The Campers for Christ Rally Was Fantastic! (Here's What Happened)
The Brazos Bend State Park is a great place to enjoy nature and fellowship.
It had been months since we enjoyed a C4C rally. Since returning to Texas, we've been getting settled in our RVICS Village home and volunteering for two projects. It's great to be able to call ourselves Texans finally. For four years, we referred to ourselves as California escapees.
One of our favorite C4C chapters is Genesis, which includes Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The organization's focus is evangelism, and our chapter president, Shane Herren, has embraced the MEGA theme, "Make Evangelism Great Again." This sense of community and shared purpose makes us feel truly at home in the Campers for Christ family.
In case you are unfamiliar with the Campers for Christ Ministry, I'll share the goals from their website:
To provide a means for Christian campers to get together for fellowship at local and national levels.
To provide a way for Christians to recognize other Christians while on the road or camping.
To encourage a witness to others (Non-Christian and Christian), while camping, regarding the claims of Jesus Christ. The club Crest is an effective conversation starter when a member is asked to explain its purpose.
When requested, provide Chaplain services to campers, especially to those who have no church affiliation.
To provide an opportunity for members to participate in meetings by singing, playing instruments, sharing testimonies, preaching, and teaching, as well as encouraging them to make themselves available for campground services when the opportunity arises.
We enjoy the fellowship the rallies provide more than I can say. My husband, Tommy, joins the worship team with his guitar and is thrilled to lead the communion service. Sharing testimonies is a staple at our gatherings. I am always amazed at what people have endured to get to where they are. Last week's rally was no exception. We all know that without God, our lives would be a disaster.
Something about getting out in nature makes you feel closer to God. Brazos Bend State Park was an excellent place to have this experience. It has huge campsites with water and 50-amp hookups. There is a dump station available, but no sewer. We didn't personally use the restrooms, but those who did said they were nice and clean. Workers were constantly maintaining the campground, ensuring our safety and comfort.
They mow the grass around the campsites, giving us plenty of room to set up our gathering at Shane and Michele's. This is the first time we've been blessed to be across the road from our meeting place. It was great! We didn't have far to go to bring our chairs and the food for the pot-blessings. It also made it easy for Tommy to get his guitar and equipment to the worship tent. He and Michele blessed us with worship music in the mornings and evenings.
The park's trails are magnificent! It was great having a walking buddy for a change. My pal Carolyn and her dog, Dusty, joined me on my daily treks, and we experienced a lot of nature. We saw an alligator the first day we walked together and almost stepped on a snake on the second.
Something caught Carolyn's eye as we walked, and when she turned around to see what it was, we realized the three of us had walked right over the slithery creature. She got out her iNaturalist app and snapped a photo. We almost stepped on a copperhead! We both immediately thanked Jesus for keeping us safe.
There is so much for a naturalist to enjoy in Brazos Bend. You will not get bored with the fantastic variety of birds constantly filling the air with their chirps and squawks to the deer, ducks, alligators, and snakes. The park sits in the middle of the Monarch Butterfly migration. It has an observatory, lakes for fishing, and hiking and biking trails. The group didn't experience many of those activities as we were busy enjoying each other's company at the campsite.
We have what we call a pot-blessing, as opposed to a potluck, in the evenings, and the food is always tasty and plentiful. We enjoyed lunch together on Thursday at the Jay Café, 13 miles from the campground. Our waitress was a sweetheart. Shane and Michele met her on a previous visit and requested that she be our group waitress. It was awesome when we asked her if she'd like to join us for blessing the meal with prayer, and she gave an enthusiastic yes.
We have never seen a chicken fried steak so huge! Many to-go boxes were required.
As with any organization, business meetings are required. We retained our president and treasurer and appointed a new VP and Wagon Master. Shane added the media-head position and Sherry stepped up for the role. As if she and Dave wern’t doing enough, he was the new VP and wagon master. It was Cheri and Steve’s first rally and she graciously accepted the role of secretary. Thier wonderful service dog, Dozer was elected head of security.
We were going to tear down the tents and put away our gear on Friday morning, but it started to sprinkle, so we did the preemptive thing and packed up Thursday evening. It was amazing how quickly the massive amount of gear and supplies were cleaned up and stowed. Teamwork makes the dream work. 🤗
We gathered for prayer and devotionals on Friday morning before heading out to bless RV's. We usually bless and pray for safe travels over all the attendee's rigs, but our MEGA theme required doing it for our entire section of the campgrounds. It was such a great experience! We asked people if we could bless their vehicles and pray over them for safe travels. 🙏 🙌˗ˏˋ ✞ ˎˊ˗
Not only did we not get turned down once, but most people exclaimed, “Yes, please!”
If you enjoy camping and want to give your family a fantastic experience, please visit the Campers for Christ website. Everyone is welcome, and event registration is always free. Maybe we’ll meet up at one in the future. 😊