Taking his church’s youth on a camp/mission experience is something that Kentucky pastor Bryan Grigg never gets tired of. That sentiment grew even stronger this year when seven youth were saved and three made rededications at MFuge the first week of July.
Grigg, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, said his church had 30 people attend the camp — with 25 of those being youth in grades 6-12.
“It seemed like every night there was a different youth from our church respond to the gospel,” said Grigg. He recalled one student who came to him and said, “Pastor Bryan, I need to be saved. I just don’t know how.” He said the young lady and he bowed at the altar — both weeping — and “she repented and put her faith in Christ.”
Grigg said his church’s experience is evidence that Cooperative Program giving results in great things.
“Lifeway is an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, and I am thankful for their work (in putting on MFuge). I’ve been at least 11 times to one of their camps — I go as a pastor, but I don’t go because I have to, I go because I want to. And I don’t want to leave — I’d like to go another week.”
That sentiment is reflected in the Grigg household. A son, Luke, served on staff for Mfuge for three weeks this summer.
‘All in 110%’
There was another unique aspect of the trip to east Tennessee. Sandy Engler, 68, went on her first church camp/mission trip. Engler joined Macedonia as a teenager, but in 1983 she realized she was lost and accepted Christ — then joined the church as a true believer.
“One major highlight for me was watching Sandy experience youth church camp/mission trip for the first time in her life,” said Krista Grigg, Bryan’s wife. “She was all in 110% — she held nothing back. I told her she could rest when she wanted to, that she didn’t have to participate in everything. But she did everything there is to do at camp, right down to running Mega Relay at 10 p.m. She was such a gift to our students. You are never too ‘seasoned’ to serve the Lord. He isn’t done with you yet.
“She counseled, she hugged, she kept kids in line like a grandma does — she raised her hands and worshipped alongside a bunch of chaotic rowdy teenagers. It was just a beautiful sight to behold. Our students needed her and I’m thankful she said ‘yes.’”
Uniting camp and mission work
Bryan said he likes the MFuge format because it unites a camp experience with mission work, allowing campers to share the gospel while serving a local community. Macedonia’s delegation teamed up with campers from other churches for various missions endeavors.
Bryan’s group worked with a ministry that operates a thrift store, where money generated goes to support benevolent needs in the county.
The youth sorted clothes, moved supplies, helped organize and cleaned the facility. Another group went to a community park where they engaged kids and shared the gospel.
Krista was on a team that went to Kingswood Home for Children, described as a modern-day orphanage.
“Not only did I get to go and play with kids living in a home for children all week, but on my team there were five girls from our church — three of which have been or are being adopted from foster care,” she said. “When we arrived we all acknowledged it was going to be a tough week for them — an emotional one to say the least.
‘Full circle’
“Things were hitting a little too close to home for all of us,” Krista noted. “But it all came full circle. On Wednesday we arrived at the home and one of the young girls was having a really rough morning. No one could really reach her and calm her down. I looked at one of our girls, who I knew was ready, and I motioned for her to go try and minister to her. She joined her in the woods and within 15 minutes the young girl had stopped crying and began laughing.”
Gregg said it shows “what the enemy means for evil, God uses for good. He wastes nothing in our lives. And sometimes the only way to relate to an orphan is to have been one.”
Bryan noted that one of the youth, Destiny Wright, was baptized about six months ago, and is now with her adopted family, waiting for the adoption to be finalized.
“She has been on fire for the Lord,” Bryan said. “She was able to say, ‘I am just like you, an orphan.’”
Larry Purcell, west regional consultant for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, said Macedonia is not a large church, but the result of its MFuge trip is significant. “It seems the Lord is using events for the younger to reach churches with revival and revitalization.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today, news service of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
