October 2, 2026
More than 1,600 students took part in Georgia Baptist Mission Board-sponsored summer camps this year. Sixty-four made professions of faith in Christ, and nearly 150 sensed a call to ministry.
At SURGE camp, held at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., nearly 425 campers, staff, and volunteers gathered to hone their music skills and grow in their faith. Chad Todd, Worship & Music consultant with the GBMB, said 2025 marks the 70th year of music camp in Georgia. This year, 107 churches participated in the camp in some way, from sending campers to providing leaders.
“One thing that stood out to me more than ever is the sense of community at SURGE,” said Todd. “It’s evident in both students and adults. It only takes one summer of attending camp or serving at camp as a leader to learn that it is something you want to be a part of year after year! The support and encouragement among everyone there is incredible.”
That impact, Todd added, continues after the week is over. “The second thing that stood out to me is hearing reports of kids and students going back home, excited to share what they learned at camp. I’ve never been a part of something that develops solid musicians who want to improve their skills, while also pouring into them spiritually.”
Todd said he was “excited and encouraged” to see that two students were leading worship in their home church service using two of the songs they had learned from camp. “That’s the spiritual fruit of camp,” he said. “Watching students take what they learned and put it into practice in their home context.”
SURGE campers heard nightly preaching from Jake Brooks, Associate Pastor of Education at Bethlehem Baptist Church of Clarksville. Brooks said, “I left SURGE so encouraged that there is a next generation that is passionate about leading others in praise to the Lord Jesus. As the church, we need to rally around these young people and kindle the fire that the Lord has given them for ministry. We need to take seriously the responsibility to invest and disciple the next generation of ministry leaders.”
Laura Purser, who served as the director of SURGE KIDS, said, “It’s rewarding to see the musical and spiritual growth in the students year after year, and to watch them learn to use their gifts in their local churches and communities as they get older. I’m so grateful for all the wonderful staff and sponsors who worked together to take care of our kids and to point them to Christ throughout the week!”
Rhon Carter, the GBMB’s Worship & Music Catalyst, stressed the need to develop the next generation of music and worship leaders. “So many churches are searching for leadership, and I believe the local church is the best place to identify, invest in, and train those future leaders. I’m grateful the Georgia Baptist Worship and Music Ministry can come alongside churches to help create environments that inform and inspire leaders to raise up more leaders.”
Meeting that need, Carter continued, is at heart of SURGE, “which has been faithfully shaping students every summer for decades. SURGE Music Camp remains one of the best ways to connect students who love Jesus and music—and to help them discover how their gifts can be used to serve the church.”
Impact, also held at Shorter University, marked its 40th year as a camp dedicated to focused, intentional discipleship for students in grades 6 through 12. GBMB NextGen consultant Cam Wilkins said that camp is different in that students are strategically placed into "family groups" with peers, fostering connection and growth. “These groups are led by our fantastic Team Leaders,” he explained. “Each one undergoes 24 hours of training before camp begins to ensure they’re prepared to create a positive and spiritually impactful environment for our students.”
Rob Craft, Next Gen Pastor at First Baptist Moultrie, brought 31 students and two chaperones from his church this year, along with his wife, who also helped lead at the camp. “I’ve taken a group to Impact every year since I moved back to Moultrie in 2015,” Craft said. “I think Impact is an amazing camp to help with discipleship and leadership. Our students always leave encouraged and challenged to live out their faith more intentionally.”
That intentionality bore fruit this year. “We had one student make a profession of faith, and he was actually baptized two Sundays ago,” Craft shared.
Craft expressed appreciation for the broader Impact community. “I’m grateful to all the folks at the GBMB who help organize all the events—Impact included,” he said. “The other leaders from around the state who step in and serve have been a great network for me personally. Impact isn’t just beneficial to our students; I’ve grown through my involvement at this camp as well.”
Todd Jones, Next Gen pastor at FBC Duluth, has been going to impact since 1995, and this year he led a team of 47 students and volunteers. “It’s a consistent experience,” Jones said, “God always shows up, though He may show up in different ways. This year, one kid got saved on the rec field!”
“From day one, it was clear the students came hungry for God,” Jones said. “They went after God hard. The kids were hungry, wanting to see God in their lives, and this was evident in their worship as well.”
One of the leaders who accompanied Jones, Deborah Htaw, described a dramatic change she witnessed in one camper. “He was very energetic and distracting,” she said. “And on Wednesday night, he was saved, and he physically changed his posture.”
Other students were impacted by the worship. “I saw the love of Christ through His people coming together,” said Colson Jones. Chandler Richards described one worship service as “different from any other I’ve experienced. It felt like I was in a room with family.”
Another longtime Impact participant, Ricky Smith, said, “The Lord used the experience to open their eyes to how He is working in their lives. It was beautiful to see them grow in awareness and understanding.” Smith, the pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Columbus, said he is always encouraged to be able to attend camp with his students, youth pastor and staff, “to see what God is doing in this generation of students. These students are very eager about pursuing the Lord and making Him known.”
“It takes a lot of dedicated adults and thoughtful planning to bring Impact to life,” Wilkins concluded, “but the spiritual growth we see in students year after year is undeniable. We believe Impact is one of the most effective camps and a true catalyst for faith in Jesus.”
Held over two weeks in Panama City Beach, Fla., Superwow drew more than 700 students and leaders for a high-impact experience rooted in gospel clarity and student evangelism.
“Logan Grantham, youth pastor at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, was our camp speaker both weeks, and he led the charge with a focus on students evangelizing their friends,” said Cam Wilkins. “He identified the ‘WOW’ in Superwow as an acronym for ‘Win Our World.’”
Grantham, who once attended Superwow as a student, said preaching there was a “full-circle moment.” He explained, “Some of my most meaningful spiritual memories were made at beach camp, listening to preachers like Ed Newton who impacted my life in a profound way. Getting to preach and serve the churches of Georgia from this side of the stage was an incredible honor.”
Like the leaders at Impact, Grantham noticed a desire to seek the Lord among the Superwow students. “The spiritual hunger, the openness to God’s Word, and the response to the gospel were unlike anything I’ve seen before. The ground was fertile and ripe for harvest."
Joshua Villars, student pastor at SouthCrest Church in LaGrange, saw that hunger among the students he brought. “I had two 6th-grade boys make a profession of faith for the first time,” Villars said. “Those two students were then baptized at the end of the week.”
Villars also emphasized the value of forming new relationships, which he actively encouraged. “I structured our small groups and morning huddles in a way that surrounded students with people they didn’t necessarily know, “ he explained. “By the end of the week, they were spending more time with their huddle groups than with their original friend groups, all because these relationships were formed while talking about Scripture. That is the coolest thing to see.”
Grantham said he is “reminded that the Holy Spirit is supernaturally working in the next generation. When the gospel is preached clearly and students are given a chance to respond, God still moves powerfully. I believe we’re going to look back on these camps as a spark that lit a fire in many lives for years to come. My hope and prayer is that we would see a revival in the next generation -- of lost students trusting in Christ, others going public with their faith through baptism, and others surrendering to the call of vocational ministry.”
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