Please pray…
Today we’ve received news that two people very closely connected to the Baptist Friendship House are very sick and have a lot of medical needs. Please pray for comfort, for strength, for healing, and that God’s presence will be felt as these two families journey through these difficult times.
If you feel so led to help beyond prayer, please contact myself, Nathan, at 632.2632. At this time, cards for one family especially would be appreciated. For privacy reasons, please call me for the name and where to send them.
Thank you so much.
BMC Update
Well, no news means busyness at the Mission Centers! We certainly have been busy during October. We extend a big “Thank You” to those who donated their time, goods, and money to help these critical ministry needs in the city.
1. We hired a second Ministry Assistant at Baptist Community Center: Frazier Doran. Frazier will focus on the After School Ministry and help Pat and Janie provide a high-quality program. We’re so excited that she’s onboard!
2. We found a dentist. Thank you all who helped us look.
3. Angel Food box sponsorships keep rolling in. Thank you so much for your continued support. Right now we’re providing 9 boxes each month. At $30 a piece, we need $270 a month. So far that goal has been met. The food is very much appreciated, and most importantly, it’s needed. Your $30 provides tremendous help and blessing.
If you are interested in helping, please send cash or check (made out to RVBA) to 635 Elm Ave., SW, Roanoke, VA 24016. If you have any questions, please call Nathan White at 540 632 2632, or read our original post about this ministry.
4. The Mission Centers and 17th Street Baptist Church have entered into a partnership to collectively strengthen our ministries to the Southeast Roanoke community. We are presently working through the details, but already we have held a Free Clothes Market as part of our Apple Butter Festival.
5. We had a great time at our Baptist Community Center Apple Butter Festival. Over 70 people came and participated. The Roanoke Fire Department came and helped out as well. We’re so thankful for all the donations we received. It was neat to see the community come together and experience something new.
Enjoy the pictures below!
More about our After-School Ministry
Our committee and staff sat down this summer to process the lessons we learned from last year’s program. We discovered we have several challenges: We want to meet the needs of the community as best as we can, but to do so, we need more volunteers.
The age-old “quality versus quantity” conundrum entered our thinking. So, this year we have capped enrollment by both age and size. This allows us to better target our ministry while not being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. We learned that chaos has its own set of limitations.
Initial reviews seem to be positive. So far, we have:
- more volunteers than last year
- more effective ministry
- less behavior problems
However, even with more than last year, we still need volunteers. If you can only give an hour once a month, you can still help! We need help with:
- homework. Do you know how to add and subtract? Do you know your shapes? Yes? Then you are qualified!
- snacks. Can you pour lemonade or put spaghetti in a bowl? Yes? Then you are qualified for that!
- recess. Can you twirl a jump rope or push a swing? Can you blow a whistle? Yes? Wow, then you are qualified for that as well!
If you can help lead an arts & crafts project, tutor spanish, or teach a musical skill, we would like to offer special-enrichment activities for the children. Can you play a guitar? They love that! Just about any gift God gave you can be used to enrich these children’s lives.
Also, we need volunteers to work with our middle-schoolers. Because of limitations on space and resources, we have not been able to provide a program for them. They arrive about 4:00 or so. They need supervision for a snack and then help with homework. If you feel called to help with them, please let us know.
If you feel like you could spare an hour or two every week or month, please call our Director, Nathan, at 540.632.2632 for more information.
Great start to the school year
Forgive us for the lack of updates. We have been a bit busy relaunching our after school ministries at each center.
At the Baptist Community Center, we have restructured the program to reduce the potential for chaos and allow us to offer more effective ministry. Pat has made good connections with the local school’s administration and the program is starting to garner an excellent reputation in Southeast. We currently have a waiting list – once we are able to count on more volunteers we will be able to open up the program to a few more kids.
The after-school ministry at Baptist Friendship House is progressing slowly but surely. We are trying to reach out to the community and let them know we’re here. We are optimistic and pray that we will be able to meet our community’s needs.
Another reminder about Angel Food Box sponsorship: If you or your small group would like to sponsor a monthly food box to feed one of our families for a week, please call Nathan at 632.2632.
Who says Fridays are slow?
What a great way to gear up for the fall! Today has been the busiest Friday since I began service here at the mission centers. We started at 8am to go shopping at Sams Club to buy food for ladies in our Ladies Bible Club at Baptist Friendship House.
After sorting through the food, we again went out to Walmart to buy paint for our new youth room. The youth were hoping for a nice black color – it kinda turned out purple.
While they were painting, the ladies came to pick up their food. Our volunteers from Lynnhaven Baptist Church also stopped by to cut the grass.
Next week we’re restarting our after-school ministries. If you can spare an hour each month, we would love to have your help in tutoring these children with their homework. Just a little time, attention, and love will pay dividends in their life for years to come.
Make-up Volunteer Orientation September 2
For those that could not make it to last week’s volunteer training sessions, we have schedule a makeup session. Mark your calendars for next Wednesday, September 2.
We will meet at Baptist Community Center (corner of 17th and Wise Ave, SE) from 9:00am to 1:00pm.
Please bring a bag lunch if you desire. We will provide drinks.
We hope to see you there!!
Bike Day!
Yesterday, the Roanoke City Police Crime Prevention unit came to the Baptist Community Center.
Children were allowed to bring their bikes for ID engraving for easy identification in case of theft. The children were divided into two groups and learned about bicycle safety.
Each child was given a police shield sticker to wear. They were also allowed to sit on a special surprise – a police motorcycle. Overall, 23 children participated in the program.
Baptist Mission Centers wishes to thank the Roanoke City Police Department for a great program.
Enjoy the pictures (thanks Brittany!)
Reminder: Volunteer Training is coming up
We’ve spoken with several volunteers already about this, but for those who don’t know, we have volunteer training August 17 and 18 at the Community Center from 9-12 for our after-school ministry. We have outside consultants coming in to help us learn how to improve the ministry. Call Pat at 342.8452 to sign up.
Mark your calendars!
Final total of funds for teen girl – wow!
After I got back in the office yesterday I found two more checks that had arrived in the mail. We raised just a shade over $400, more than double than I hoped!
She has been shopping twice now. With this new money we will coordinate her exact needs with her guardian to schedule a third trip.
To all those that gave, thank you. To all those that continue to support the Mission Centers through your time, donations, and prayer, thank you.
God bless.
-Nathan
Sports And Arts Camp Week
Ridgewood Baptist Church’s youth are helping to lead a sports and art camp this week for the children at Baptist Community Center. The children play games outside for about 45 minutes or so. After a snack and devotion, they go inside to work on some sort of craft.
If your youth group would like to help lead 2 evening sports camps sometime next month for Baptist Friendship House area children, please let us know. They’re quite simple: play some games, enjoy a snack, lead a devotion, and love on them.
Yesterday afternoon, we took three youth from the Baptist Friendship House bowling. We played leaders versus youth – Team Old won 3 games to 1.
Enjoy pictures from the community center!
