Kids reconnect at New Mexico ranch amid pandemic’s isolation

VANDERWAGEN, N.M. (AP) — After more than a year of pandemic-imposed isolation, quarantines, and remote learning, Broken Arrow Bible Ranch has been one place for area kids and teens to reconnect this summer.

The Christian camp, located about 20 miles south of Gallup, reopened its cabin doors in June after being shut down last summer because of COVID-19. For staff members, volunteers, and campers, the reopening was a much-needed relief.

“COVID has had a ravaging impact,” Ty Platero, the Broken Arrow program director, told the Gallup Independent in an interview at the camp.

He said a number of campers this summer have lost family members to COVID-19, and some have experienced trauma, depression, and suicidal ideation during the isolation of the pandemic.

“There’s kids that come from deep in the heart of the rez — they know something about isolation,” Platero said.

By experiencing the pandemic, he added, other kids and teens have now felt a similar kind of physical isolation.

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Process of healing

Platero, 27, said he began attending summer camp at Broken Arrow when he was 8 and began working at the camp at age 16. He said he and other staff members are full-time missionaries at Broken Arrow, which was founded more than 50 years ago.

Platero said his own life was transformed by the Christian faith lived out at Broken Arrow. He said the camp’s common purpose for kids is “to get to know God better and have fun.”

As Platero spoke, the teen campers fanned out across the camp, participating in a variety of activities, from archery to go-cart racing. Nearby, a large group of teens engaged in a team building exercise of trying to balance on top of a small wooden platform without falling off.

Each summer, Broken Arrow holds...