History of KLIFE

KLIFE was started in 1979 in St. Louis, MO by a group of families who sent their kids to a summer camp in Missouri called Kanakuk. These families approached camp leadership to see what could be done to continue the experience their children had during the summer, all year round. In the fall of 1982 a second location of KLIFE was formed in Kansas City. In subsequent years, with the continuous outpouring of God’s blessing, KLIFE now has locations that reach students across the nation.

In the early years of development under the leadership of Doulos Ministries, KLIFE grew to the point of requiring its own parent organization. In the fall of 1989, KLIFE Ministries, Inc. was formed. In 1996, a permanent National Board was added to the structure of the National Support Center, and in 1997 KLIFE HQ was established in Conway, Arkansas.

In the summer of 2002, KLIFE Ministries, Inc. moved its headquarters to Branson, MO, where it exists to serve the local chapters, staff, boards, students, families and communities in the mission, “To point students to Jesus so they will know Him, love Him, walk in surrender to Him and be equipped to point others to Him also.”

Stillwater KLIFE

The Stillwater Chapter of KLIFE began in fall 2007 after a group of Stillwater families came together with a local church to raise the initial funding necessary to hire our first Chapter Director and begin offering parachurch ministry opportunities to Stillwater kids from 6th to 12th grade. Over the past 16 years, Stilly KLIFE has been blessed with amazing community support, encouragement, partnerships and growth that allowed us to expand the ministry to include opportunities for kids from 2nd grade - 12th grade. Stillwater now has two full time staff members and over 50 volunteer college leaders who serve through KLIFE.

Chapter/Men’s Directors:

  • Kevin Tinkle (2007 - 2010)

  • Kyler Wright (2010 - 2011)

  • Walter Kearns (2011 - 2015)

  • Travis Jones (2015 - 2018)

  • Phil Smith (2018 - 2021)

  • John Harrell (2021 - present)

Women’s Directors:

  • Debbie Burks Ebert (2009 - 2012)

  • Kaitlyn Cathey (2012 - 2016)

  • Landon Wachtner Jones (2016 - 2018)

  • Jenna Rose (2018 - 2022)

  • Emma Sacco (2022 - present)