Bruce Johnston, President

Bruce is the founder and president of the JH Ranch and the weekend ministry, Outback America. Having grown up in Fullerton, California, as the oldest son of 12 children, he and his wife, Heather, now live in Birmingham, Alabama. They have two children, David (18) and Mallory (16). Though often seen only as the primary speaker for all our programs, Bruce is the visionary behind almost every detail you'll find at the Ranch.

Mack Ogren, Capital Development Director

Mack came to the Ranch after nearly 30 years in the business world, where he was the executive vice president of a national publishing company. Though presumed crazy for leaving such a job for our non-profit organization, we find his insanity a necessary part of our team. He and his wife of 23 years, Janice, have two children, Kristina (23) and Jeffrey (19). Kristina is presently working as a missionary in India while Jeffrey plays football for Clemson.

Gloria Hampe, Director of the Host Family Program

Her oldest daughter, Heather, married Bruce, and Gloria's life has never been the same. After ten years of involvement with the Ranch, we convinced Glo to join our full-time staff, where she has been crucial in every way since then. As the director of host families, she is at the Ranch during each of the Parent & Son / Daughter sessions. She loves her family, coworkers, Starbucks, and her job, but is deathly afraid of cats and is successfully overcoming her dislike of computers. She and her husband, David, enjoy time with their three daughters, Heather Johnston, Holly Farmer, Lucy Smith and sons-in-law. Most of all they enjoy their seven beautiful grandchildren, David, Mallory, Hampe, Jack, Charlie, Hadley and Vivian.

Jonathan LeDuc, Program Director

Hailing from Chico, California, Jonathan always finds creative ways to bring the outdoors inside our offices in Birmingham. He thrives in the outdoors, having previously taught physical education and outdoor education at a Christian elementary school in Chico. Jonathan is married to Jen who served as women's staff dean from 2002-2005. Jen left her job with JH to fulfill her other full time role as a mother of two. They have two daughters named Selah (see Psalms), and Ansley.

Heather Henderson, Financial Services

After a two-year stint in the business world, Heather decided to leave the land of public accounting to take on the financial tasks of the Ranch. Originally from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, she graduated from The University of Alabama in 2001 and receied her masters of accounting in 2002. Heather's hair color is always changing but her roots remain firm to Alabama football. She also enjoys keeping up with American politics and trendy clothes.

Julia Stevens, Women's Staff Dean

Our one and only Brit, after three summers on our volunteer staff, Julia packed her suitcase, grabbed her passport, and left England in January 2004 to arrive in Birmingham, AL., and join our full-time staff. A devoted follower of the call the Lord placed on her life, she has lived more than half of her life in Africa and has spent considerable time exploring the world. A lover of art galleries, old European cars, opera, dinner parties, strong cheese and strong coffee. She is a goldmine of experience in her young life. She's written a book about her year teaching English in Namibia, A Namibian Canvas, available at www.exclusivebooks.com. She will be working closely with Ray and Heather to strengthen the staff's spiritual development.

Eric Nickoli , Head River Guide & Promotions

For good measure, we knew we needed a graduate of Auburn University to keep the Tide Pride in check on the full-time staff (if you are not familiar with this rivalry, Google "Iron Bowl"). After receiving his degree in mechanical engineering in 2005, Eric spent some time traveling in the U.S. and abroad before going to work for an international engineering firm for a year and a half. A jack-of-all-trade with a heart for the Lord, Eric worked as the head river guide for the summer of 2007 and now works as an assistant to our Program Director as well as helping with the Ranch promotional team. Not one to be found sitting still, Eric enjoys anything that will get him outdoors, especially playing with his 3- year-old neice, Norah.

Wade Watkins, Executive Assistant

Wade has joined the Ranch team after three years on volunteer summer staff. He is our resident doctor with a Ph. D. in Statistics from the University of Alabama. He helps with program logistics and is working full time as Bruce's assistant. Wade would like to one day spend time overseas with particular interest in Israel and in China.

Leslie Arnold, Assistant Host Family Director

This southern belle hails from Mississippi. She graduated from Mississippi College and then attended Ole Miss, where she received a Masters in Accounting.  After a very colorful career involving accounting and interior design, she has settled into the rewarding field of assisting Gloria with Host Family presentations.  The ministry of the Ranch is her style, just not the camping part.

