Week 7 – Mark Koop
Profession/Where I am now – I have been living in Winnipeg since 1995 and I’ve been working at Great West Life for the past 10 years. My wife, Fran, and I were married in 2000 and we have 2 kids. My son is 8 years old and loves playing hockey. My daughter is 6 and loves swimming. We attend Whyte Ridge Baptist where Fran volunteers in the nursery and I play bass on our worship team. Fran enjoys card making and scrapbooking and I still play hockey once a week and am an assistant coach on my son’s team.
Camp Experience – It seems like a lifetime ago when I was at the Ranch. I never experienced camp life as a camper but I spent seven summers there from 1986 to 1992 on staff working on maintenance, counselling and at the barn. Most of these years I was living at the Ranch year round and enjoying all the Ranch has to offer in all four seasons.
Fondest memories – Rocky Ridge Ranch played played a key role in my growth and development as a young man. There were foundational bricks laid in my life during my time there that God has continued to build upon. But the time that was always the most rewarding and fulfilling was during the summer when I had the opportunity to help our campers lay some foundational bricks of their own. I saw many kids grow in their self confidence as they developed new skills and learned more about what they were capable of. Most importantly, I saw kids growing in their relationship with Jesus and, for some, make that initial decision to follow Christ.
Lessons Learned/Impact – To this day, I still find myself drawing upon lessons that I learned at Rocky Ridge Ranch. I’m grateful to God that He used the Ranch to help mold me for the future and prepare me for a life of service to Him.
