Camp Jo-Ota Celebrates 70 Years/NOMADS Arrive

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Camp Jo-Ota, Clarence, Mo., is busy preparing for its 70th year of welcoming summer campers since it’s formation in 1953. The Camp is currently under the direction of Mrs. Ann (McCarty) Wood with the assistance of her husband, Kendel Wood.  Tara Mefford is Ann’s right-hand person as office assistant.  Both women wear many hats coordinating the maintenance and events held year-round.

Camp Jo-Ota is an independent Christian organization owned by the Jo-Ota Methodist Association (JMA) with a governing board organized in 2015. It is recognized as an official non-profit corporation in the State of Missouri.  The Camp operates solely with an income from membership fees, church givings, user fees, private donations and trust/endowed Funds.

Recently, the NOMADS (Nomads on a Mission Active in Divine Service) arrived at Camp for three weeks of volunteer work to help get Jo-Ota ready for the summer camping season beginning very soon. The current NOMAD group working here includes former Clarence residents and Camp Site Director, Mike “Sarge” Leonard and his wife, Marietha.  When they are not traveling on NOMADS missions, the Leonards are at home in Englewood, Florida for the winter months and their summer home is Billings, Mo.  Sarge and Marietha are responsible for first bringing the NOMADS group to Camp Jo-Ota beginning in 2008 and continuing for the next six years, the duration of the Leonards operating the Camp through 2014.

After Camp Jo-Ota was closed by the Methodist Conference (owners) in 2014 and 2015, JMA Site Director, Ann Wood submitted a request for the NOMADS to assist with upkeep and maintenance projects. For a non-profit organization to enlist the help of the NOMADS, they must first put in a request.  The prospective work site is evaluated as to whether it is a workable assignment.  The organization requesting help must list requested projects desired.  An organization using NOMADS help is called an agency. There is a website that NOMADS members check to find locations and projects.  They find where they are willing and able to go, and a group is formed with a leader and a destination assigned.

The NOMADS are a Methodist organization with all different denominations of faith represented by the members.  They travel the continental US at their own expense with their own personal RV campers, donating their expertise and physical labor to nonprofit organizations—churches, camps, childrens’ homes to name a few.  They are Mission Volunteers in a traveling ministry. They are also Disaster Rebuild Teams that go into storm ravaged communities after the initial Disaster Response Team has the community up and going to a certain point.  Projects are varied and many, such as remodeling, repairs, new construction, office work, painting, childcare, gardening, etc.  Upon printing of this article, they were completing a Camp Jo-Ota double cabin project of tearing out and replacing the floor.

Sarge and Marietha have been involved with NOMADS for 19 years, first through different agencies that they managed and the last three years as traveling members themselves.  When asked why they became NOMADS members, they said, “We have been on the receiving side of the organization and seen the difference they it makes in people’s lives.  We wanted to give back.”  They, themselves, have personally experienced help when they lost their Florida home in Hurricane Ian in October 2022.  They expressed that the mission is a lot of hard work, but so rewarding and fun and they are blessed with being a part of a great family of friends.

If you would like to know more about either NOMADS or Camp Jo-Ota or make a tax-deductible donation, their respective contacts are:

Camp Jo-Ota

1272 State Hwy MM

Clarence, MO 63437

www.campjo-ota.org

660-699-2393

Methodist Nomads

P.O. Box 9066

Hot Springs Village, AR  71910

www.nomadsumc.org   1-866-466-6237

The Nomads were welcome worship visitors recently at the Clarence Methodist Church where two former Camp Site Directors were present, as well as the current Director to have their picture taken together. Also, represented in the picture is the daughter of the first Caretaker (now deceased) “of Camp Jo-Ota beginning in 1958.  Names and terms of service accompany the picture.

Camp Jo-Ota, in addition to the traditional summer camps, hosts various retreats and is available to schedule your club or family gatherings, class reunions, church events, meetings, field trips, etc.

“In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action is dead” James 2:17