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When the 35 residents of Antelope, Oregon, heard two years ago that some kind of religious group planned to take over a ranch 12 miles from town, alarm bells sounded. Some drew comfort from learning that their new neighbors would be the evangelical group Young Life, which simply wanted to turn 700,000 square feet of abandoned buildings and 64,000 acres of land into camp facilities for teens. But few would blame those who lived through the town's occupation by followers of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for casting a wary eye at outsiders.

BHAGWAN'S OLD DIGS: Young Life's new Washington Family Ranch, which opened one of two camps planned for the site this past summer, bears stark contrast to its previous tenants, who took over the Eastern Oregon high desert town from 1981 to 1985. The 3,000 Rajneeshees who poured in during that time squelched local resistance by buying up enough of the town to control the city council. Renamed "Rajneeshpuram," the town drew international media attention that focused on the Bhagwan's more than 90 Rolls-Royce cars and unconventional religious teachings that "free sex is fun, materialism is good, and Jesus was a madman." The Justice Department kicked out the Bhagwan and his followers in the fall of 1985 and Rajneeshpuram became Antelope again. The Bhagwan died in India in 1990.

Nearly 15 years later, however, the wounds are still tender. "I have yet to hear anybody speak one kind word about them," says Jim Walker, a former rancher and sheriff's deputy who has lived in the area since 1970. "As far as people in Antelope and the ranchers around there, if you're an East Indian, if you have a turban on your head, or anything weird, or speak different, they want to know what you're doing."

Most wanted the ranch, still known by the old-timers as "the Big Muddy," to return to tumbleweeds. That could have become the ranch's fate when Montana businessman Dennis Washington purchased it in 1991. But through a series of events that Young Life leaders believe could only be God-inspired, Washington donated the land, which is now valued at $20 million.

One of Young Life's other prize properties is the Malibu Club, which was built as a resort for Hollywood's elite in the 1940s at the mouth of the Princess Louisa Inlet in British Columbia. Owner Tom Hamilton, who made a fortune selling airplane propellers to the Nazis in the mid-1930s, sold Malibu to Young Life below market value after a visit to a youth camp won him over to the work of youth outreach.

Many non-Christians are impressed by Young Life's ministry, says spokesman Greg Hunter. "It happens even today when people see Young Life reaching into the foreign culture of young people, loving them and making an impact in their lives," Hunter says. "They say, I can't believe anybody is doing that these days."

Colorado Springs-based Young Life, with more than 50 years of camping experience, draws over 30,000 teenagers each summer to its 19 national camps. More than 80,000 attend weekend or holiday retreats during the rest of the year. The new Wildhorse Canyon Camp near Antelope averaged 165 campers a week for 10 weeks last summer.

COMMUNITY HEALING: Researching Young Life's past helped convince Walker that the camp would be good for the Antelope community. "I was concerned about what was coming back in, because of the trouble we had had with the Rajneesh," Walker says.

Young Life engaged in a delicate legal and civic process before taking title to the land at the end of 1997, says property manager Jay McAlonen. "Quite honestly, to this day I'm surprised we got the property."

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November 15 1999, Vol. 43, No. 13