Tucked away in the rocky hills just off Highway 90, halfway between Marfa and Alpine, is Paisano Baptist Encampment. Unlike Bloys Campmeeting I wrote about yesterday, Paisano is uniquely Baptist. Paisano is spanish for Roadrunner, that "beep beep" bird kids and adults have seen in cartoons. It is a unique bird that prefers running over flying. It is fearless, taking on rattlesnakes, other reptiles, and insects.
Paisano, though not as old as Bloys, dates back to 1915. Folks stayed in tents and ate from a chuckwagon. Services for the big annual encampment the last week in July begin on a Sunday evening at eight pm. They close out after breakfast on the following Saturday. It was normal to have 1400 or more attend this meeting. Some of Baptists' great preachers and Bible teachers have preached there. It is a sprawling campground. Ann and I drove around in it last week. It was our first visit there. Permanent buildings dot the landscape. There are church cabins and some individual family homes. The campground was silent. We only saw a couple of cars. There was a feeling of the presence of God at that place. Their greeting at the entrance is "Come Walk With Him". I wondered just how many had done that over ninety-six years. The influence of this old campground is spread around the Baptist world. Some of the named buildings were folks familiar to us.
Summer encampments have a vital role in our Christian lives. Glorieta and Ridgecrest are our two Southern Baptist encampments. I have been to both but prefer Glorieta, near Santa Fe, New Mexico. An old Texas Baptist Encampment near us is Palacios. It may be as old as Paisano. I will research that and give a report next writing, Lord willing.
Here's a picture of the kitchen crew at Paisano in 1921:
