This is the busy season for Dauphin Island Baptist Church’s resort ministry center.
Located on the 14-mile-wide barrier island, three miles south of the mouth of Mobile Bay, the 35-year-old Dauphin Island Baptist Resort Ministry Center can house up to 100 people or three groups at a time.
Groups may do hands-on missions work at local sites such as the Salvation Army or the Bay Area Food Bank, but the majority of groups prefer to work with area churches to reach children, running day camps or Vacation Bible School (VBS). Some groups also work with the elderly in the area, visit orphanages and rehabilitation centers and help the church with cleaning, painting or construction projects.
About 15 area churches are benefitting from this year’s missions teams, said Lee Schansberg, resort ministry coordinator. She also noted that no two experiences are the same because the missions opportunities are tailored to each group’s preferences, talents and skill sets.
“We fit the week to what the group wants to do,” Schansberg said. “It’s really powerful and encouraging to the ministers to see a group come in and help with a VBS when you have children in your area you want to reach but can’t do it alone, so it helps when we can come in there and do that.”
Lee’s husband, Chris, who serves as pastor of Dauphin Island Baptist Church, said the ministry center also bolsters the church’s presence and Christian witness in general.
The groups that come to the resort center help the church canvas neighborhoods, run camps, participate in beach outreach ministry and help do things the church would not typically be able to accomplish, he said.
“The center allows us to have a disproportionately large impact on the community, relative to our size,” Chris Schansberg said. “It gives our church a cosmopolitan flair and has that resort impact, with people from all over here.”
Share with others: