Ron and Cheryl Gallegos
We work at Camp Li-Wa just outside Fairbanks, Alaska. Camp Li-Wa is operated by Victory Ministries of Alaska and is a year-round facility. During the summer we conduct 9 weeks of summer camp for children of all ages. Our summer staff are all volunteers, coming from Alaska and the lower 48 states. Nearly 500 children come to camp, and we need about 30 staff to run the summer programs. During the winter months the camp is open to churches and civic groups for weekend retreats and weekday activities. We have a ministry through the military chaplains who use the camp for various outreaches, seminars, training, and retreats. Our barn is used all winter for horse riding lessons, a program for riders with disabilities, training for summer barn staff, and dog agility training groups.
Ron works full-time at Camp Li-Wa in maintenance. His primary responsibilities are buildings and new projects. During the summer months he supervises work teams who come from various states to help with building projects. He also helps with serving retreat groups on weekends. Cheryl's work with the camp is volunteer, and she has done a variety of different jobs, including cleaning, guest group preparation, cooking, and serving weekend retreats. She also is involved in writing the curriculum for the summer's theme and lessons, and she teaches horse riding lessons at the barn once or twice a week. During the summer her main responsibility is the petting farm, supervising 5 or 6 different small animals for the children to pet, play with, and learn about.
We have 4 children, three boys ages 20, 18, and 15, and one girl age 13. We came to Alaska and Camp Li-Wa in the fall of 2002, so our children have mostly grown up here in Alaska. We moved here from Springfield, Missouri, where Ron had worked as an air traffic controller before retiring from the FAA in 2001.
We can be contacted at or at Camp Li-Wa 907-457-6059. You can also learn more about Victory Ministries of Alaska and Camp Li-Wa at www.victorymin.org.