Retreats

Our camp is your camp

Enjoy all that Camp Barnabas has to offer when you host your family, friends, church, or work retreat at our gorgeous campground.

Two campers on a canoe in the lake.

Retreats

Youth retreats, office retreats, team building retreats, weddings, family reunions, or birthday parties are just a few ways you can utilize our space to fit your needs!

Camp Barnabas at Teas Trail near Monett, Missouri, holds up to 450 people and is famous for its cliffside views of the Ozarks. We offer an opportunity to rent our camp for a variety of events so that you can share in the benefit of our property that is as beautiful as it is versatile.

Register
Aerial view of camping cabins at Camp Barnabas

Service Groups

Landscaping, painting, and small construction projects are just some of the ways your Service Group contributes to the future of Camp Barnabas. Service Groups come year-round to keep our camp looking beautiful and ready to serve our campers.

Church groups, garden clubs, corporations, civic clubs, Greek organizations, and more are invited to serve.

Facilities

Lodging

Camping cabins in the woods with sun and shadows

Camper Cabins

These cabins can accommodate up to 20 people and have four bathrooms in each cabin. There are a total of 20 of these cabins at camp.

Barnabunk bunkhouse dorm

Barnabunk

This dorm-style lodge has a small commons room up front, and two wings of 20 beds each on either side, allowing it to hold 40 people. This lodge is private enough to house both males and females and has multiple private bathrooms as well.

Front of fish house with landscaping in front

Fish House

This lodge is perfect for groups up to 71 and features its own meeting space and full kitchen.

Well House dormitory at Camp Barnabas

The Well House

The Well House features hotel-style rooms for families that include bedding, towels, and a private bathroom.

Adult Housing

Located on the lower level of the Dining Hall, the adult housing areas feature four rooms with either four or eight bunk beds.

Tree Houses

Our Sibling Village tree houses offer a unique camp experience with bunk-bed sleeping accommodations and a rope bridge.

Log Cabin

Our rustic Log Cabin can be rented August-October and March-May. It is free for our group leaders to come stay during the off-season. There is one bedroom with one bathroom, a small living area, WiFi, and kitchen.

Meeting Rooms/Worship Spaces

Dining Hall at Camp Barnabas surrounded by trees

Dining Hall

As our largest indoor space at Teas Trail, the Dining Hall offers seating for up to 500 people and is set up with full video and sound for numerous events. The open Dining Hall design also allows you to design the layout of your gathering.

Trees surrounding the best view of the valley spread below

Inspiration Point

Inspiration Point is the most scenic view at Teas Trail. It is a full seating area overlooking the bluffs of Shoal Creek and the beautiful farms surrounding camp.

Cabin at Camp Barnabas with Trees in front

Silver Lining

Also part of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition renovations, this building is versatile and can be set up however you would like for meetings up to 40 people.

Lodge at Camp Barnabas

Fish House

Located on the main level in the Fish House is a common room that features a large meeting table with several couches conveniently located next to a kitchen. This area serves as a hangout or meeting room for smaller groups. The Fish House also sports an open, covered front porch with several benches that offer an additional meeting space.

camp barnabas pavilion wide view

The Dome

Our largest outdoor space is The Dome, which features two basketball courts with several rows of bench seating and lots of room for any other outdoor activities. The Dome has speakers and wireless mics, so your whole group can meet together!

Game Room

Our Game Room features fun and flexible seating with couches, chairs, bistro tables, and plenty of games. The Game Room boasts a large television and WiFi to give users plenty of options within the space.

Front and Back Conference Rooms

The front and back conference rooms are located on the lower level of the dining hall. These open spaces are equipped with a rock climbing wall, swings, and other high and low energy activities but can be transformed to fit your needs.

Chapel

The Chapel is our open-air covered space with views of our lake. Tables, benches, or chairs can be arranged to provide a flexible space for meeting. The covered space can also be used for games and activities.

Activities

There’s no shortage of fun things to do at Camp Barnabas. We offer a ton of exciting activities, including a high and low ropes course, game room, basketball courts, mini golf, fishing, pool (closes after Labor Day), rock wall, zipline, field sports, apple cannons, gel blasters, and canoeing. Every activity is adapted so that every person, regardless of age or ability, can participate.

Team Building Retreats

Get ready for an adventure-filled retreat at Camp Barnabas for your sports team, company, or group designed to elevate your teamwork, communication, and leadership skills. We work with you to plan exciting challenges, competitions, outdoor adventures, and team-based games designed for your group’s age and abilities. From collaborative problem-solving activities to trust-building exercises, we will guide you through experiences that foster team work, resilience, creativity, and communication.

