Frontier Camp looked very different when Hans Meinardus first set foot on the property back in 1974. He came as a camper that summer, and later served summers as a Counselor and then as Program Director. After serving in the Corps of Cadets and graduating from Texas A&M with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Geology, Hans then spent 14 years working in the field of hydrogeology before God called him to his real job as Summer Camp Director here at FC in 2004. Now in the role of Executive Director, he oversees FC’s ministry and its development. He does still get to work with play with rocks and fossils as he teaches campers about God’s creation. Hans’s wife, Autumn, serves in many different capacities here at camp, and sometimes even gets paid! They live right behind the rodeo arena and have three adult children and five grandchildren.
Matt and Liz Henderson
Matt first came to camp in ‘01 as a Senior Counselor, and Liz grew up as an FC camper before joining the summer staff as a teenager. But between the two of them, they have done just about every job at camp over the years! Matt, who has a Bachelor of Science from Tarleton State, is the Director of Operations, where he oversees the day-to-day operations of the different year-round ministries FC provides. Known for his love of super-heroes, action movies and wakeboarding, Matt also directs our aquatics program—ask him about our cable lake! Liz, who has a Bachelor’s degree from Baylor, heads up the Recharge program, a mail-based outreach program for campers, in addition to being a full-time mom. Matt and Liz make their home across the road from camp with their five children, Emily, Brandon, Sarah, Owen, and Jack.
Andrew Mathias
Andrew and Brenna both grew up attending Frontier Camp and then spent their summers serving on summer staff. Andrew and Brenna met while working on summer staff in 2014 and married the following summer. Andrew is a Registered Nurse and has worked in several hospital and surgery settings. Most recently, he and the family hit the road to experience life as a travel nurse. Andrew and Brenna have a deep passion for discipleship and desire to see lives changed for the glory of God. They are super excited to serve Him together at Frontier Camp in the new role of Hospitality Director! They have been married since 2015 and enjoy doing life with children
Dusty Stone
Dusty grew up as a “camp kid” at another Texas camp, but first came to Frontier Camp in 2006 as a Junior Counselor. While working at camp in 2008, Dusty met his wife Sarah. After graduating with a degree in Biblical Counseling, Dusty worked at Grace Bible Church in College Station, TX in the college and youth ministries. In 2015, God opened a door to relocate to Tampa, Florida and operate a ministry-minded waterfront recreational facility. Seeing this as a call to reach west-central Florida with the Gospel, Dusty and Sarah jumped at it and served there for two years before the Lord brought them back to Frontier Camp. Dusty is passionate about serving teenagers and young adults through meaningful relationships and intentional discipleship. As the Staff Director, Dusty gets to engage the next generation and train them up in righteousness.
Bonnie Patterson
Nicknamed the “Camp Brain” (after our old camper registration software), Bonnie really is the brain that keeps camp running. Bonnie joined the full time staff as the Office Manager in March 2002, after she and her husband, James, moved to Grapeland from the Fort Worth area, where she had spent 20 years in the banking industry. For more than a decade now, Bonnie has kept camp running as she handles camper registrations, secretarial and administrative duties and keeps the rest of us on track. She also believes ADD is contagious, because she didn’t have it before coming to work with the guys here! Bonnie and James live outside Grapeland and have four grown children and ten grandchildren.
Marcus Horne
Marcus has been repairing machinery since 1999 and graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in agricultural engineering in 2003. He worked for John Deere as a field technician testing experimental hay equipment and self-propelled sprayers, which allowed him to travel to most of the US as well as Canada and Australia! Marcus joined FC’s full-time staff in February 2019 as our Maintenance Director, and he ensures everything at camp is working like it should. Marcus is thankful for the opportunity to apply his machinery skills while serving the Lord here at camp. He and his wife Faith live nearby camp with their three children: Nate, Leah, and Triston.
Ashley Higgins
Ashley has a long family history with Frontier Camp, as her parents met at FC when they were summer staffers in the 80’s! Ashley started attending camp as a camper in 2004, and she continued to come annually until she was old enough to join our summer staff, where she served for many years. After attending and graduating from a small Bible Institute in Wyoming, God called Ashley back to Frontier Camp’s summer ministry as our Work Crew Leader in 2018. After the summer ended, Ashley stuck around as an intern, and she joined our full-time staff in January 2019 as Assistant Staff Director and now enjoys the opportunity to serve as the Director of Programming.
Anhel Owens
Anhel attended camp for the first time in 2005 and annually until she was old enough to serve on summer staff. She has served in many roles over the years. Starting out on the work crew in 2012 she has held several positions including Activity leader, Assistant Cook, Lifeguard, Work Crew Leader and eventually Head Cook in her last summer on staff in 2017. In the non-summer months you would find her working retreats and waiting for summer to come again. In the fall of 2018, Anhel took a break from camp life and attended community college and then Stephen F. Austin State University to pursue a degree. Lo and behold, the Lord had other plans. He has called her back to Frontier Camp to serve on Full-Time Staff. She is excited to be the Hospitality Administrator and is blessed to be a part of Frontier Camp’s Ministry.
Ana Eberle
Ana first came to hear about Frontier Camp when a lady from a short term missions group told her about it, while she was living in Africa as a missionary kid. She then came on summer staff for the first time in 2018 starting out as Camp Store Manager. Loving camp so much she continued to return on summer staff for four summers, while she attended Liberty University in Virginia. After summer 2021, she started working remotely for the Staff Hiring Team. Ana started on Full-Time staff in April of 2022 and is excited to be the Assistant Staff Director.
Garrett Long
Garrett attended camp as a camper for many years before working on summer staff in 2016. He returned as a staffer every summer since then, and he has served in many different roles at camp. He began attending the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2019 where he met his wife, Lily, and graduated with a degree in Finance. Garrett joined full time staff as the Hospitality Coordinator in January 2022 and Lily works at a local hospital as a Registered Nurse.
Ben Helmer
Frontier Camp has always been like another home to Ben Helmer. He started out as a camper and came for many summers before joining summer staff in 2014. He and his wife, Ginny, met on summer staff in 2015 and served together in 2016 before marrying in 2017. While on summer staff, Ben served as a counselor, cable park manager and program facilitator. Ben and Ginny have worked full time at two other Texas camps and returned to Frontier Camp in February of 2022, where Ben now serves as the hospitality maintenance manager. They have two little boys, two dogs, and when not at camp, you can find them enjoying the outdoors, working on projects, or playing board games.
Karsten Wood
Karsten first came to camp as a camper in 2014, and that first week as a camper started a long and joyous journey with Frontier Camp. After 5 years as a camper, Karsten joined the summer staff program in 2018, serving in various capacities like Work Crew, Counselor and Work Crew Leader. In late 2021, Karsten’s FC adventure continued when he moved out to camp to become Frontier Camp’s on-site retreat host and housekeeper. In 2022, he joined our Resident Staff program, and in 2023, he took up the mantle of Assistant Program Director. Karsten loves camp ministry and is excited to see what the Lord has planned for his future at Frontier Camp.
Kelly Holden
It took Kelly just one summer at FC for him to learn that he wanted to work in camping ministry full time. After his summer in 2011 as a Senior Counselor, Kelly went to work at a camp in southern Wisconsin, where he met Haley. Shortly after getting to know each other, Kelly and Haley felt the Lord’s direction to pursue marriage and to work as full-time staff at a Christian camp in Southern California. After several years and several camps across the country, the Lord brought Kelly to return to FC in February 2019. Kelly heads up Technology and Marketing. Kelly and Haley, and their children, enjoy getting outdoors and exploring the magnificent creation of our Lord.
