Rev. Virgil A. Mitchell
(Grandson of Rev. J.R. Davis; Camp evangelist in 1985)
Congratulations on achieving this monumental milestone of ministry by the Hortense Wesleyan Camp Meeting. Numerous camps cease operations before reaching this enviable goal. Vision, faithfulness, sacrifice, faith, prayer, generous financial support, and God's special blessings made this possible. A camp meeting loving constituency also played a vital role. Today we pay tribute to everyone who made this happen.
Many have been converted at its altar. Others have been entirely sanctified in its services. Several have entered ministry through its influence. Unknown individuals maintained their relationship with Christ through its impact on their lives. Still others became members of the Wesleyan and other churches because of the influence of Hortense Camp. There are now countless numbers in heaven rejoicing in the eternal presence of God. It has been worth all it has cost!
The long roster of evangelists of the camp comprises a worthy list of Christian workers. Their labors have not been in vain. Many will rise up in the final day of reckoning and call them "Blessed".
Hortense Camp impacted my life in a strange way when I was a very young child. My grandfather, J.R. Davis served twice as an evangelist at the camp. He returned from there with a keg of Georgia sugar-cane syrup. It impressed me greatly and gave me an appetite for sugar-cane syrup that has never left me! I had the joy of laboring there in 1985, seventy years after my grandfather’s first ministry there. Incidentally, Rev. L.E. Galyon and Bob and Norma Cooley were my efficient co-workers.
My wife, Mary Parks Mitchell who lived in Darien, has good memories of camp services she attended. She was a good friend of Dorothy Harrell and children of Rev. H.R. Gunby, who was pastor of the local church. Later she and I were schoolmates of Dorothy, Theta, and Tau at Central Wesleyan College.