My name is Billie Thaw, and I have a story to tell.
It’s not my story – it is God’s story of how He has transformed a dilapidated Georgian manor house, on the southern edge of Sheffield, into a residential holiday centre, and how He is using this special place to transform lives.
Dan and I first saw The Oakes on a cold, wet, foggy day in January 1996. The building felt like a giant fridge, and the grounds were so tangled and overgrown, that it was hard to find our way through them… yet we knew that this place was exactly what we had been hoping and praying for.
A place to hear about God
Two years earlier, we had spent a few weeks at Teen Ranch Australia, a residential centre just outside Sydney. God confirmed what we already knew – that a fun-filled activity holiday was the perfect backdrop for young people to hear about a God who loves them.
After returning to our teaching jobs in Bristol, we started to look for a suitable property to set up a similar centre in the UK. We focused our search on the Sheffield area because it is my home city and we were hopeful of family and church support nearby.
The Oakes ticked every box. Its location was unique – it was within the city boundary, yet felt completely rural. The layout of the house was perfect – it had everything needed for a holiday centre. The grounds were beautiful – a wooded area, a walled garden and a lake provided potential for a wide range of activities.
We returned to Bristol buzzing with excitement, and spent the next three months committing the project to the Lord in prayer, and seeking His confirmation to move ahead.
Six months later, we left our teaching jobs, packed up our little flat and moved to Sheffield. At this point, we had secured an interest-free loan to cover the purchase price, and we felt optimistic that we could gain the necessary planning permission, set up a charity, buy the property and move in and get started on the renovations within six months.
In reality, it took a little longer than we had hoped… Almost two years later, on 12 May 1998, everything was finally in place, and The Oakes Trust was able to move ahead with the purchase. Another two years on, and we were ready to open as a holiday centre.
God provided again and again
Those four years were a rollercoaster of ups and downs as we faced a range of challenges which kept on appearing. Yet God’s faithfulness shone through at every dark moment. He opened doors when the circumstances seemed impossible, He provided for all our material and financial needs, and He sent us the right people at the right time, over and over again.
I would like to suggest that there is no such thing as ‘fortunate coincidences’ in the Christian life, but there are many, many ‘God-instances’ – seemingly small happenings which we can look back on and see how God has used them in a really significant way to bring about His purposes. The story of The Oakes is full of these.
Through a long series of these ‘God-instances’, we managed to open as planned on 1 July 2000. This involved an ambitious renovation programme which included five months of work on the roof, rewiring, treatment for dry rot, structural reinforcement of floors, repairing or replacing 50 sash windows, adding a gas central-heating system, redirecting sewage from a septic tank to mains drains, adding toilets, shower rooms and a commercial kitchen, building a new staircase, restoring original features and plastering, redecorating and equipping all 36 rooms.
Volunteers and acorns
Almost all of this work was completed by an army of volunteers and funded by one-off and regular gifts. The majority of our early funding came from our Acorn Scheme. ‘An Acorn’ is a regular gift of £10 per month. This scheme was invaluable in the early years and it still provides us with core funding which enables us to continue to develop our site and keep camp fees as low as possible.
At our Opening Day service of dedication and thanksgiving, Bob Ockenden, our inspirational friend who came over from Australia to set up a Teen Ranch in Scotland in the 1980s, prayed that our front doors would be ‘doors of transformation’ in many young lives. This is still our prayer today and every day.
Over the last 21 years, we have welcomed over 30,000 campers and trained over 300 young adults on our Impact (gap year) training programme. We won’t know this side of heaven how many of these campers have accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, but we do know that everyone of them has had the opportunity to hear about Jesus within in the context of a fun-filled holiday.
When camps first started in summer 2000, we only had a low-level ropes course and we filled the rest of our programme with Wide Games, Looney Olympics, Crafts, Slip and Slide, Bonfires, and Dorm Talent Shows! Over the last 20 years, God’s provision has enabled us to introduce new activities. We now have archery, a climbing wall, rafting with a waterslide and giant swing, remote control cars, zorbs, a Tough Mudder assault course and underground tunnels.
The Trust has also been able to expand our site. We have bought surrounding fields and our grounds have grown from ten to 20 acres. We have also been able to purchase properties for staff accommodation, including four houses in the stable block behind the big house, plus the Gardener’s Cottage and the Lodge at the top of our entry lane. Each of these purchases have been extraordinary miracles through which God has provided for those who have answered His call to join our team and step out in faith to raise their own support to enable them to serve at The Oakes.
As we look back, there have been many challenges along the way, but God has been completely faithful. He has been with us through every difficult and painful situation, and, when we have been willing to listen and learn, He has used each one of these to teach us important lessons and to deepen our relationship with Him.
Prioritising prayer and study
Individually, and as a team, we have tried to prioritise listening for God’s voice by starting every day together with Bible study and prayer and, in His sovereign timing, He has heard and answered every one. Sometimes the answer has been no or not yet, but we have also enjoyed some glorious yesses!
Although our busy schedule of camps can be exhausting, and living and working on team can be challenging, many have shared with us that despite their own frailties, weaknesses and feelings of inadequacy, they see God glorified. This is a great encouragement to us because it is the reason why The Oakes exists.
The story of The Oakes has now been told in a book called A Story to Tell. It has been written to inspire, encourage and glorify God for all that He has done and continues to do in this place. Through His story, we pray that you might see how amazing and faithful God is, yesterday, today and forever.
• Live in the light of eternity
• Life is not a rehearsal
• We have one chance to make it count -
• Let’s not waste it.
If you would like to read The Oakes story in full, along with photos and over 200 memories and reflections from campers, parents, group leaders, school teach-ers, and team members, you can pre-order a copy of our book, A Story to Tell through 10ofThose.com (Available from August 2021)
