Fairfax First Baptist Church is hosting a new summer camp aimed at reaching minority students in Allendale County.

“We are calling it Camp Impact, and are praying that God will use this bold step for us to step out in outreach to impact our community,” said pastor David Janaro.

“Our county consistently ranks at the bottom of the state in almost every educational category,” he said. “The local school board is currently suing the state over control of the district, [but] we decided that no government is going to turn our community around — our churches are going to have to do it.”

Chapel time at Camp Impact.

Janaro said Fairfax First Baptist is teaming up with a local African-American church to reach out to minority students in a community that is 70 percent African-American. More than 100 students have signed up for Camp Impact, which meets weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., June 19 through July 28.

The camp includes chapel and Bible time, as well as reading, math, chess, dance, music and sports. Grace Church in Greenville is helping by providing mission teams. Stephen Splawn, evangelism and African-American ministries strategist for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, is scheduled to speak in chapel this summer.