“Amazing Wonders: Encountering God’s Awesome Power” (LifeWay Christian Resource’s theme for Vacation Bible School 2012) has become a reality for Victory Baptist Church in Walker, La.
South Carolina Campers on Mission volunteers erect playground equipment at Victory Baptist Church, a Louisiana church that sprang up after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.The church was birthed amid the devastation and rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina, which struck the area in 2005, and a few Campers on Mission from South Carolina were able to be a part of it.
After Katrina, needs arose in Louisiana for new homes, which led to new communities and the need for schools and churches. Fred Dyess (retired from the Louisiana Baptist Convention) and his wife, Virgie Ann, felt led by God to plant a new church in the Walker, La., area.
In September 2008, the Dyesses began inviting people to meet in their home every Wednesday for prayer and strategic planning. The church’s first worship service was held Oct. 5, 2008, in a nearby cafeteria.
A Campers on Mission volunteer helps with a dramatic retelling of a Bible story at Victory Baptist Church’s Vacation Bible School.The call went out for Southern Baptist volunteers to come and help build a new worship center and classrooms. In the fall of 2011, the foundation was poured. The following January, framing began, with people from all around the country coming to the aid of their fellow Christians.
The “Amazing Wonder” was the first service in Victory Baptist Church’s new sanctuary in May of this year, and a dedication service was held June 10 with more than 300 people taking part in a celebration of God’s “Awesome Power.”
In July, a mission team from Fifth Street Baptist Church in Key West, Fla., led the Vacation Bible School for the youth of Victory Church and invited the assistance of some of the South Carolina Baptist Campers on Mission team, including Steve and Eugenia Grant, Sue and Raymond Butler, Anne and Sam Mobley, J.R. and Yvonne McGee, and Bill and Lu Broome.