In the mid 1800’s, Schooley’s Mountain was a popular summer vacation spot for New York City residents. The pure mineral springs, invigorating mountain air, and romantic surroundings made Schooley’s Mountain one of the country’s best health resorts. Immersed in the beauty of nature, guests came to retreat and relax in what is now called the “Ebenezer” building.
By the late 1930’s, though the refreshing mineral spring and its sequestered beauty remained, the guests had moved on to resorts near the shore of New Jersey. The “Ebenezer” building and its surrounding land was for sale.
Around that time, Henry and Anna Zimmerman, missionaries from the Liebenzell Mission located in Germany, arrived in the US to raise support. Six weeks after their arrival, World War II broke out in Europe, and the couple found themselves unable to return home.
Instead of being discouraged, the Zimmermanns trusted the Lord had them here for His glorious purposes. With much prayer and help from the local American-German Christian population in Philadelphia and New Jersey, the property in Schooley’s Mountain was purchased.
Initially a mission home for others displaced by the war, the property grew from a guesthouse for missionaries to both a retreat center for local churches and the headquarters for Liebenzell Mission of USA. In 1951, Norman Dietsch was sent out from Schooleys Mountain to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea as the first Liebenzell USA missionary. Today, Liebenzell Mission International is active in 26 different countries with over 230 missionaries and the goal of growing a community of love among all peoples.
A different type of health-seeker is coming to Schooley’s Mountain now. John 4:13-14 reads, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst.” Though the healing spring is gone, Schooley’s Mountain is still in existence and so is its invigorating mountain air. But the breezes which are felt more today are those of the life-renewing Holy Spirit. Our Retreat Center is used to minister to the churches in the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania areas. Its purpose is to provide churches in the area with a space to allow their congregation to come out of its surroundings and experience the intimacy of knowing God personally and to follow the Great Commission in our own backyard.
Your group will love the experience they have here as they join with God on the mountain.