Though unlucky for some, the number 13 was a success for many as men and boys from across the state gathered for the 13th annual Royal Ambassador (RA) Congress.
Steve Stephens, RA and Challenger consultant for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said nearly 550 participated in the March 19–20 event held at Prattville’s Camp Grandview.
“It was an exciting weekend,” Stephens said. “We really enjoyed seeing so many adults with the boys. They enjoyed things like the boys do, like the classic car show and the other events.” He added that many fathers and mothers, too, came with their sons.
The 2004 congress focused on the theme of the RA virtues. Beginning with a Classic Car show, the weekend featured a variety of sports-related events such as archery, the log-saw, sack races and the ever-popular climbing wall sponsored by First Baptist Church, Glencoe.
Stephens said the congress had 41 total events this year, thanks in large part to the more than 60 adult volunteers. “The only reason we’re able to have a weekend like this is the volunteers from the churches, working the events,” he said.
Exhausted after more than five minutes of cutting through a log, 9-year-old Christopher Cosby could only give a thumbs up when asked his opinion of the congress. An RA for three years at Smiths Station Baptist Church, Smiths, in Russell Association, Christopher was experiencing his first congress along with his father, Steve Cosby.
Once an RA himself “a long, long time ago,” Steve Cosby said “We didn’t have these activities when I was an RA, so we really didn’t know what to expect, but it’s been great.”
Underscoring the Royal Ambassadors’ trademark emphasis on missions was an event seeing its first year at the congress, the RA Missions Bowl sponsored by Glynwood Baptist Church, Prattville. Played in the style of ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,” contestants were quizzed on their knowledge of current activity in the Southern Baptist missions field.
Two of the most popular congress events were the pinewood and soapbox derby races. The two state-of-the-art, electronically monitored, fiberglass pinewood derby tracks provided by First Baptist Church, Meridianville, were constantly surveyed by the young engineers hoping to win with the most aerodynamic entry possible.
When asked the biggest lesson he’d learned so far at the congress, 10-year-old Russell Baldwin from Chilton County’s Verbena Baptist Church, instantly replied, “That I need to build a faster car next year.”
The question was later fielded in terms of Bible verses and the RA virtues, but the importance placed on the derby was obvious. “We built it faster than last year’s car, but not fast enough,” said Darrell Baldwin, Russell’s father and leader of the RAs at Verbena.
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