A NIGHT THAT CHANGED MY LIFE--THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO

It was a night that changed my life although I didn't realize it at the time.   In fact, it was a night that would touch thousands of lives.  Thirty-eight years ago in the fall of 1976 Dr. Alan Neely, my seminary missions’ professor, took a group of students to a Foreign Mission Board Commissioning Service. The iconic Baker James Cauthen, retired President of the FMB and legendary Missionary to China, was the keynote speaker.  The service had a powerful impact on me.  I would soon become a pastor and missions would always be a priority in my ministry.  A new friend, Cliff Scarborough, also attended the service and it had an even greater impact on him.

     Cliff and I were unlikely friends.  He was older having completed a distinguished military career.  I was a green, non-military kid right out of college.  We connected because Cliff was from my father's hometown--Thomasville, Alabama.  

   Cliff knew that God was calling him into the ministry but it was not until that night he discerned the calling was to the mission field.

    We graduated in 1979.  I was already the pastor of a church.  Cliff applied to the Foreign Mission Board and he and Bettye were appointed to be missionaries to Belize.

    A few years later I read in the Biblical Recorder that Cliff was on a brief furlough, staying at the seminary in Wake Forest.  I contacted him about coming to my church in Roxboro and preaching.  We arranged a breakfast so he and Bettye could show slides and talk about their work in Belize. Cliff preached at the worship service and we went to our house where Joyce had prepared a delicious lunch.  

  As we were enjoying the meal and the fellowship, Cliff looked at me and said, "Ray, why don't you get a group from your church together and come to Belize on a mission trip."

   That was 30 years ago.  I'm in Belize again as I am writing this.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I have been to Belize in the past three decades, but it must be close to 50.

    I brought several groups from Roxboro to Belize in the 1980s, including Medical Teams.   The week before I left Roxboro Baptist in 1990 I was on a medical trip to Belize.  They tried their best to get me to change my mind and stay in Roxboro.  They almost had me convinced that I was making a mistake, until a spectacular sunrise with simultaneous church bells one morning reminded me that I needed to listen to a higher power!

    I traveled to Belize in early 1991 to teach some classes for pastors.  One morning at breakfast in Cliff and Bettye's kitchen in Belmopan, Cliff said:  "God has laid something on my heart, but I can't do it by myself.  I'm going to need your help and many others."

    Then he took a napkin and drew a diagram of a camp.  I have a dream of a camp where the pastors of Belize can come for theological training, where churches can have retreats and youths can come for summer camp, and where mission teams from the US can have a place to stay."

      Later that year I brought several people from FBC Lexington to Belize so Cliff could share his dream with them. Two members of that group, Austin Frye and Lonnie Davis, are no longer with us.

   We came back and shared Cliff's dream with the church.  We immediately had several men interested in a work team.  Our church has sent numerous teams through the years.  We helped with the construction of the Director’s home, the Blue Lodge and the Green Lodge.  Lonnie Davis never missed a trip in the early years.

    There was still the issue of financing.  I received a phone call one day from an older member of our church.  She asked me if I could pay her a visit later that day.  I was extremely busy, and almost begged off to another day, but this lady had never asked me to visit before.  I made time for a visit that afternoon.

    We had a nice visit and engaged in general conversation.  When I started to leave she handed me an envelope.  “This is to help with your project in Belize,” she said.

    I stuck the envelope in my pocket and returned to my office.  I was busy working when I thought of it.  As I opened the envelope I was thinking that every small gift, even $10 or $20 is important.  Enclosed was a check . . . for $10,000!

     I have been on the Board of Directors since we organized into a non-profit incorporation.  I am the only original board member still serving.  The camp is flourishing under the leadership of Eric and Julie Maas.  Pastors are being trained, Christians are being educated, youths have a place for summer camp, and US mission teams have a wonderful place to stay.  If I had saved that napkin on which Cliff drew the diagram that morning, it would be a good map of today’s camp.

     God has blessed countless numbers of people through the Baptist Training Center of Belize.  Dozens of churches and thousands of Christians have traveled to Belize to do missions.  And to think, it all went back to that one night thirty-eight years ago.  It was a night that changed my life, although I didn’t realize it at the time.