Day 5 and Week In Review

After Friday’s final VBS session, everyone enjoyed a hot dog cookout in the parking lot of 17th St. Baptist Church. The 30+ children, parents, Broaddus team members, and other folks from the community who walked over feasted while continuing to getting to know each other. Even Officer Rogers from the Roanoke PD joined the fun!

The two WMU Updraft teams, Bruington and Beulah, again helped out with the food ministry at Baptist Community Center. After a visit to Target, they went over to the Baptist Friendship House where they met five youth from the community.

The three groups played volleyball and soccer before enjoying a pizza dinner. Even though they only spent 3 hours together, they traded phone numbers and email addresses as they left.

I will try to post a couple of detailed reflections in the coming days, but my immediate thoughts are thus:

• There is no doubt in my mind that God is doing great things in both Southeast and Southwest Roanoke. We encountered Him multiple times, often when we least expected.
• All three groups were simply awesome. We never heard a complaint – their spirit and generosity were tremendous. The three “B” churches made an indelible mark that will remain at both centers for a long time to come.
• I was impressed by the stories of how all three churches came to drive over three hours to serve in Roanoke for a week. All of them had leaders that said “we need to serve” – and they did. Much like Abraham who simply obeyed and went where God told him to go, these groups obeyed and followed Him here.
• The community surveys the two Updraft teams conducted were very effective. They revealed a lot about the communities that I did not realize. August will be a “feet on the street” month where I will try to recruit youth and mission groups to help us walk the communities and meet the folks we are called to serve.
• Working 80 hours in five days requires lots of Mountain Dew, a willing spirit, and God’s strength. After a week like that, I wish there were more hours in the day to work with these groups.

This coming week our very own Ridgewood Baptist Church’s youth group will help lead an afternoon sports camp at Baptist Community Center.

Speaking of sports camps, if your youth group is interested in helping us lead a couple of evening sports camps for the Baptist Friendship House in August, please contact us. We need to be in front of the community more and reach the area children. These would be twice a week. I hope to find 4 youth groups to cover August.

Enjoy these pictures from Friday!

God is definitely moving…

Everyone’s starting to feel the effects of running 110% for 13 hours a day 4 days straight. Where Mountain Dew fails us, God is seeing us through. Great things are happening at your mission centers – God is definitely moving in Roanoke.

Last night’s sports camp saw five children come and play with the youth from Beulah and Bruington. Pat and I are going to try to offer more evening sports camps later this summer as they seem to be a success. (hint hint youth ministers… a youth group would be great to lead these.)

Broaddus’s team has conducted an amazing Vacation Bible School. Close to 30 children attended today. The children enjoy rotations of craft time, recess, a Bible story, and snack.

Their construction teams are very efficient and generous. The roofers look to be finished while the shed has nicely taken shape. What a blessing they have been to us.

This morning, Beulah and Bruington’s groups ministered to those coming for the food ministry at Baptist Community Center. The teens spoke to the folks waiting in line, helped serve the food and helped carry the food for them back to their vehicles.

During the afternoon they sanded and painted the bench and picnic tables at the Baptist Community Center. After dinner, they came to Baptist Friendship House to conduct a community survey in Old Southwest.

We split them up into two groups. In all, we spoke with about 15 households. Both groups definitively experienced God during their walk. In one example, while my group was finishing a survey with one woman on her porch, another woman walked by on the sidewalk. We spoke with her and one of her nephews. It turns out that she just met her 10 and 12 year old nephews yesterday. She has been estranged from his mother for twenty years, but now her sister is facing a terminal illness.

While trying to get to know her nephews, she has to figure out how to take care of them and her own children on a limited budget. She was nearly overcome when we explained that the Friendship House was just a couple blocks away and could help her family out. In addition to giving her a flyer, we exchanged information so we can follow up with her and find ways to support them.

Another man remarked about Old Southwest that he enjoyed the diversity of the people between their nationalities, races, and economic classes within the neighborhood. He said “that’s what heaven looks like, so shouldn’t we try to copy that?” Amen.

God is here in Roanoke in Old Southwest and in Southeast – we need to be here too. There are so many people here that need to know His love – the staff at the Baptist Mission Centers need help to represent Him to our neighbors.

The three “B” churches are all here!

With the arrival of the mission team from Beulah Baptist Church (Aylett, Va) joining Bruington (King and Queen County) and Broaddus Memorial (Hanover County), all three teams are in place. Beulah and Bruington have paired up for the week and will participate in various projects together.

Tuesday, Bruington prepared the meal for the ladies at Baptist Friendship House, scrubbed the kitchens and painted the picnic tables. Beulah’s team joined them to host a sports camp at Baptist Community Center Tuesday evening.

Broaddus Memorial’s team unexpectedly blessed Baptist Community Center by beginning to build a new shed. We will be able to keep maintenance equipment separate from playground toys. Praise God for another prayer answered!

The roof at 17th St Baptist is moving right along. While the roofers were hard at work, Broaddus Memorial’s VBS team enjoyed 15 children Tuesday morning.

After a long day of activities, all three teams retired back up to Ward Haven at about 9:00pm. Let me tell you, Ward Haven is a fun place to be this week. All three teams have an incredible spirit to them. Though the days are long and the work is hard, their selflessness and dedication are to be admired and appreciated.

