Vineyard Spotlight: Tom Camacho – Part 2
Today is Part 2 of 2 of our interview with Vineyard churchplanter Tom Camacho, who – with his wife and a small team – have begun to plant the Blue Ridge Vineyard Church in Asheville, North Carolina. Tom grew up in Raleigh, NC, where he learned to love basketball and barbecue. He graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Journalism and has a Military Science minor from Duke University. He served as a helicopter platoon leader in an Apache battalion during the 1991 Gulf War. He and his wife Beth have been married for 22 years and have four children: Caleb, Daniel, Caryn and Rebecca. Tom has been connected with the Vineyard for nearly 20 years. He led worship at the first service of the Coastal Community Vineyard in Wilmington, NC, in 1991. Later he left the corporate world of General Electric, to join the church staff as the worship and small group pastor and was ordained in the Vineyard in 1998. After serving in various pastoral positions in different churches, he and Beth stepped out to plant Blue Ridge Vineyard Church in North Asheville, NC in 2008. If you missed it, be sure to check out Part 1 of our interview with Tom from Wednesday.
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At what levels (Global, National, Local) do you continue to be engaged in this kind of Justice ministry…global or locally?
We support Hope House financially every month. And I serve on their board. We have not done much globally at this point. We hosted a benefit concert in October to help fund the fight. We collect gift items for strip club outreaches. Ladies can call numbers on Craig’s List to offer help and support to women that are in this situation.You mentioned the House of Hope. Can you give us an idea of the several ways you all are involved there?
I am on the board. A wife on our leadership team is a strong supporter. She first got me into the whole topic. We have decorated a room at the Hope House. We give financially every month. We gather gifts for outreaches and last October we hosted a benefit concert. I had Emily come and share her vision at the church on a Sunday morning. That was really good. We made a public, candle light dedication commitment to fight this evil. That really stepped up our commitment level.
In the realm of Human Trafficking, what are the areas needing attention by all of us?
More aggressive legislation with stiffer penalties for trafficking. Better coordination of law enforcement and shelter providers. There needs to be more beds available for these victims of trafficking. We need to attack pornography simultaneously because it feeds the demand side of the equation. There are many different levels we need to attack this on.
If you were talking to another pastor of a church community, any other wisdom to share…what would you recommend they do to engage?
Research on the issue. Find out what is happening with law enforcement and advocacy groups in your region. Don’t bury your head in the sand. Deal with it that this evil is in your city and pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you your first steps. Find a home that is trying to get started locally or start one of your own. But really pray and do your homework. Count the cost. This is no lightweight ministry or spiritual issue.Let your heart feel God’s pain over this issue. Every time I pray I feel like weeping. Educate your people but be sensitive to not scare young girls when you are talking about it. Educate young girls though on safety and how not to be tricked on the internet. Press in with girls that are struggling with running away, cutting, or just hate their families. Those girls are easy targets for traffickers.
[A Big Thank You to Tom Camacho for sharing with us this week in our inaugural Vineyard Spotlight series. Next week John Aureli from the Sugar Land Vineyard in Texas joins us for the Vineyard Spotlight series, be sure to check it out!]