Red Springs Mission Camp almost ready

By Dianna L. Cagle

BR Assistant Managing Editor

Eddie Williams, center, talks to several men interested in bringing groups to Red Springs where North Carolina Baptist Men have a mission camp similar to the one in Grifton.

BR Photo by Dianna L. Cagle

BR

WINSTON SALEM - North Carolina Baptist Men needs volunteers to get Red Springs ready for summer volunteers.

"The community that has the need ... that's where we want to be," said Eddie Williams, coordinator for mission work camps for Baptist Men.

Eddie and Martha Williams, recently returned from Gulfport, Miss., are busy getting Red Springs ready for volunteer groups coming this summer.

During a special break-out session at the 2008 North Carolina Missions Conference, Williams met with participants to talk about possibilities with Red Springs and a Shelby property that is under contract.

Like Grifton, the Red Springs facility - a 52,000 square foot warehouse formerly housing a Sara Lee plant - will be used to work in low-income level areas to repair homes and do other outreach ministries. The 10-acre property is in Robeson County, the poorest county in North Carolina.

Baptist Men, Burnt Swamp Baptist Association and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina spent $330,000 for the property, and now Baptist Men are looking for volunteers to get the property ready.

Four of seven modular housing units bought for use in Gulfport are set up in Red Springs to house 100 more people, bringing capacity to about 220 when the warehouse is completed. An older shower unit, also used in Gulfport, is already set up for volunteers staying in the modular units.

Williams said kitchen equipment had been ordered for the Red Springs facility. He expects the facility to be ready by early June.

"We want to help our neighbor," said Williams, who said Baptist Men have traveled all over the world helping others.

For now, Williams said they are looking for several volunteer teams to do work in Red Springs: sheetrock, heating and air conditioning, electrical, pouring concrete, etc.

Each camp will have a small recreation vehicle area so volunteers have another option to stay on property.

"We want to make them nice," said Williams, "and I think we're on the right track."

Many options will be available for volunteers to spend six weeks, a month, a week or even one or two days helping.

Williams said Baptist Men learned an important lesson in Gulfport. "We can't run 24 hours a day," he said.

They plan to run most camps Tuesday through Saturday "in order to give staff a break," Williams said. "We're trying to break that up a little bit to maintain a little sanity."

Already for the week of July 26, 200 volunteer slots are filled.

"The interest is there," he said.

Volunteers helping now need to bring their sleeping bag and pillow, but a place to sleep, a stove to cook on and showers are available for use.

About 50 requests have already been submitted just for handicap ramps to be built in the area, Williams said.

Baptist Men is reaching into the community and developing relationships with organizations to form partnerships to find jobs for volunteers as well as supplies for current and future jobs. So far, Williams said he has met with the Lumbee Tribe as well as local community development organizations and the county housing authority and the Council on Aging.

Shelby land

"We're excited about Shelby," said Williams, who said the property in Cleveland County is 45 acres, "a lot of workable space."

While looking at options in the area, Williams said the cheapest warehouse in Shelby was going to cost $400,000.

Baptist Men's contract will cost $150,000. The property also has city water and sewer.

Like Grifton and Red Springs, Baptist Men plans to house about 200 volunteers at the Shelby facility and have a separate building for materials as well as a tool crib.

Because of the size of the Shelby property, Williams said Baptist Men plans to develop ball fields and maybe a gymnasium.

The fields and gym offer opportunities for Baptist Men to hold sports camps throughout the year.

Also part of future plans on the property are some cabins - so Royal Ambassadors can go on trips with their group or have father/son getaways - an amphitheater and an outdoor chapel.

A local Hispanic church is planned on the property, offering other opportunities for volunteers willing to help.

"We've got a lot of plans and a lot of ideas on the Shelby property," said Williams. "One of the things we look for is community support."

After the missions conference, Williams said a survey was being done of the Shelby land. Plans are in the works with an architect now. Williams said they are putting it on paper to bring before the mayor and city council to ask for help with an entrance and lighting for the property.

Baptist Men hopes to get started there in early summer.

Future plans

Baptist Men is looking for other property west and north of Shelby.

They are looking for associations and churches to partner with them to help find and pay for the properties.

With more than 9,000 trained disaster relief workers ... "there's no reason we cannot on a daily basis" have enough volunteers for each camp in the state, Williams said.

Contact Williams at (919) 422-9990 or ewilliams@ncbaptist.org.