Jason Ellerbee, Associate Program Director & Promotions

Our true deep-south staff member, Jason, is from Milledgeville, Georgia.  He attended school at Georgia College & State University where he received a degree in Outdoor Education.  Jason previously worked with the Ranch for three years before working as the Campus Director for Campus Outreach at Valdosta State University. He rejoined our staff in the Fall of 2005 to work on our Promotions team in the off-season and work with Programs in the summer. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama during our off-season with his wife Elizabeth, their two sons Joshua Caleb (JC) and John David, and their faithful dog Gus.  

Julie Jordan, Registrar

Julie spent her first summer at JH Ranch in 2005 as head of housekeeping. She started with the Ranch full-time in Febuary of 2006. Julie graduated from Samford University with a degree in English. She loves to travel, play with her dog Dudley Doright, and sing in her choir at church. She heads up our Registration department and enjoys managing the office girls during the summer.

Jamie Herndon, Intercessor Administrator

Jamie is originally from Valdosta, Georgia and recently received her degree in Speech Communications from the University of Georgia. Jamie has spent five summers volunteering at the Ranch and will now be serving full time as our Intercessor Administrator and Heather Johnston's assistant. Jamie has spent time overseas in numerous countries and enjoys singing and playing the guitar in her spare time.

Emily Menendez , Assistant Capital Development Director

Emily spent time as a guest at the Ranch and has just come on board full time. She is originally from Birmingham, AL and graduated from Vanderbilt in May 2006 with a degree in Communications. After graduating, Emily went to work on an Alabama Supreme Court campaign before joining the Ranch team. She will be assisting Mack with Capital Development and is counting down the days til April 21st when she is getting married to Matthew Menendez.

Gary Dean, Maintenance

Gary and Grace have been married for 36 years and have three children and six grandchildren. After spending 22 years in the oil fields of southern and central California, they felt the Lord calling them into Christian camping. Gary has served in Ranch maintenance for twelve years. They live year-round at the Ranch, and are active in their church in Yreka, teaching Sunday school and directing the choir. They enjoy being grandparents to our summer staff and spoiling them, feeding them, and teaching them a thing or two.

Bob Fleener, Chef

Bob and his wife Halli, and their two children Allyson and Zachary lived in Seattle for over 12 years before moving to work as chef for the Ranch in 2004. Bob has a great deal of experience in the culinary arts, being trained at the Culinary Institute of America and working for the Seattle Golf Club. Bob is one of the best in his trade and enjoys teaching culinary skills to the kitchen crews during the summer. Halli also helps out in the bookstore and office when needed.

Ray Shelton, Operations Coordinator

A native of Siskiyou County, Ray moved to live at the Ranch in September of 2004.  He is a member of the local indigenous tribe, the Shasta Indians.  His connection with JH Ranch began in 2000 at a reconciliation ceremony held in the Ranch chapel. He and his wife, JoAnne, work as advocates on behalf of Native Americans. They have three grown daughters and three grandchildren. Ray has been a pastor for over forty-two years and now serves as the Ranch pastor, as well as managing the Etna office and overseeing any Ranch operations through the winter season.

Ken & Jennie Lorensen , Director of Facilities/Construction & Administrative Assistant

Ken first came to the JH Ranch as a work week volunteer and felt God's calling to work at the Ranch full-time. Originally coming from Eureka, California, Ken and his wife Jennie moved to work at the Ranch in 2004. Ken is in charge of construction around the Ranch and also oversees any maintenance work that needs to be completed. Jennie serves as an administrative assistant and spends her time in the office helping with purchasing, booking, and other office duties. The Lorensens live at the Ranch year round with their daughter Sarah.

Joel Lopez , Groundskeeper

Joel found out about the Ranch after working for Gene Johnston in Southern California. He moved to Etna in 2004 with his wife Theresa, and his three children Myra, Karina and Joel Jr. Joel spends a great deal of his time on landscaping and ground work to keep the Ranch beautiful year round. Joel also takes care of the livestock and works with Ken and Gary on maintence needs.

April and Lewis Durham

Lewis and April have been working at JH since October of 2004. They lived in Redding, California prior to moving to the Ranch to live year round. They have been married for 50 years and have 4 children and 13 grandchildren. Lewis works with Bob Earp in maintaining the facilities and April helps out in many office duties.