Team Building Activities & Competitions:

  • High Ropes Course: 2 climbing walls, zipline
  • Low Ropes Course: elevated trust fall, Whale Watch, team wall, A-frame, islands, Wild Woozy, King’s Finger, Cable Walk, Spiderweb
  • Lake Olympics: fishing challenge, blindfolded canoe race, blindfolded trust walk, float cage match, triathlon relay
  • Pool Olympics (in-season): Blue slide no splash challenge, green slide synchronized challenge, yellow slide basketball shot challenge, orange slide speed challenge
  • Barnabas Tri-Cup: mini golf tournament, knock-out tournament, 9 square tournament
  • Gel Blaster Battle
  • Apple Cannons
  • Field Games
  • Frisbee Golf
  • Scavenger Hunts
  • Indoor Game Room


All of our different team building activities are flexible and can be tailored to your group’s needs and goals! Our facilitators are happy to be as hands on or hands off as needed. We will always have your team's goals and success in mind!

High Ropes Course
Zipline
Low Ropes Course
Water Park
Canoeing
Peddle Boat
Mini Golf
Apple Cannons
Game Room
The Lake
Fishing
Worship

Pricing

Standard Per Person Rate

Standard per person rate includes use of meeting spaces, lake access, and all other non-rope activities. Daily rates are $30 per person and $6 per meal.

1 Night2 Nights3 Nights
3 Meals$65XX
4 Meals$71$103X
5 MealsX$109X
6 MealsX$115X
7 MealsXX$154
8 MealsXX$159

Per Child Rate

Children aged 2 years or or younger are free. Children aged 3–6 years old receive 50% off the standard rate while children aged 7–12 years old receive 25% off standard rate.

Additional Rules, Rates, and Activities

We provide all meals and require a minimum stay of one night plus three meals and a group size of at least 20 people, however you may inquire about exceptions. We require a group size of 200 people or more to have exclusive use of grounds. Groups of 150+ are eligible to receive 5% off the standard rate.

Extra Activities

$10 per person for Rock Wall and Zip Line

$10 per person for Pool Access

$25 for day use of Golf Cart

Download Retreat Guide Contact Matthew

Pastor/Group Leader Getaway

Our camp property is the perfect place to rest and recharge. Group Leaders and Pastors can take advantage of our free lodging in the off-season. Individuals or families will need to provide their own food.

Camp Map

Camp Map
Camp barnabas map colored green

FAQs & Testimonials

Although we do not require proof of a negative COVID test or vaccination, we ask that you not attend if you have been exposed to someone who has recently tested positive for COVID or if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms. We hope you will be able to join us but understand if based on risk, now is not the right time and we look forward to having you attend future Barnabas events.

All Camper families will need to create a new username/password (this can be the same as their old one). If they have already registered for 2023, then they can click the "reset password" button.

Absolutely. Every Camper deserves to have a life-changing week at Barnabas! They also have a right to a safe and healthy week. In order to make sure your Camper is well taken care of we do have a few general extra medical care need protocols we have to follow:
First, contact our Health Services Director at [email protected] to discuss your Camper's needs in detail prior to camp. Second, if your Camper requires overnight medical care, we require Camper families to provide a private nurse during their time at camp. Third, if your Camper has a trach or utilizes a vent, we require Camper families to provide a private nurse as well.
We have a dedicated team of doctors and nurses that stay on camp grounds at all times throughout the summer. Members of this team are in charge of administering daily medications, tube feedings, health checks, etc.

At this time, our registration process is done completely online. If you do need help with registering your Camper please feel free to contact our Camper Registrar.

You can email your request to our Camper Registrar. We cannot guarantee that your request will happen but we will do our very best to honor it.

Requests received prior to March 1st will result in a payment refund minus the non-refundable registration fee of $100. Cancellations occurring after March 1st will allow for payment transfer to another week within the summer or toward registration for the following summer less the registration fee of $100. We request that all cancellations are given at least 10 days before the start of the session. Any Camper/Missionary who is a no-call, no-show for their session will not be eligible for a refund or transfer of funds. All cancellation requests must be in writing and sent to our Camp Registrar.

“Barnabas is a place where kids like my daughter can come and feel accepted. We have watched her work really hard to fit into the real world. But when she comes to Barnabas, it’s her world and everyone else gets to step into it.”

