Our Blog

Spare Change October 2017

I simply want to remind you of the good work that our Southern Baptist volunteers do during natural disasters.  Send Relief (a part of the North American Mission Board) has responded to the hurricane flooding and damage in both Texas and Florida.  As a member of a Southern Baptist Church you should be proud not only because our people are helping but also that we contribute to the Cooperative Program (which supports NAMB) every month.  You can also give directly to the NAMB online (www.namb.net) or over the phone (800-634-2462).  You can feel good that every dollar goes to help with the relief effort.   Below are some highlights from an article published by the Baptist Press on Sept. 11^th by Josie Bingham.

FLORIDA (BP) -- Mark MacDonald walked around his Jacksonville home Monday morning (Sept. 11) assessing the damage done by Hurricane Irma.  "Our roof is leaking and a few trees are down," MacDonald said. "I was curious as to how our neighbors were doing …. their garden was completely torn to shreds. It's not ideal, but it really could have been worse for us. We're all thankful to God for that."  Monday, Sept. 11, MacDonald will be working on his own home and aiding his neighbors. But as the sun rises Tuesday, MacDonald will help lead teams of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers and trained experts in feeding units, mud-out and more.
As the strategic communications catalyst for the Florida Baptist Convention, MacDonald said he is "overseeing all our communications strategy for Hurricane Irma. Just like the early response in Harvey, we've anticipated Hurricane Irma and the response she'd require ahead of time. I've met with our disaster relief teams over the weeks. We are ready to provide 500,000 meals a day in the southern parts of Florida.   Feeding is the first thing we will be doing Tuesday."
Preparations are being made by the Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Pennsylvania/South Jersey, New York and Virginia Baptist conventions to respond to the needs of hurricane survivors as Irma continued to crawl up Florida and into South Georgia.
As of Monday, Sept 11, Hurricane Harvey SBDR response has witnessed 29 professions of faith and initiated 508 Gospel conversations; provided 444,765 meals, 7,240 showers and 4,534 loads of laundry; and completed 109 construction jobs including 47 roof repairs.

For donation and volunteer information:
Hurricane Harvey response: https://www.namb.net/send-relief/disaster-relief/hurricane-harvey

Hurricane Irma response: https://www.namb.net/send-relief/disaster-relief/hurricane-irma

Read the entire article:  http://www.bpnews.net/49513/irma-response-to-begin-harvey-relief-work-continues

Spare Change September 2017

This summer we took our high school students to Chicago for a mission trip.  We worked with church planters in the area.  There is so much good work being done in the   Chicago area; however, there is also a lot of lostness still to combat.  The North American Mission Board (NAMB) selected Chicago as one of its “Send Cities” a few years back.  This means they are targeting this region with resources and personnel.  They have developed a strategy to plant gospel-centered, Bible believing Southern Baptist churches in every neighborhood throughout metro Chicago.

This is a gigantic task, since Chicago has 8,792,970 people in its metro area; which means there is only 1 Southern Baptist church for every 34,348 people.  As you can see there is a lot of work to be done.  We       partnered with Bryan Coble, who is a church planter in the Irving Park region;  Bryan is bi-vocational-- he manages a Honey Baked Ham store.  He has been having a weekly Bible study in the community center of a local park.  He has a great opportunity to reach over 50,000 people in Irving Park alone.

We helped Bryan get the word out about his church by passing out water bottles and church flyers.  We also served the park by picking up the trash scattered throughout.  We went to a local foster care center where we cleaned and played with kids.  We really enjoyed our time working in this part of the city.  It gave a us a good picture of the everyday lives of people in Irving Park and helped us capture the   vision Bryan has for his church plant.

Chicago is a unique, sprawling city that is crowded and bustling; however, within the larger scope there are these little neighborhoods were church planters can do their work.  One church planter and Regional strategist, Chris Wright, has seen how his church is able to reach out to young  professionals that are simply looking to connect with others.  Even in such a populous area people are lonely and need other people to befriend them.  The church, powered by the gospel, can be that connection people are looking for.

We need to be praying for all the Send Chicago church planters.  You can see their profiles at  www.namb.net/send-cities/chicago.  You can also see a plant map and get regular updates on what is happening there.  I would ask you to pray specifically for Chris Wright as he coordinates the planting effort in Chicago and for Bryan Coble as he plants in Irving Park. 

 We are exploring a partnership with Send Chicago, which would mean we would send resources and people to  assist church planters.  More information about trips will be available if this partnership develops.  Please pray about this matter and pray for the heart of our church to be on fire for missions in Chicago.