Participants of Engage Missions Camp serve at a local food bank. (Alex Blankenship/ABSC)
PARON, Ark. – More than 100 students and adults gathered at Camp Paron this past week for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention’s (ABSC) annual student missions camp called Engage.
The camp, which is designed to provide participants with the experience of a mission trip and summer camp all rolled into one, combines biblical teaching, worship, evangelism, fun, and fellowship with hands-on ministry opportunities to help equip students to be engaged full-time in God’s mission.
The camp pastor for the week was David Rodriguez, associate director for Texas Baptist Student Ministry at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas. He said his goal was to “encourage students to walk in a way that honors God.”

One hundred and forty students and adults from 13 churches participated in Engage Camp this year. Campers throughout the week completed multiple ministry projects and engaged in learning about missions through daily breakout sessions.
Rodriguez touted the attitude of the campers as they completed their projects throughout the week. “They’ve been at the job sites and have just served, loving people and just really ready for the task,” he said.
Shiloh Community Church in Fayetteville has brought a group of students to Engage for the past five years.
“The focus is on missions. We’ve taken our kids to church camp, but we like the fact that when they come here, we know they are going to be learning about missions. They are going to be doing mission projects,” said Charlotte Martin of Shiloh Community Church. “Our kids are the ones that continually want to come back. That’s awesome. For the kids to want to come back even though they are coming back to work says something.”
Each morning, campers applied the lessons learned in breakouts as they dispersed to serve in a variety of hands-on missions and ministry opportunities. Upon returning one morning, Martin said one of her students came to her excited to share about their “$20 mission trip.” The student’s group that morning got to choose their project with the caveat it had to cost less than $20. Martin said they went to the store, bought cards, wrote little notes, and delivered them to residents in a local nursing home. They visited with residents and prayed with them.

Robert Paulk, also of Shiloh Community Church, said the camp has students out in the community, teaching them how to serve others and how to have gospel conversations. It provides “missions minded growth.” He shared about one of his students, who is shy, sharing the gospel with an adult at one of the work sites.
“It’s been a good experience, and our work sites have been good. Some of them have been where we have the opportunity to share the gospel with people and sometimes you don’t really get the opportunity, but you can pray for those that you come in contact with,” Martin said. “I can’t say enough positive things about the camp.”
Engage Missions Camp 2026 is scheduled for June 15-19. The camp is made possible through the generous gifts of Arkansas Baptists through the Dixie Jackson Arkansas Missions Offering and the Cooperative Program.