—Camper Parent

“It’s like when you throw a rock into a pond and it ripples out; Camp Barnabas is blessing people connected to that Camper. You are giving someone back home a break. You are allowing a sibling back home time with mom and dad that they don’t get when the Camper is at home. I don’t think a lot of people understand that. Thank you.”

—Camper Parent

“Camp Barnabas means freedom to me. I was able to enjoy Camp without limitations or fear for the first time in my life.”

—Camper

“Camp is a safe place to make friends, learn about Jesus, and be around other people just like me.”

—Camper

“Camp Barnabas is a place where you can be free of judgment, of your insecurities... you can just let go and have fun and you’re able to be who you wanna be.”

—Camper

Although we do not require proof of a negative COVID test or vaccination, we ask that you not attend if you have been exposed to someone who has recently tested positive for COVID or if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms. We hope you will be able to join us but understand if based on risk, now is not the right time and we look forward to having you attend future Barnabas events.

Counselors are 15-29 years old. Barnstormers are 13-14 years old. Cabin Parents are 30 years old and up.

Yes, we do. For more information about Missionary scholarships click here.

Click here for the different roles of camp.

Click here

and get ready for a life-changing week at camp!

“I credit Camp Barnabas for my confidence because it is a safe haven for Campers and Missionaries and anyone who is lucky enough to walk through those gates. Because of Camp Barnabas, I am now a certified and licensed interpreter and constant advocate for everything Camp Barnabas is and does.”

—Missionary

“When the camper’s faces light up... there’s nothing quite like that.”

—Missionary

“Camp Barnabas is an amazing place for people with disabilities to feel the love of God, and to see that in action through the Missionaries and the Staff.”

—Cabin Parent

“Camp Barnabas is a great place for joy, and for hope. Joy because of what the Campers get to experience, and hope for what we see happening in these young people’s lives.”

—Cabin Parent

“You need to come. Everyone needs to come and experience what God is doing here. Everyone needs to come and experience something that will change your life.”

—Missionary

Although we do not require proof of a negative COVID test or vaccination, we ask that you not attend if you have been exposed to someone who has recently tested positive for COVID or if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms. We hope you will be able to join us but understand if based on risk, now is not the right time and we look forward to having you attend future Barnabas events.

With the support and guidance of our Director of Health Services, physicians care for the wide range of medical issues that can arise during camp sessions. Physicians are available around the clock to evaluate Campers, Missionaries and Staff, supervise medical procedures, and prescribe medications.

Camp nurses are responsible for the daily dispensing and documenting of Camper medications, providing treatments and procedures (infusions, nebulizers, feeding tube, urinary catheter and central venous catheter care, etc.) and responding to Camper and Staff drop-in visits for everything from splinters, fevers, and stomach aches to other serious accidents or illnesses. Support and supervision are provided by the Well House and Health Services Director and volunteer physicians.

Medical Team members arrive on Saturday between 2:00 and 3:00 pm and leave on Friday at 10:00 am.

Not yet, but we promise that we are looking into it.

We’re located in Purdy, Missouri. Fun fact: Extreme Home Makeover came to visit Teas Trail in 2005. We’ve added even more cool things to our camp since then and we can’t wait for you to come check us out!

“I loved every minute of serving as a volunteer nurse. It has been the most rewarding and fulfilling part of my life. The Campers have touched my heart and made me smile in so many ways. They have taught me more than a nursing textbook ever could.”

—Med Team Member

“Camp Barnabas is the most wonderful place in the world. Volunteers and staff work together to make the Camper’s week the best of the year... It is a life changing experience in a piece of heaven on earth.”

—Med Team Member

“Safe-haven is probably the best word I can use to describe Camp Barnabas, because my son can enjoy the things that I can’t offer and I don’t have to worry about it.”

—Camper Parent

“It just feels like a privilege, to have the trust of parents, who I’m sure have concerns and reservations. Every parent of a kid with complicated, out-of-the-ordinary needs would want us to feel for their child. To be there for them, not just in some sort of sterile clinical capacity, but to be a part of a human encounter with a person that is loved and valued by God.”

—Med Team Member

“It is an opportunity for Christian formation for our whole family, and I see our children having known and loved their brother, bringing the empathy that they’ve been trained up with to camp. I love it, I just feel like Camp Barnabas makes our whole family more holy, more grounded, and more Christ-like.”

