New Missions Trail at Falls Creek was inspired by missionary dreams of late OSU student

Carla Hinton, Oklahoman
·4 min read
A portrait of Erin Swezey is displayed during a reception after the dedication of the new Missions Trail at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.
A portrait of Erin Swezey is displayed during a reception after the dedication of the new Missions Trail at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.

DAVIS ― The young woman's inspirational "message to the world" resonated with her family members as they read from her personal notes.

"Sharing my Peace, my Creator, my Sustainer, my Protector, so that everyone may know the happiness that comes from a life lived under Christ," Erin Swezey wrote during her time at a Christian sorority retreat.

The Oklahoma State University student's words, written about a week before her death, reflected her dream of sharing the Gospel as a Southern Baptist missionary. Her life was cut short by a drunken driver in 2009, but the 20-year-old's missionary dream will live on through the new Missions Trail recently dedicated at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.

Erin Swezey's family members pose for a photo at the entrance of the new Missions Trail at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.
Erin Swezey's family members pose for a photo at the entrance of the new Missions Trail at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.

A group of Southern Baptists, including Swezey's mother, Dixie; brother Chris Swezey; and other family members, gathered to open the new interactive path inspired by Erin and her passion for missionary work. The prayer walk was brought to fruition by the Swezey family's Erin's Hope Foundation, in partnership with Oklahoma Baptists and the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board.

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What to know about the Missions Trail

The trail, nestled in the Arbuckle Mountains, is made up of a series of pavilions built near the Three Crosses in Falls Creek's Centennial Prayer Garden. Each station along the path includes key facts about each region and what trail walkers might pray for in areas that include the Asian Pacific Rim, Northern Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and South Asia. Erin Swezey's inspirational words are emblazoned on the sign at the Missions Trail entrance and Baptist leaders said their hope is that her reflections and the trail will inspire thousands of Falls Creek youth campers to consider what they can do to further worldwide efforts to spread the Gospel.

The Rev. Todd Fisher, executive director-treasurer of Oklahoma Baptists, takes a picture of a sign at the entrance of The Missions Trail located in the Centennial Prayer Garden at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.
The Rev. Todd Fisher, executive director-treasurer of Oklahoma Baptists, takes a picture of a sign at the entrance of The Missions Trail located in the Centennial Prayer Garden at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.

"This spot at Falls Creek has been special because of the crosses, but this trail is going to bring a richness to this area of Falls Creek, so we are honored to have this trail here," the Rev. Todd Fisher, executive director-treasurer of Oklahoma Baptists, the state's Southern Baptist Convention affiliate, said at the dedication.

Fisher, who recently returned from an overseas mission trip, said the International Mission Board currently has more than 170 Oklahomans in the mission field. Noting that the 106th Falls Creek youth camp season will begin soon, the minister said Falls Creek has traditionally been a place where countless people are called to missions and ministry.

Dixie Swezey, a member of Quail Springs Baptist Church, said her daughter's mission-focused reflections were written when she was on retreat with her sorority, Sigma Phi Lambda, about a week before she was killed when her car was hit head on by a drunken driver on the Kilpatrick Turnpike in Oklahoma City.

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Karla McAlister, of Edmond, reads information featured at one of the stations along The Missions Trail at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.
Karla McAlister, of Edmond, reads information featured at one of the stations along The Missions Trail at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.

A long history at Falls Creek

Swezey said she felt Falls Creek was a fitting place for the trail inspired by Erin because the youth encampment and several affiliate camps helped spur her daughter's spiritual growth. She said Erin was a kindergartner when she first took her to Falls Creek for a mother-daughter camp at Oklahoma Baptists' Camp Nunny-Cha-Ha.

As she grew older, Erin's experiences reflected her spiritual growth and she wrote a letter while attending Falls Creek youth camp as a seventh-grader to let her mom know that she had led someone to the Lord.

"This is something that would please Erin," Dixie Swezey said of the new trail.

Karla McAlister, of Edmond, a friend of the Swezey family, walked the trail after the dedication.

"This is a great location," she said, looking around. "Erin always wanted to go to the mission field."

Visitors walk along the Missions Trail recently in the Centennial Prayer Garden at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.
Visitors walk along the Missions Trail recently in the Centennial Prayer Garden at Falls Creek Baptist Camp & Conference Center near Davis.

Ed Herrelko III, the International Mission Board's vice president of marketing and communications, also shared remarks at the recent trail dedication.

"This is a special day because oftentimes you don't hear about how Southern Baptists come together — you hear about how Southern Baptists fight ― but this is what happens when people get together behind an idea," he said.

"Our hope is through this experience, through the prayer walk, is that the thousands and thousands of youths who come here will start to think about how many people don't know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ... Maybe one day they'll be able to take the Gospel far across the globe."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: New Missions Trail dedicated at Falls Creek Baptist Camp near Davis