Our Blog

Grow & Go - July 2024

Indy Crossover Mission Trip

Recently, a group of eleven from Oakhill went to Indianapolis on a four-day mission trip to help renovate the multipurpose worship space that is used for the food pantry and fellowship at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship (Metro Baptist Center). Our project was to start on Wednesday, hang drywall, get it painted, and ready for the church to have 45 volunteers show up for a block party on Saturday for Crossover and then worship together on Sunday. This seemed like a tall order upon our arrival, but the Lord knew that He had assembled the exact people needed to get this accomplished in time, on time, and done well.

This trip was not about getting to go somewhere or saying, “Look at what we did and accomplished”. Our team had a certain job that we were tasked to do to help Cornerstone Christian Fellowship according to their needs, and we worked tirelessly together as a group in unity to complete them. As the pastor who led this trip, I can say without reservation that God put together the right group to accomplish what needed to be done in a short window of time. We not only finished the drywall and painting, but our Mission team also helped put new siding on the second floor of the building, going beyond the scope of work we originally came to achieve.

Hershel York said in his new book titled Pastor Well: A Guide to Faithfulness in Pastoral Ministry, “People ask about mission trips a lot, including missionaries. I hear missionaries on the field say they don’t like mission trips because when churches send teams, they cause more trouble than they’re worth. Well, it’s your job to make sure that’s not so. How do you do that? Well, if you send a team on a mission trip, you need to make sure that they are alleviating suffering problems rather than contributing to them. When we take trips, we make sure we have several meetings ahead of time, and we stress this is not Christian tourism. This is not about getting an experience. This is not about having stories to tell. We’ve got specific jobs that we’ve been asked to do, and we’re going to do those”. (1)

Considering what Pastor York said, we were not a burden, we brought light to a church that needed help. We removed boards from windows that had been covered and the light shined in once again revealing the skylight of the city that had not been seen in decades. Our team made food and fed over 300 people for two days, challenged people with the Gospel, and prayed over the hurting. It was more than just hanging drywall and some paint. Our team, with the Lord’s help, set the stage for the gospel to be advanced (Phil 1:12) for years to come. Yes, our team had fun working together to accomplish the task at hand, but each of us also understood our roles and we did them well, giving glory to our great God who is “able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine” (Eph 3:20). We had sweet fellowship together over food prepared with love and Bible devotion times that I will personally never forget. I say this after every mission trip, we go expecting to change the world, but it is our great God who always changes us.

Please add Pastor Tom and Pastor Steven to your prayers. They are doing great ministry in a very tough context, where there is much spiritual darkness due to addiction, and poverty among many homeless people who come through the doors in need. Pray for their safety and longevity in ministry, and that God will cause a great revival among the
people of downtown Indianapolis. 

(1) Hershel York, Pastor Well: A Guide To Faithfulness In Pastoral Ministry (Louisville, Ky: Southern Seminary Press), 106-7.

Women On Mission - July 2024

Make Holes in Their Darkness
By: Dianne Swaim

A story is told of British author Robert Louis Stevenson when he was five years old.  According to the story, his nanny was putting him to bed, but he slipped over to the window when he knew it was time for the lamplighter.  As he watched the lamplighter light each street light individually, he excitedly called, “Come quick, Nanny! That man is making holes in the  darkness.”

That story has impacted me for years as I have traveled to several third world countries and viewed hunger and poverty for myself.  In Zimbabwe, I held a 10 trillion dollar bill in my hands, worth only 50 cents in the United States.  Meanwhile, there was no food on the grocery store shelves, hospitals and schools were shut down, and there was a cholera outbreak.

The darkness of hunger hovers over almost 1 billion people in the world.  As they always have, Southern Baptist keep a global eye on hurting people and develop programs, raise funds, and send people to meet their physical and spiritual needs.

Organized to Serve
Global Hunger Relief seeks to put structure to the vast resources possible when God’s people give.  Seven Southern Baptist entities collaborate to observe Global Hunger Sunday.  These partners include WMU, the International Mission Board, and the North American Mission Board.

Every dollar goes directly toward meeting hunger needs.  The Cooperative Program covers all administrative costs.  Eighty percent of funds are directed toward International causes and 20 percent focus on North America.  In 2020, 14 million meals were provided in North America, and nearly $3.5 million helped feed more than 600,000 people across the world.

These numbers certainly indicate the work has been successful.  However, until every person across the world has enough food, we dare not claim success.  Our church’s involvement will make a hole in someone's darkness of hunger.

Hunger banks were distributed on Sunday, June 3rd and will be returned on Sunday, August 25th.