Mission Report: Together for Hope, Arkansas

Together for Hope, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship initiative, provides two weeks of camp for children in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas. Activities include music, Bible study, and crafts, but a central focus of the camp involves teaching the children the life-long, life-saving skill of swimming. In the evenings swim lessons and water aerobics are provided for their parents and grandparents, as well.

I returned home a week ago Saturday morning around 12:15 AM from my 6.5-hour drive. When I arrived, I was greeted by both Scott and Eleanor to my surprise. Both were awake and waiting for me. Fifteen days in Helena, Arkansas did not seem like 15 days away from Atlanta. The weeks spent there are always so busy, from before sunrise making sure campers are placed in the correct color groups and swim classes, until well into the late hours of the night. We share our days with friends from other churches, including devotional and prayer time together. 

The first few days leading up to camp, I helped Hayes Barton Baptist Church from North Carolina swim-test potential campers on Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday afternoon. It is always so interesting to learn which campers have been to camp before, how many years they have been coming, and the many who have never been to swim camp at all. Many times I wonder, where do all of these campers come from and why do we see so many new faces each year?  Some drove 1.5 hours away, while others are from out of town staying with their aunties or grandmothers for the week.

Sunday morning members from Hayes Barton Baptist Church, First Baptist of Richmond, and I met at Silver Cloud Missionary Baptist Church for a 2.5-hour church service. I feel confident this has been the longest service I have attended there. The church is the home of Karen Williams, the Executive Director for Together for Hope Arkansas, home church. Tia, her oldest daughter, sings in the choir; Tarren, her youngest daughter, plays the drums; and her son Tyrus plays the piano and leads the choir. Karen's husband, James, is the pastor and continues to serve as the pastor even though he has had several strokes, is wheelchair-bound, and needs round-the-clock care. 

The first and second weeks of camp begin Monday morning with parents, aunties, and grandparents dropping their kids off at the city park before 8 am. The campers are registered and checked in during this time and report to their assigned color group (red, blue, gold, yellow, pink, brown, green, and or purple). There are 10-12 campers assigned to each group. Several of the color groups are filled with younger campers ages 6 to 9, while the other groups are filled with older campers ages 9-12. Local volunteers help assist as group leaders! The volunteers this year were between 13 to 20 years old, having committed to be present and participate in their community during the two weeks of camp.

Campers days include a camp meeting, music, cheers and chants, Bible stories, crafts, and swimming twice a day- once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The curriculum this year was written by a local Helena  man, Ira Nealey, who currently lives in Richmond, VA with his husband Eddie. They were married in the fall of 2023.  Barbara and Virginia had the pleasure of meeting him last year at camp. They both think he is a gem.

This year's theme for camp was "Put Your Hope in God!" This is also the same phrase used in the pool after each rotation as the instructors and campers hold hands and pray together, then see who can yell the loudest "Put your hope in God!" before getting out of the pool. 

Camp runs Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 2:30 pm. All volunteers help before and after camp to set up or take down group color signs, tables, chairs, tarps, and tents. It is a beautiful collaboration of so many working together.

On Monday through Wednesday evenings we would arrive at New Light Baptist Church where local churches helped to serve dinner to the outside volunteers starting at 5:00 pm. Swim instructors head back to the pool by 6 pm to welcome over 30 adult new swimmers to the pool until 7 pm when water aerobics begins until 8 pm.

Wednesday evening is a special time for the swim instructors and lifeguards. We have been honored to have the same lifeguards work for the past three years: Kyra, Kiki, Super Mike Mike, and Charlie. We all meet at the Methodist Church to make paper plate awards for one another, as well as complete swim certificates for each camper. We then help add written notes from their group leader to the back of each camper's swim certificate. These are presented to the campers on Thursday evening at an ending celebration, as well as t-shirts. 

 This year seemed to be a bit harder for me to leave. We had two local volunteers work in the pool for the two weeks, Xai Franklin and Keith Hayes, known as Fudd. This is the first time in the history of the All-Church Challenge (21+years) this has happened. I will write more about them in another article, so you have an opportunity to meet them too.

 I want to thank everyone who cleaned out their closets for bags, totes and towels. Know that all of them were used! Thank you all for supporting this ministry that is very dear to me and fills my heart. It brings me great joy to share this ministry with you and thank you for being in a part of it with me.