In extending the ministry of Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center and the Alabama Baptist State Convention (ABSC), volunteer teams are helping strengthen a Christian camp in Venezuela to support the ministry and programs of area churches.
Two partnerships are working together to improve the operation of Camp Carabobo, located approximately 30 miles outside the city of Valencia.
The first pairs the ABSC and the National Baptist Convention of Venezuela. Shocco Springs as an entity of the state convention has a partnership with the camp. The ABSC provides funding, people and promotion in this Partnership Mission Project.
Project possibilities that have been identified include constructing a shed, installing a power generator, supplying funds for materials to make concrete blocks, completing a security wall, providing hay baling equipment, organizing farmland usage, assisting in general camp maintenance and building new cabins and lodges. As progress is made on this list, other projects are evolving and leaving more work to be done.
Reaching the people
“We have to … be certain that the project is something [the Venezuelan nationals] believe in,” said Buster Taylor, executive director of Shocco. “[Y]ou … give them consultation as far as what is right, but we also have to remember that what is right in the United States is not always right in a foreign country.”
Tommy Puckett, director of men’s ministry at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, was a volunteer worker at Camp Carabobo. He says any changes to the camp “are their decision. We need to look at it from their standpoint, not our American standpoint.”
Taylor was a member of the third of four teams that traveled to Venezuela during April and May, and Puckett was a member of the fourth. The teams were composed of volunteers from around the state; each member had varying levels of skill and experience, but all found a role that allowed them to contribute.
Wendy Westerhouse, conference relations associate at Shocco and member of the fourth team, said, “[E]ven though … I’m not skilled at block laying … there was something I could do and … be a valuable part [of the team].”
The teams worked with Venezuelan nationals making bricks and building a 10-foot high, 3,000-foot long security wall around the camp to prevent the loss of property to squatters. The land is needed to develop for future self-support.
“One of the things about the camp that is such a contrast to … Shocco, [is] they have 15 armed guards that rotate … throughout the week protecting the property,” Taylor said. “[T]he whole time we were down there, there were two guards with us down by the wall, guns in hand … and one day, they actually had some intruders come on the campus and they fired their guns over their heads to scare them off … Security of the camp will be greatly enhanced with this wall.”
Puckett said he saw the Lord working with them just by the fact that the wall was completed with the given staff in such a short amount of time. “This was going to be an awesome project, and I did not know if we would be able to finish it in the time we estimated and with the staff we needed.”
Puckett described the task as “a God-sized project.” He was anticipating a need of 25 to 30 workers per week for six weeks, which means up to 180 volunteers would have been needed. Only 48 people volunteered. The estimated length of time for the project was initially set at six weeks; however, with only one-third of the task force, the task was completed in two-thirds of the time — 4 weeks.
“It was a Nehemiah-sized project with a Gideon-sized army,” Puckett said.
Similar missions
The camp’s role in the community is similar to Shocco’s: to provide family camps, men’s events, youth meetings and children’s conferences. Their mission statement is to minister spiritually, mentally and physically to each camper and provide an appropriate environment where the Holy Spirit can work in the heart of each person. Part of the camp’s support is provided by 158 acres of farmland with the added benefit of providing jobs for Venezuelan Christians.
“It was astounding how open all the nationals were about being Christians,” Taylor said. “They’d hit their heart [and say] Christo, Christo, meaning Christian; and it was just exciting to see that.”
Westerhouse said it was almost as if they categorize people as Christian and non-Christian, and they made that such an important distinction, as opposed to how Americans regard one another.
“[I]t … reminded me about how important that [distinction] is [in our daily lives],” Westerhouse said.
On the third team’s last night, one of the team members finally had the chance to talk with Ramon, one of the block masons, who was not a Christian. He heard the gospel through an interpreter and asked questions about becoming a Christian.
“He never would say yes, but he would say ‘soon I’ll become a Christian,’” Taylor said. “[S]o, we’re praying for Ramon that all of his friends that lay blocks with him [who are Christians] will continue talking … to him.”
Puckett had a similar experience. “We established relationships with hired workers that worked with us. We shared the gospel with them and witnessed professions of faith,” he said.
(Julia Cain contributed)
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