(The following article was published in the Sept. 1, 2011 print edition of The Baptist Courier. For an expanded version of this story, visit http://www.baptistcourier.wpengine.com/5571.article.)
Brandy, a rising 7th-grader, approached flag football camp in a black T-shirt that matched her disposition. She wasn’t confident that she would fit into the afternoon camp, sponsored by First Church, Williston, N.D., and organized by 13 men from a Sunday school class at Lexington Church in South Carolina.
During prayer time, campers put an arm on a teammate’s shoulder “as a reminder that we can’t do anything by ourselves.”“As I welcomed Brandy to camp, she said, ‘I am a failure at everything I do,’ ” said Chuck Cordovano, one of the South Carolina men leading the camp. “I told her that she was not a failure, that God loved her, and she should just try and have fun.”
On Friday’s last day of camp, Brandy – now wearing a bright, flowered T-shirt – was beaming as she received an award for the fastest in camp.
“That was one of the many ways I saw God at work during this week,” Cordovano said.
The sports camp was organized by Scott Vaughan, who first visited Wyoming in 2001 while serving as director of marketing for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. “I was moved by the potential for harvest in smaller communities compared to the very small number of churches and available workers,” he said. “I felt this calling to return with volunteers, specifically to help churches coordinate recreation camps for children.”
Lexington Church has a history of missions support that extends beyond its support of the Cooperative Program. For almost 20 years, the church has sent volunteer mission teams to Africa, Central Asia, South America, eastern North America, and regularly supports local missions at home. The church also has a full-time missions minister with dedicated staff support and a lay-driven Global (Missions) Impact Team.
Vaughan approached the church’s missions team and received approval for the trip. As it came time to enlist volunteers, Vaughan began connecting with Belinda Jolley, director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s adult ministry office. Jolley began including Vaughan in small think-tank meetings around the idea of missional Sunday school.
“Through recent conversations focusing around small missional communities, many Sunday school classes and small groups are refocusing on why they exist,” Jolley said. “Ed Stetzer [at LifeWay Christian Resources] said missional Sunday school classes must move people from sitting in rows (as passive spectators), to sitting in circles (as active participants) to going out in the world (living on mission).”
“As Belinda began talking about Sunday school classes going on mission, I wanted to jump out of my chair,” Vaughan said. “We had already been talking about this very idea in our Sunday school class. We so desperately want to be more than an hour on Sunday morning and a Christmas party. We want class members engaged in missions. I just never dreamed of taking that idea beyond Lexington. Missions is something that churches do; Sunday school classes don’t do missions.”
So, in late 2010, Vaughan stood in front of his Sunday school class and rolled out the vision for the North Dakota flag football camp.
“I told them that I needed 12 good men to sign on for the trip,” Vaughan said. “I told them that I was praying for 12 men willing to give up a week’s vacation, a week from work, and a week from family to go with me and serve families in Williston, N.D.”
The 12 men who joined Vaughan included Jimmy Kinard, a high school football and basketball coach; Larry Grady, a high school football coach; Allen Mitchell, a former University of South Carolina Gamecock quarterback; Dan Martin, a former offensive lineman at Virginia Military Institute; and men, like Vaughan, who are tenured leaders in community recreation sports, educators, and committed dads. Two of 13 volunteers missed wedding anniversaries to be on the trip; two other men missed celebrating children’s birthdays back at home.
Williston pastor Ashley Olinger said his church had never sponsored a camp or similar project in Williston, and he didn’t believe a free missional camp had ever been offered in Williston. There was no track record, and expectations were cautious.
“We gathered at the church on Sunday night, for prayer and conversation, before the camp began on Monday,” Vaughan said. “We prepared ourselves for very few children to show up the next day, but we experienced a peaceful contentment that God would send who he needed to be there.”
By week’s end, 52 children had registered for and participated in the camp. The number of campers on Friday doubled the participation on Monday.
“It was perfect,” Vaughan said. “We had a great coach-to-player ratio, and were able to talk with the children and encourage them beyond the football instruction and play.”
Vaughan said one mom approached him on Friday regarding her 6th-grade son. “She told me that her son was experiencing self-esteem issues,” he said. “She told me that he had missed a team practice to be at camp because he felt such a sense of encouragement and support: ‘I’ve loved hearing you men call these children by name, and watching you play with them like you’ve known them their whole lives.’?”
There was a spiritual element to each camp session, including an opening and closing prayer, and a devotion at the midpoint. Each man on the trip either led a devotion or a prayer, and most volunteers did both at some point.
Larry Grady, one of the true football coaches on the trip, began and ended each camp session with campers and mission volunteers on one knee, praying together. Grady reminded campers, “We put a hand on our teammate as a reminder that we can’t do anything by ourselves.”
At a hot dog supper for campers and parents on Friday evening, Williston pastor Olinger closed the camp with prayer. During the prayer, Grady punched Vaughan and pointed to the children. Each of them was kneeling with arms around one another – this time undirected to do so.
“I think every man there was glad we had sunglasses,” Vaughan said. “I believe every man on the trip shed tears of joy and purpose at some time during those camp sessions.”
As the week ended, Olinger and his wife Lisa joined the South Carolina team for a traditional “Lowcountry boil” in the church fellowship hall. Olinger introduced the idea of an annual partnership between the church and Sunday School class.
“There’s no question that we plan on going back next summer and beyond,” Vaughan said.
The mission team included: Rick Carter, Chuck Cordovano, Larry Grady, Jimmy Kinard, Joe Maciaszek, Dan Martin, Derek Miller, Allen Mitchell, Patrick Smith, Jay Tompkins, Don West, Scott Williams, and Vaughan. The men are part of The V Class at Lexington Baptist Church (www.thevclass.com).
– For an expanded version of this story, visit http://www.baptistcourier.wpengine.com/5571.article.