November 14, 2014 Farmville Enterprise
Don’t you love it when you discover a beautiful place to get away and relax? Isn’t it that much more amazing when you learn of such a location less than twenty minutes from home? Last weekend two Farmville youth groups went to The Refuge for a retreat. We lodged in early 1900 farm houses that had been donated and moved to the property. Each had been carefully restored and had a front porch with bright red rockers. The landscaping, the lake, the pavilion, the challenge course in the woods… all of these parts made a terrific whole.
In early 2001 Sammy Hudson, a youth minister, was asked to serve on the board of directors for a group eager to start a Christian camping ministry in eastern NC. The woman who asked him had been praying about this vision for fourteen years. After Sammy served several years on the board a man shared with him his passion to start a camp where inner-city kids could find peace and learn about the love of Christ. He’d been praying about this for years. After five years of meeting, the board had no land to start this project and no good prospects. One day, a man invited Sammy to his farm in Greene County and gave him his ten-page vision for a camp. He’d had it for ten years. He believed that God was calling him to donate 165 acres and asked if Sammy would help get the ministry started. What a confluence of events!
Currently, Sammy serves as the executive director. The Refuge hosts summer camps, weekend retreats, school nature programs, Autism Week, and a camp for Boys and Girls Club students. Anne Graham Lotz was a guest speaker in October. If you want to discover more about this wonderful ministry go to www.thesonsetrefuge.org or take a drive out to Lower Field Road in Greene County. You will be able to see how God is at work in the lives of local people!
celiastone 