From the mountains to the coast, N.C. Baptist camps gave nearly 14,000 people opportunities this summer to hear the gospel, grow in their faith, serve others and respond to a call to ministry.

Across camps and ministry programs connected with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, 13,962 campers and participants took part in activities throughout the summer. Collectively, organizers reported 668 professions of faith, 2,092 rededications and 573 responses to a call to ministry.

The summer camps included programs at Caraway Conference Center and Camp, Camp Mundo Vista, Fort Caswell, Truett Conference Center and Camp, and other locations across the state.

“Summer camp is about so much more than a week away from home,” said Todd Unzicker, N.C. Baptists’ executive director-treasurer. “It’s an opportunity for students to hear the gospel, grow in their faith, serve others and discover what it means to live on mission for Jesus. We’re thankful for how God is using our camps to change lives, raise up the next generation of leaders, and send students back to their churches and communities ready to make a difference for the gospel.”

Following are summaries and highlights from N.C. Baptist summer ministries in 2026.

Fort Caswell

Nearly 9,000 middle and high school students attended one of nine weeklong camp sessions hosted by BeDoTell, the student ministry of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, at the Fort Caswell Coastal Retreat Center on Oak Island.

This year’s theme, “Shine,” was based on Daniel 12:3. Through worship services, small-group discussions, personal Bible study, church-group activities and other opportunities, students explored what it means to live in the culture without conforming to the culture.

“Our culture mirrors the moment that Daniel and his friends found themselves in,” said Daniel Rose, N.C. Baptists’ student ministry strategist. “The Book of Daniel shows how four young teenagers shine for Jesus in a world filled with darkness, and we see a God who is faithful to them every step of the way.”

Rose said he saw campers, youth pastors and chaperones come to camp with a sense of excitement and expectancy. Before worship services each evening, church leaders, chaperones and BeDoTell staff would gather to pray for students from attending churches by name. Camp leaders saw many of those students commit their lives to Christ over the course of the week.

“Most weeks we saw a lot of people get saved on the first night,” Rose said. “We were excited to see God move.”

Over the course of the summer, 537 campers at BeDoTell made professions of faith, more than 1,900 rededicated their lives to Christ, and 511 responded to a call to ministry.

“Our desire is to see God save the lost and send the saved,” Rose said.

Additionally, BeDoTell campers assembled prepackaged meals for Haiti as part of a long-standing missions project held in conjunction with camp. Some of the meals packed this year will also remain in North Carolina to be distributed to communities in the western part of the state still recovering from Hurricane Helene nearly two years after the storm.

Collectively, BeDoTell campers packed nearly 210,000 meals over the summer. Since the partnership with Haiti began in 2011, the total number of meals packed and sent to Haiti has reached more than 3.4 million.

In addition to BeDoTell, an additional 1,500 people attended day camp offerings at Fort Caswell, with 23 making professions of faith.

Caraway

Caraway Camp near Asheboro hosted a variety of programs during the summer, including children’s camps, youth camps, leadership programs, family camps and other offerings.

Caraway welcomed approximately 1,600 camp attendees over the summer. Of those, 55 made professions of faith, 33 rededicated their lives to Christ, and 11 responded to a call to ministry.

Mark Moore, children’s program director at Caraway, said the camp primarily hosts church groups that provide their own chaperones, which allows the camp staff to lead programming and activities for attendees. Moore said the summer provided numerous opportunities for Caraway staff to support those church groups while building relationships with campers and sharing the gospel.

“God used our staff to encourage our campers and draw them closer to the Lord,” Moore said.

One of Moore’s favorite testimonies from the summer was that of a high school student who trusted Christ at camp and came back at the end of the summer to be baptized in a lake on Caraway’s property.

Additionally, Moore said many campers left with a better understanding of the gospel and expressed a desire to go back home and serve the Lord in their communities. Moore said camp emphasized listening to God’s Word and putting it into action. This year’s camp theme was “Rock On,” drawn from Matthew 7:24-25 and focused on what it means for Jesus to be one’s rock and foundation.

“As I process the summer and look back at what God has done, the word that keeps coming to my mind is ‘Thankful,’” Moore said.

Truett

Truett Conference Center and Camp in Hayesville hosted a number of offerings during the 2026 summer season, including camps for boys, girls, youth and church groups. Truett also introduced a new day camp offering this summer.

A total of 1,096 people attended programs at Truett over the summer, which also included a retreat for individuals with special needs and other retreats for various church and ministry groups. Camp leaders reported 53 salvations, 100 rededications and 51 responses to a call to ministry from among the summer attendees. Camp officials said the 100 rededications were the most seen in a summer at Truett in the past 20 years. 

This summer’s theme at Truett was “Right Now,” based on Matthew 24:44. The theme emphasized both evangelism and spiritual growth by encouraging campers that there is no better time than now to trust Christ, grow in their faith, share the gospel and live for Him as they anticipate His return. 

One of the highlights of the summer was a retreat attended by members of the Zotang Chin Baptist Association of the United States, which is based in Charlotte and affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Chin are a diverse group of ethnic groups from Myanmar who share cultural and historical ties. The Zontang Chin Baptist Association serves churches representing several of these groups in the United States. The association supports its member churches while maintaining connections with Chin communities in Myanmar. Chin communities have experienced violence, displacement and persecution since a military coup in Myanmar in 2021.

The association’s retreat at Truett drew 167 attendees from Zotang Chin churches in several states and saw 14 people baptized.

“It was a really spiritually intensive retreat for them,” said Matt Brubaker, communications and retreat manager at Truett.

Deep Impact

Nearly 400 students participated in missions opportunities sponsored by N.C. Baptists on Mission over the course of the summer. These weeklong missions experiences, known as Deep Impact, combined serving on local missions projects with participating in worship, Bible study, devotions, fellowship, recreation and more.

Deep Impact Students included eight weeks of camp for students in sixth through 12th grade at N.C. Baptists on Mission’s mission centers or rebuild sites across the state. Participants completed missions projects that included construction, landscaping, Vacation Bible Schools and more.

“For the first time, all of our Deep Impact camps were held at our mission camps or rebuild centers, giving students the opportunity to serve directly in local communities,” said Richard Brunson, executive director of N.C. Baptists on Mission. “The response was amazing, and we’ve heard many testimonies about how these experiences impacted students and deepened their understanding of what it means to live on mission.”

This fall, N.C. Baptists on Mission will sponsor Deep Impact Kids, a series of one-day missions events hosted by various churches across the state. Deep Impact Kids provides age-appropriate missions projects for children in first through sixth grade.

Happiness Retreats

N.C. Baptists also hosted Happiness Retreats for individuals with special needs at Caraway and Truett over the course of the summer.

Nearly 400 individuals participated in the retreats. The retreats included worship, Bible teaching, crafts, recreation, fellowship and other activities in a camp experience similar to Vacation Bible School. 

Looking ahead

Although the 2026 summer camp season has ended, registration for 2027 camps is already approaching.

Registration for 2027 BeDoTell summer youth weeks opens Sept. 8.

Registration for 2027 summer camps at Caraway opens Oct. 28.

Registration for 2027 summer youth and children’s camps at Truett opens around mid-September, and other summer programs will open for registration by mid-January.

Check each camp’s website for specific information.

By Chad Austin, BR Managing Editor

EDITOR’S NOTE — This article originally appeared on brnow.org. The featured image is a contributed photo in which attendees at BeDoTell summer youth weeks at Fort Caswell pray together during a time of outdoor worship.