September 16, 2024
CHULA, Ga. — C.S. Lewis, in his book Miracles, defines a “miracle” as being the opposite of an “ordinary.” It is something so unexpected that it speaks to divine intervention. In recent years, a miracle takes place each July in the small South Georgia community of Chula, and BCM Send Me Now Mission Teams are some of the instruments that God has used to make it happen.
The unincorporated town of Chula consists of a couple of gas stations, a General Store, Post Office and the First Baptist Church. Off the interstate, and the beaten path, it’s the kind of place one probably wouldn’t find unless they were looking for it.
The First Baptist Church is a healthy rural church which averages between 125 and 150 each week in worship. For the past 14 years, the church has hosted Camp Chula. The first year the camp averaged 33, including the workers. This past July, according to camp directors Casey Betts and Krystal Toledo, it averaged 413!
Because of the high cost of other day camps, many of the kids in this area could not afford to attend a camp. The desire to help these children in a rural area experience a quality day camp was a driver for the beginning of this ministry. The directors said their motto/goal is, “We want kids to see, hear, and know the love of Christ.”
They explained that the camp has grown into a regional event. Other churches in the area now bring their kids to Camp Chula. Some members of the community invite their grandchildren to come to spend the week and attend the camp. This year kids came from as far away as Kentucky and New York.
This is not a substitute for VBS, which the church conducts in June and averages about 120. Camp Chula runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily and has a staff that has grown to about 95. Volunteers work a schedule of 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The volunteers range in age from 15 to 80-plus years of age. Each year this includes BCM Send Me Now missionaries.
Penny Chesnut, who has served with the BCM at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has been involved, helping support Camp Chula for most of its existence. The co-directors said, “She just keeps coming back!” But unlike a “Bad Penny,” they called her our “Lucky Penny.” She has helped recruit and supervise BCM Send Me Now missionaries who spend the week and in one case a full month supporting Camp Chula.
Two former BCM Send Me Now missionaries who have graduated from college continue to come back each summer to volunteer at Camp Chula. Co-director Krystal Toledo observed, “The college students bring a different energy, and it is great to see how they pour that into the kids.” Casey Betts said, “The BCM mission team has a huge impact, the kids look up to the college students.”
Next year a third plans to join their ranks of returning BCM alumni. Mary Harrison is a rising senior at Berry College in Rome, Ga., majoring in Communications and Spanish. Her hometown is Cairo, Ga., where she is a member of the Eastside Baptist Church, and she attends West Rome Baptist during the school year. This past summer she spent a month in Chula, unlike the other BCM team members who spend a week, working with the church to prepare for the camp and for follow-up. She described working with directors Betts and Toledo as working with “the dream team.”
She said, “They are very organized and work on preparing for the camp all year round. They modeled leadership and gave me tasks to do and were intentional in taking care of the volunteers. One of her biggest takeaways from the summer was, “God will grow you when you step out and work.” Mary plans to return to help at Camp Chula in 2025 after her graduation in the spring.
Here are some of the other takeaways of the BCM Send Me Now mission team:
John Landrum from Georgia Tech, “This experience taught me the importance of prayer, more so than I had seen anywhere else.”
Kelsey Carpenter from Georgia College, “Camp Chula taught me what it looks like to intentionally live for Christ and how every part of your life should reflect Him and how much better that is to live that way . . . it taught me what the body of Christ should look like and how we should serve others.”
David Dickens from ABAC, “It was amazing to see just how much the Lord was moving at Camp Chula and moving in the hearts of the kids who were there.”
What took place was not ordinary, it was extraordinary, God at work in a big way, in a small town. The greatest miracle of Camp Chula was and will continue to be an eternal impact. About 30 decisions were made, at least seven of those to receive Christ, and many more added to their basic understanding of the gospel message. Hopefully, many of those in time will make decisions for Christ too and the miracle of Camp Chula will continue to bear fruit.
