Beloved and Beyond Staff
Glen and Laura have been doing ministry together for the better part of 30 years. Together with their family they saw God faithfully bless their efforts over 14 years in Christian Camp ministry for children and young adults who have special needs.
Glen and Laura have been doing ministry together for the better part of 30 years. Together with their family they saw God faithfully bless their efforts over 14 years in Christian Camp ministry for children and young adults who have special needs.
Bio I have been blessed to be involved in special needs ministry for the past 10 years. As a 1 on 1 buddy, a camp staff member, summer leadership and starting a special needs Men’s weekly bible study. Camp has given me many things, life long friendships with campers, fellow staffers, my beautiful wife Allison and most importantly introduced me to genuine Christ like love that I did not know until I served at camp. My first camper, a 9 year old boy with cerebral palsy told me that I was beautifully and wonderfully created by God and it shook me to my core. Since then I have been dedicated to sharing that same message in hopes that our campers experience Jesus just as I did.
As you can tell by my last name I have been part of camp for a while, I am beyond excited to be part of camp in a full time capacity and help this amazing ministry through facility maintenance. Over the past 10 years I have been on summer staff, zip line tour guide, pest control, lighting, and lastly an Area Manager for swim schools. My wife Hannah and our son Beckham are also very excited to be here at camp and experience this amazing place year round.
Serving as a cabin parent and being on staff at Beloved and Beyond is such a joy! It is amazing to see how God moves in the hearts of both campers and volunteers as they grow and learn more about being a follower of Jesus. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to be part of all God has planned for this ministry!
Jeff, myself, Ashley and Jessica have been part of camp with Jodi Ferguson and Glen and Laura Elder since 2008. Jessica as a camper, Ashley as a volunteer and Jeff and I thanks to resounding YES in 2017 from the three of them when we came together to discuss an idea Jeff and I had about a transition program. That program is now known as The BEyond Team. We have watched camp shape our daughters lives, for Jessica it was a place where she could be herself, be celebrated and most of all where she learned that Jesus loves her unconditionally even when she is mad or sad. A place where she now loves to work on BEyond Team and serve others just as she has been served all these years. For Ashley it was a place for her to be around others who had special needs siblings, a place that made her heart happy, a place that would help mold her into the incredible human she is now. Camp challenged Ashley and helped her learn to advocate for those who couldn't always advocate for themselves. She is a true advocate for these kiddos and their families as she is all grown up and works as a Behavior Specialist in the Dallas, TX area. Camp has definitely been a complete blessing in our lives and I am so grateful for Jodi for making it happen for my girls to come to camp so, so many years ago and to Laura who helped me actually leave the parking lot that day at drop off. Our family is so excited to lead the BEyond Team and help our BEyonders learn valuable job and life skills in a safe and nurturing environment.
Beloved and Beyond Board of Directors
Glen and Laura have been doing ministry together for the better part of 30 years. Together with their family they saw God faithfully bless their efforts over 14 years in Christian Camp ministry for children and young adults who have special needs.
"Our family has been in ministry to those with different kinds of abilities for 18 years and what a wonderful and life-changing ride it has been! We feel most at home doing & supporting Camp ministry and feel God's leading, once again, to start a new Camp AND to step out in faith to explore new avenues for the adult ministry. We're excited to see all that God is going to do!"
--Jodi, Matthew, Mary Beth & Anna Ferguson
--Jodi, Matthew, Mary Beth & Anna Ferguson
We were introduced to this unique special community through the involvement of our sons Blake and Matthew. In 2014 our son Blake was asked by a friend to come volunteer with her at a camp for kids with special needs. The experience was life changing and set our entire family on a course we had never thought about. Blake’s enthusiasm was contagious and ended up with brother Matthew also catching fire a year later. Believing God orchestrated our collision with the Elder and Ferguson families and their ministry to families with special needs we feel called to partner with them in God’s next big plan Beloved ministries.
Being the mother of a special needs child has truly been a gift from God. I thank him daily for seeing something so special in me and Louie to bless us with our Chloe. I am the proud mother of a camper and camp volunteer who are always inviting others to join in the camp fun! Camp has been a life changing experience and has educated all of us, especially me because it taught me to trust. It taught me to trust in others to care for Chloe in ways I would have never experienced in life if she had not been a camper in the care of Glen and Laura Elder. This one experience has since opened up endless opportunities not only for me but my family as well. Today, our family is involved with special needs ministries to offer Faith, Hope and Love not only to Chloe but to all families. I am delighted to be a part of this new journey with Beloved and Beyond and serving not only for our God but the families who are in need of a ministry. I feel so blessed to work beside the founders, Glen and Laura Elder, they have exceptional leadership skills and a love for each individual camper which is witnessed by all. It is my privilege to serve and welcome all to Beloved and Beyond.
I met the Elders in 2018, when I brought a group of nursing students to camp for their pediatric clinical rotation. I had no idea how much I would be impacted by not only camp, but also by Glen and Laura. Throughout my nursing career, I have worked with children, teens, and families with special needs, but I never had a deep understanding of just how amazing these kids and their families are until I went to camp. In each and every camp experience, the love of Christ was evident and it was so beautiful. GOD blessed me by leading me to serve at camp and I am changed forever. My daughter, Taylor, also served as summer staff and she has grown tremendously in her faith because of the amazing camp culture that the Elders created.
Glen and Laura always say that camp change lives and it truly does! I am honored to serve on the Board of Beloved & Beyond and I can’t wait to see where GOD leads this ministry.
Shelly Nalbone
Glen and Laura always say that camp change lives and it truly does! I am honored to serve on the Board of Beloved & Beyond and I can’t wait to see where GOD leads this ministry.
Shelly Nalbone
We are Jason and Maura Johnson. We have 3 grown children that served as SOTK’s when they were in middle school, high school, and even on staff in college. This is how we came to know and love this incredible ministry. Being a cabin parent has been a life changing experience and we just knew the Lord had even more for us here at Camp.
We have a heart for serving the disability community in our area (north of Dallas) and we are excited to have the opportunity to serve the Beloved & Beyond Board. And to see all that God is up to here in Rosebud, TX.
We have a heart for serving the disability community in our area (north of Dallas) and we are excited to have the opportunity to serve the Beloved & Beyond Board. And to see all that God is up to here in Rosebud, TX.
Tami and I have known the Elders for over 25 years and have seen how their work in Christian Camp ministry has been a marvelous blessing for so many families. We are honored for the opportunity to be part of the next chapter, Beloved and Beyond, and excited about what God has in store for this ministry.
Our family is very grateful to our son Jonathan for connecting us with this ministry and showing us its extraordinary value to campers and parents, as well as volunteers and staff. In years past our whole family has served alongside the Elders and Fergusons at camp, and our lives are far richer because of this experience! Beloved and Beyond continues to provide Jonathan with a wonderful week of the best kinds of fun and friends while giving my husband Rick and me several much-needed full nights of sleep and rest to be able to better care for Jonathan the remaining weeks of the year. It is a blessing and honor to get to serve on Beloved and Beyond’s Board after retiring from 20 years of directing nonprofits that serve people with disabilities and their families.