Wind Creek camper finds joy in ministry

As Reva Hudson relaxes in the afternoon shade of the large oak tree that is nestled close to her cozy campsite, she waves at a family of five strolling down the path that leads to the lake. She cheerfully greets them and informs them of the campsite’s evening activities at the nearby pavilion. They stop to chat for a moment and Reva tactfully invites them to the following morning worship service. They express their appreciation for the information and continue on their journey.
   
For the past decade Reva has filled her days ministering to campers at Alabama’s Wind Creek State Park situated on Lake Martin near Alexander City as the volunteer camp activities director. Until two years ago, Reva performed this role along with her now deceased husband, Rick. And even though Reva no longer has her beloved partner to help her, she is continuing on with their one-of-a-kind ministry. Part of her responsibilities include the long-established tradition of conducting nondenominational church services. These services have taken place at the campgrounds since the 1960s.
   
Members of Berney Points Baptist Church, Birmingham, since 1946, the Hudsons had always been avid campers who spent many weekends through the years with their children at Wind Creek. “The first time we ever came to the park was in 1969. We borrowed a tent and went tent camping,” Reva recalled. “We tent camped for a long time before graduating into a trailer,” she laughed.
   
Upon Rick’s retirement as a salesman from Millbrook Bread Co., he and Reva chose an atypical type of retirement home. They purchased a roomy, 37-foot, fifth wheel, travel trailer and set out for their favorite Alabama campground.
   
Shortly after their arrival, the park ranger, whom the Hudsons had become acquainted with throughout the years, asked them to be camp hosts for a month, which they readily agreed to do. Part of the responsibilities is overseeing the weekly Sunday worship services that have become an intregral part of the camping experience for many repeat visitors. The Hudsons initial one month of duty continued to be extended until they were eventually asked if they would be interested in taking on the job full time.
   
“The Lord really opened a door for us,” Reva said. “We had always been active in our church. Rick was a deacon and I’ve always been in the choir. We knew if we were going to retire at the lake we would need to find a church to become involved in. We prayed about it and realized God was giving us an opportunity to serve Him in a most unusual way. We’ve always looked at our camp activities directors responsibilities as our ministry,” she explained.
   
Rick and Reva decided to accept the position but as volunteers only. This allowed them more freedom and flexibility to bring in different worship leaders and not being paid employees would avoid any conflict with church and state issues.
   
So for nine years the Hudsons became a fixture at Wind Creek park. They did everything from meeting and greeting folks to coordinating Fourth of July golf cart parades, which drew widespread attention, to lining up various forms of nightly entertainment.
   
And, of course, overseeing the campground’s Sunday morning worship services continued to be one of their main duties.
   
“Before Rick passed away he was the one in charge of the worship services and making the announcements. I used to be the quiet one,” she said, stressing the past tense of her words.
   
“Rick loved coordinating the church services. I used to hate getting up in front of a crowd but with Rick gone, I’ve had no choice,” she said, explaining that she has become comfortable with speaking in front of people.
   
“We would get preachers from different denominations from around the area to come and preach. One regular camper would bring her portable piano and we had two different Baptist churches donate hymnals for us to use,” she explained.
   
“At one point we even had a regular choir. People who liked to sing would just show up in the morning with their lounge chairs and be part of the choir. Not too long ago I had a lady show up with her chair telling me she wanted to sing in the choir. It had been a long time since she had last been here and she was real disappointed to learn we no longer had the choir,” Reva said.
   
“We always stressed that the services were informal,” she said. “Over the years we’ve had people show up with T-shirts over their swimsuits and wearing flip-flops. They would be passing by or hear our church bell ringing and come see what was going on. We didn’t care what they wore or how they looked, we just wanted them to come in and worship with us,” she said.
   
And the Hudsons’ years as Wind Creek’s activities directors did not come without a few surprises. Reva recalls one particular Sunday when the scheduled preacher did not show up.
   
“Out of the blue a camper from Florida who was a preacher on vacation came up and offered his help if we needed it for the service. He didn’t know our preacher hadn’t shown up. He told Rick he had prayed that morning for God to use him in any way He saw fit that day, and we sure let him,” Reva chuckled, mentioning he did an outstanding job with his impromptu sermon.
   
On another occasion the scheduled preacher was unable to attend and not having time to find a substitute, Rick had no choice but to give the pulpit a try. “He told me he felt like Jeremiah who was reluctant to preach for the Lord. But he preached a great message that morning from the Old Testament. I’ll just never forget that Sunday,” she said with misty eyes. As an afterthought she added, laughing, “We collected a good size love offering too.”
   
Reva, at the age of 73, has just started year 11 of her camping ministry. While she is now flying solo, she continues the ministry with her typical zeal.
   
She said the size of the worship services has ranged from small to standing-room-only throughout the years. “We’ve had as many as 200 people crowded into the small pavilion that is used for worship services,” she said.
   
In a pensive moment Reva said, “After Rick died two years ago I wasn’t sure if I could come back down here without him.
   
“Even after he became sick we would come back down here to stay a while. He always felt better at Wind Creek,” she noted.
   
“Right before he died he told me he didn’t want me to stop coming down here. That made me feel good about coming back and I knew that I eventually would,” Reva said.
   
“Rick and I were really a great team. We both knew God placed us here.”