Camp Fusion might look like any other summer camp to the casual observer. But there is more going on than meets the eye.
Mark Heavener, director of intercultural ministries in the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Center for Cultural Engagement, built Camp Fusion on two pillars — spiritual formation and leadership experience. After 15 years, he is proud to see his efforts bearing good fruit for the international and intercultural churches he serves.
This year, 350 campers from 30 churches and 15 cultures attended Camp Fusion, which since its inception has been held at Latham Springs Camp and Retreat Center southwest of Hillsboro.
‘No one is left out’
Camp Fusion is open to youth who have finished sixth through 12th grades. The leadership experience is designed for all ages.
“No one is left out,” Heavener said.
As an example, a member of the security team took under his wing a youth who struggled with social interactions when he arrived at camp this year. The team member gave the youth a security vest and a job, and within a day, the youth was interacting well with dozens of other campers.
In addition to the security team, Camp Fusion leadership includes a media team, rec team, adult sponsors and Camp Fusion counselors, or CFCs. Each group is populated by young adults — by design. In fact, these young adults — who usually were campers themselves — may have just graduated from high school. They often become leaders in their churches, also.
Becoming church leaders
Chris Sok gave his life to Christ in 2005 at the precursor to Camp Fusion. He had just graduated from high school and wanted to experience the same fun his friends had the year before.
Sok grew up the son of a pastor and knew about the Bible. When people at school asked him about Christianity, he said, “Oh, it’s just something my parents do.”
When the speaker said campers were lucky to get to go home and share with their friends who Jesus is, Sok was struck that he had missed so many opportunities to bring people “into the family of God,” eternity and hope. “What have I been doing with my life?” he wondered.
At that point, he committed to living for God and started serving his church. He returned to the camp the next year as an adult sponsor, was asked to serve as rec director in 2007 and eventually served in almost every leadership role possible at Camp Fusion. This year, Sok was the first camper to become camp speaker.
Sok, English pastor for West Houston Vietnamese Baptist Church, is one example among many of how Camp Fusion is raising new leaders for the church.
Leadership training
“Camp Fusion is our life,” not just one week of our lives, Lauren De La Calzada said.
De La Calzada, Camp Fusion rec director since 2020, was describing the time commitment leaders — who are almost exclusively young adults — make to Camp Fusion. As soon as camp ends, leaders begin preparing for the next year.
During a workshop on how to serve at Camp Fusion, De La Calzada, who started as a camper 11 years ago and joined the Camp Fusion core staff at age 19, and other leaders told campers interested in leading next year what to expect and how to prepare.
“These people become part of your life forever,” she said, explaining leaders hold regular Bible studies throughout the year to feed themselves spiritually in preparation for camp the following summer.
Youth who want to serve on the rec team or as a Camp Fusion counselor should expect weekly meetings by Zoom lasting two to three hours each. The meetings also are late in the evening to accommodate college, work and young family schedules. Monthly in-person meetings are held in Houston and Dallas.
Serving as a Camp Fusion counselor is a journey of making friends among brothers and sisters in Christ, Kurt Suello said. Camp Fusion counselors “build a community of godly people who give praise to God and support each other,” he added.
“We like to foster the growth of our leaders,” partnering new and younger leaders with older and more experienced leaders, Daniel Dipasupil, Camp Fusion counselor coordinator, said. Older leaders often are one or two years older.
Prospective leaders need to be aware of their weaknesses, because those are the areas veteran leaders will focus training and development. Leaders also are trained how to deal with disrespect, discouragement and spiritual warfare, and taught how to pay attention to people’s skills and aptitudes, energy levels and facial expressions and other nonverbal cues.
Perspectives on Camp Fusion
Danny Aguinaldo, Camp Fusion assistant director, sees the intentional effort to find youth with leadership potential and to develop them as “the beautiful thing about Camp Fusion.”
“We’re able to … put them into our volunteer team, where we’re able to disciple them and be able to cultivate those skills” they can take home and to their home churches, Aguinaldo said. They’re “able to lead ministries … serve well [and] deal with conflicts,” he added.
A lot of the campers are second-generation immigrants, Aguinaldo noted. They’re navigating through life with a confusing identity: “My parents are African or Asian. I am that culture also, but I’m also American now.” Camp Fusion teaches they have a more encompassing identity in God’s Kingdom.
Zach, a fourth-year camper who attended the leadership workshop, said he fell in love with Camp Fusion the first time he attended and comes back for the community and time away from distractions from focusing on God.
This year, Zach learned if you want a fire to grow and burn, you can’t just put twigs in it. You have to add logs. Spiritual growth and one’s relationship with God requires God’s Word, he said. After being poured into by others and seeing the example of one of his friends serving as a Camp Fusion counselor this year, Zach wants to give back and serve next year.
Camp Fusion history
In response to requests from BGCT Filipino pastors, the first Asian youth camp was held in 2003 and called Take Out Youth Camp. Soon after, BGCT African churches requested a camp for their youth, leading to two separate camps — one for Asian youth and one for African youth. The last of these camps was in 2009.
Financing and staffing two camps were unsustainable. BGCT Intercultural Ministries started holding combined youth events. In time, Heavener and Asian and African pastors saw positive results of the combined events and started Camp Fusion in 2010.
Most campers still come from Asian and African BGCT churches, though the Brazilian American Baptist Church in Plano has sent youth in recent years.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Eric Black and originally published by Baptist Standard.
