By Shams Rahman

Eddie Willis had an idea in 2012. It was inspired by Matthew 28:19-20 from the Bible, which talked about going into the world and making disciples. Thus, he got to work.

Willis, former minister at Ole Miss Wesley Foundation and the pastor of Taylor United Methodist Church in Oxford, decided to host a summer camp for youths, where they could learn the Christian message in the peaceful mountains near Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.

That year, the camp had 124 participants. In 2013, the number more than tripled to around 400. In 2024, the total attendees was 1,600, a number that is expected to be repeated this year.

“The goal is that young people and their leaders would follow the Christian message of making more disciples who followed Jesus Christ,” Willis told The Oxford Eagle.

The M28 camps, which transitioned to a non-profit status in March 2024, are funded through donations from individual donors, churches, and foundations. In the camps, besides worship, preaching, and workshops, participants are divided into D-groups, short for disciple groups, of 12 to 15 people, where they can take the teachings of the day and discuss them among themselves, in an attempt to grow. It also aims at the participants enjoying their free time through activities such as white-water rafting, canoeing, and paddle boarding at Lake Junaluska, along with free hiking, waterfalls, and swimming holes along the Blue Ridge Parkway near the lake.

The camp tries to preach Christianity to students through energetic activities, including games and music. Discussing the impact of music, Willis said that they choose songs that direct students to their Christian faith.

“We have just really fun songs that get the students excited, then the songs become more serious. And then after we finish singing, it’s time for the Christian speaker to stand and open the Bible,” he said. 

“We start off with a game, and there are probably 400 people in the room during this game. You have the games, the excitement, the singing fast, and then the singing gets slow and contemplative. And the students hopefully are in a position to receive some knowledge about what their Christian pastor is about to preach.”

While the camps have become a large success in the last decade, during the initial years, there were some issues which Willis prefers to refer to as ‘positive challenges’. 

“In the beginning, there were some struggles with the facility that we were renting as they didn’t know if we would be able to make it or not, but we worked with them, and we have a good partnership. Getting the word out [was a struggle], and now it just advertises itself,” he said.

“I think our largest challenge as a non-profit is making sure that we secure the right amount of funding.”

What started off only as a summer camp is now spreading its wings. Instead of just their five camps during the summer in the mountains,  they are aiming at year-round events, having organized a children’s retreat in Morton, with 120 participants, and also have a children and youth leaders renewal retreat in North Alabama planned for early October. They have also gone international, arranging a camp in Honduras for 96 teenagers. 

This year, the five four-day M28 Camps will be held at the same location from June 25 to July 15, with the dates being June 25-28, June 29-July 2, July 3-6, July 8-11, and July 12-15.

As the organization gets ready for its 14th year of organizing these camps, Willis said that their goal is to keep growing. 

“Our goal is to keep training and teaching young people, and we are ready to grow as much as we need to make sure that it happens,” he said.