Missions & missionaries mix with summer excitement at Camp Pinnacle

Joe Westbury

No, the food at Camp Pinnacle is really not that bad. Amber Smith from Fort Creek Baptist Church in Dearing is getting her first taste of mamaliga, a cornmeal mush that is a popular food with the Roma gypsy people group in Romania. Smith was one of several hundred summer campers who enjoyed a week at the Georgia Baptist Woman's Missionary Union camp in Clayton. GAs and other young girls spent the week in Bible study and learning about Southern Baptist missionaries serving around the world. Part of that experiential camp was learning about the Roma gypsies, their culture, and their need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Melissa Puentes of First Hispanic Baptist Church in Gainesville has never been to Romania but she experienced Gypsy life first hand during a week of missions camp in the North Georgia mountains.

Puentes and several dozen other girls were among the final group of GA campers at Camp Pinnacle in late July. The girls interspersed swimming, hiking, and Bible study with learning about the Roma Gypsies of Eastern Europe. Summer may be drawing to a close but the girls who participated in this year's camp were exposed to missions on a level few experience, leaders say.

"During their week with us the girls learn about Southern Baptist missionaries and people they are trying to reach around the world," said camp director Jessica Bowman of Waycross.

The Dahlonega college student said she felt that Camp Pinnacle meets a growing need for missions education among youth.

"There are a lot of good Christian camps out there but many do not have as strong a missions emphasis as what the girls receive in this kind of setting," the member of Central Baptist Church in Waycross explained.

"The girls have a lot of fun but missions is the heart of what our summer camp is all about. I've heard several Southern Baptist career missionaries say they first felt the call to missions service while at Camp Pinnacle or while studying missions in GAs.

"The girls may think they're just here to have fun, but we are sowing seeds for the future. They are getting a spiritual foundation that they will carry with them for a lifetime."

For more information on how to schedule a church week or weekend retreat at Camp Pinnacle Conference and Retreat Center, contact Administrator Joe Moss, at (706) 782-3231 or by email at pinnacle@gabaptist.org.

Joe Westbury

Kimberly Torres of First Baptist Church of Jonesboro studies Bible verses in an outdoor study session before going to lunch. Campers have a healthy dose of memorization as they seek to apply scripture to daily living.

Joe Westbury

Erin Bell from Powder Springs, left, and Priscilla Reed from Trenton, right, teach campers about the Roma Gypsy people. Culture Camp, a time in the week's schedule when the young girls learn about an unreached people group, personalizes the lostness of the world. Bell is a member of Olive Springs Baptist Church in Marietta. Reed is a member of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Trenton.

Joe Westbury

In a light-hearted moment the girls pile into a replica of a Gypsy wagon to have their photo taken.

Joe Westbury

Counselor Camille Archer from the West Indies, a student at Mercer University, shares facts about Gypsy lifestyle with the campers.

Joe Westbury

Melissa Puentes of First Hispanic Baptist Church of Gainesville tries her hand at playing a violin, a popular music instrument of the Roma Gypsies.

Joe Westbury

Counselors such as Meredith Weeks of Thomasville appear in authentic dress during Culture Camp to make the experience more real to the campers. Weeks is a member of Dawson Street Baptist Church in Thomasville.

Joe Westbury

Bonnie Aday, assistant camp director from Morrow gives a brief music lesson to campers. She is a member of The Rock Baptist Church in Rex.

Joe Westbury

Kaitlyn Bailey, left, and Logan Floyd, right, both members of Haddock Baptist Church in Haddock, discuss who will be the first to taste mamaliga, a popular food with Gypsies in Romania.

Joe Westbury

Campers learn how to make paper flowers from counselor Ginia Horvath from Huntsville, Ala.