—Med Team Member, Camper/Missionary Parent

Although we do not require proof of a negative COVID test or vaccination, we ask that you not attend if you have been exposed to someone who has recently tested positive for COVID or if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms. We hope you will be able to join us but understand if based on risk, now is not the right time and we look forward to having you attend future Barnabas events.

Counselors are ages 15-29 years old. Barnstormers are ages 13-14 years old. Cabin Parents are 30 years old and up.

Yes, we do. For more information about Missionary scholarships click here.

Click here

and get ready for a life-changing week at camp.

First, if you are a first time Missionary watch this registration tutorial or if you are a returning Missionary watch this registration tutorial.
If you could still use some help, contact our Missionary Coordinator, Caleb, at [email protected] or 417-597-3223 for assistance with registration.

“I send my kids to Camp Barnabas because it teaches them something you can’t get in a service, altar call, or Bible study. It is putting the Bible into practice intensely for a week. It is showing the love of Jesus, not just experiencing it or reading about it.”

—Youth Group Leader

“Compared to other summer camps, a week serving at Camp Barnabas is half the cost and twice the experience! Students who serve at Camp Barnabas discover that being a contributor to ministry is far greater than being a consumer of ministry. Together, we learn about the joy of selfless service, the beautiful, God-given value of every human life, and the community-building power of shared experiences. Serving Christ at Camp Barnabas is one of the most impactful things we do as a ministry.”

—Youth Group Leader

“This mission trip is a tangible opportunity to experience the light of Christ. My youth don’t come back and revert to the way they always were. Their ability to love and serve is different because a piece of their life has been changed forever.”

—Youth Group Leader

“There is no life change that I’ve seen in our students like a week at Camp Barnabas.”

—Group Leader

“I think Camp Barnabas has challenged me to not just serve individuals with special needs just one week out of the year but look for opportunities all around me in my context to be the hands and feet of Christ.”

—Group Leader

Although we do not require proof of a negative COVID test or vaccination, we ask that you not attend if you have been exposed to someone who has recently tested positive for COVID or if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms. We hope you will be able to join us but understand if based on risk, now is not the right time and we look forward to having you attend future Barnabas events.

That is completely okay, and this does not eliminate you from being a potential Barnabas staffer! We have a whole week of training before any Campers arrive to train anyone who has never worked with an individual with special needs before.

Camp Barnabas is located in Southwest Missouri, specifically Purdy.

To be on Summer Staff you need to be at least 18 years old, or have graduated high school. Not quite 18? We have other incredible serving opportunities! Learn more here!

All Summer Staff are paid per session. Email our Staff Director to find out deets.
As an added bonus, we can help you secure internship credit for your hours. See Internship FAQ below.

As long as you can still bust dance moves in it, yes.

“This place is where the different becomes normal, and the impossible is obtained.”

—Summer Staffer

“I think we model servanthood here. It’s gonna push you, it’s gonna make you uncomfortable. Camp is always pushing you past yourself where you are no longer capable of doing it, and that forces you to rely on God and rely on the people He’s put in your life.”

—Summer Staffer

“Our camp couldn’t exist this long if we weren’t all sharing the gospel and pursuing Christ, and I think that is truly what makes us different. It is a glimpse of heaven on earth. Each day, people are leaning on Christ and creating a space that is safe for anybody with a disability or just anybody at all to come to.”

—Summer Staffer

“This summer is going to change you in such incredible ways that you aren’t even expecting, and so you’re going to experience immense growth here. You will grow most in those places of un-comfortability.”

—Summer Staffer

“God’s love is very evident at camp. One of the things I love most about camp is that you get to love on people that don’t get to experience God’s love everyday.”

—Summer Staffer

You can see the way we figure our prices here.

Our Teas Trail location can hold 500 people.

Yes! We are more than happy to cook for you and your group. Our price quotes always include us cooking and serving meals for you.

Absolutely. We want you to be able to keep your family happy, because that makes ministry or event planning ten times easier. See our lodging page for images of some our rooms that can accommodate families. We have a few mini fridges that we can move around to keep baby formula cold.

Yes, we have Wi-Fi access in our camp office. We try to limit the amount of time people spend on the internet because our Wi-Fi is naturally slow and gets slower as more and more people connect to it.

Cell phone service is available yet limited depending on your carrier. Most of the Barnabas staff have AT&T or Verizon and our service is fine. We also have landlines that you can use if needed.

Plan the perfect retreat!

For further questions about camp, registration, and retreats, please complete the form. You can also call or email Matthew McDavid, our Retreats Coordinator.

camp staffer at camp barnabas matthew
Name