilds through a legacy gift of stock, property, or other assets. These thoughtful donations are a powerful way to invest in the Next 50 years of ministry while offering financial flexibility and potential tax benefits for you.
Contribute to some of our specific everyday needs
Want to help strengthen the camp experience, but not sure a larger project is the right fit? The Needs Corner offers a collection of smaller items and giving opportunities that make a meaningful difference across camp.
Every contribution helps shape Next 50. Explore our catalog of needs or contact us to learn more.