Southside Baptist Church youth members recently got to experience serving God as well as members of the local community as a part of Mission Fuge (M-Fuge), a weeklong camp in which students from all over the country participate in a variety of mission projects, as well as nightly worship services.

The camp, sponsored by LifeWay, was held at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss., from July 7 until July 11.

Youth pastor Brady Gray led a group of five adults and 15 students, consisting of boys and girls between grades 7-12.

The group held devotions each night after the main worship experience, during which time the members would reflect on the activities of the day and the lessons learned.

According to Gray, it was during this time that the results of the camp became most apparent.

“One of our students actually accepted Christ and became a believer during the trip,” Gray said.

“And one other is toying with the idea of possibly going into fulltime missions, so it was a very good experience.”

Equally enlightening were the mission projects assigned to students throughout the morning and afternoon.

Between 10:15 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. of each day, students were given one of five options to choose from on specific types of mission they wanted to work with.

In addition, students also traveled to Jackson, Miss., where some of the more involved inner-city mission projects took place.

Painting/construction/yard work (PCY) saw students helping with various hands-on manual labor projects.

Some students opted to work with children in vacation bible schools, while others offered to work in soup kitchens or clothing drives around the city.

Games and recreation saw students visiting apartment complexes and children’s homes to play games while spreading the word of God, while others decided to focus on special needs children and adults.

But Gray said that regardless of how pivotal the learning experience was for his students, it wasn’t a lesson exclusive to his youth members.

He was inspired by their actions, as well.

“It was eye-opening for me this weekend to see some of these kids that attend our youth group regularly that had a complete change of heart, and just saw God and connected with Him in a whole new way,” Gray said.

“When you’re in a worship center with 700 other students and 100 adults, worshipping God through song and scripture, it’s something I wish and hope every student between those ages would go to at least once.”