Wednesday Bruington and Beulah will take our Friendship House teen shopping at Target for new clothes. Our final count is $150, but the two teams have indicated that they will help pitch in once we get to the store.

Please pray for the communities and people we are trying to serve. Please pray for God’s strength for when we get weary. Please praise God for all the great work He is doing in this Valley.

Please enjoy these pictures from the first two days of this week!

Busy, busy, busy!

Today marked the beginning of a very busy week! Broaddus Memorial Baptist Church arrived Sunday from Mechanicsville, Va. They began a Bible School for the Baptist Community Center children this morning. There were not as many children today than before in previous weeks, but we believe the amount will pick up.

Additionally, Broaddus is blessing our neighbors, 17th Street Baptist Church, with a new roof. They will begin the project and another team in a few weeks will finish it.

In other news, so far we have over $130 towards clothes for a Friendship House teen girl. We hope to go shopping this Wednesday afternoon at Target. Our goal is $200, but $130 is a fantastic start.

Through the WMU of Virginia Updraft mission program, two smaller teams from Bruington Baptist Church and Beulah Baptist Church outside Richmond will be helping out this week. They will be volunteering at the food ministry, with the ladies programs, at the Rescue Mission, and with the youth at Baptist Friendship House.

God is really moving at the centers. Contact us to learn more how you can join Him here in downtown Roanoke!

Summer ’09: Week 2

What a great week so far at the Baptist Mission Centers. Monday started with Baptist Community Center children headed off to the joint RVBA WMU/Lakeside Baptist children’s morning camp at Ward Haven. Meanwhile, Baptist Friendship House youth enjoyed a long but great day at Kings Dominion along with a group from Virginia Heights Baptist.

The children’s camp has been great. Separated by age groups, the children have enjoyed worship, Bible stories, puppets, crafts, recreation, and lunch. Overall about 60 kids have attended the camp each day.

Today the youth from Friendship House got out of bed early to go hiking at the Cascades. After stopping for a quick breakfast, we climbed the two miles up to the waterfall in a little over an hour. After about 25 minutes, the students were ready to get out of the freezing water and begin feeling their extremities.

Our devotion centered around Romans 5:1-5:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we^* have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access^* to this grace in which we stand; and we^* boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we^* also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

After utilizing the “suffering” of climbing up the hill along with the waterfall as a metaphor for God’s grace and love, we were back on our way down the mountain.

Next week the centers will be closed, but a couple things will still be happening. Some of the Community Center children will begin their swim assessments while others will go to a week-long camp. Prayers for us as we prep the ministries and buildings for the remainder of the summer would be appreciated.

It’s Summertime at the Mission Centers

Just like many churches, we here at the mission centers have launched into summer with full-force. We are so excited about everything happening this summer. Stay tuned to our website for real-time updates via our Twitter feed (see below in the right column) and our current needs (directly to the right).

There are so many things for which to be thankful:

• Berryville Baptist Church traveling over 3 hours and staying all week to lead an awesome Vacation Bible School for the children at Baptist Community Center. Their dedication to serving God along with their willingness and flexibility to work with these children is remarkable.
• Everyone who organized and ran the Rosalind Hills Baptist Church Children’s Camp at Camp Alta Mons this week.  While twenty-two children attended the Berryville VBS, we had 13 attend Alta Mons. One child remarked that he had never been in the woods and loved it.
• Our food ministry volunteers. The needs in our communities are so great. These volunteers serve dozens of people every day, six times each week.
• The successful restart of the youth ministry at Baptist Friendship House. We average 6 for our twice-weekly “Open House”. We are so happy to provide them a refuge from their not-so-great homelives and minister to both their spiritual and physical needs.
• For a local dentist who will help one of our youth suffering from a terrible toothache for free. This particular dentist is most definitely an answer to prayer.
• The hiring of a new Ministry Assistant at Baptist Friendship House, Lairen Taylor.

Here are some pictures from our children’s end-of-school cookout at Baptist Community Center. See if you can spot our student photographer!

Friendship House Youth at Virginia Heights

I was very proud of our youth as they, along with the Virginia Heights youth group and Sanctuary choir, presented “Shout To The Lord” last Sunday. The choir sang while the youth presented a creative movement to the song.

We are starting up activities for the youth at the Friendship House this summer. We’re working towards a weekly movie/hangout night, a Bible study, and fun activities such as hiking, bowling, etc.

Enjoy this short video containing pictures of their last rehearsal just before the 11:00 service. (Pictures by Donna St. Clair, mother of one of our youth.)

Introducing Videos!

Especially as we go into the summer, look for more video to show up on the site. To help facilitate our videos, we began a new YouTube channel!

Today we’re featuring two videos. The first is of Tyrone at the Baptist Community Center After School Ministry jumping on a pogo-stick. Yes, that Tyrone.    Bear in mind that he had been jumping for a couple minutes before recording the video.

The second video is of students from the Baptist Friendship House, along with the students of the Virginia Heights Baptist Church youth group, practicing the creative movement for “Shout To The Lord”. They will present the song along with the choir Sunday, June 7.

Enjoy!

Charging towards summer!

It’s hard to believe, but summer is just around the corner!  This week we are wrapping up our After-School Ministry at the Community Center.  We will use next week to clean the centers and prepare them for Camp Opportunity 2009.

God is doing so many great things here at the centers!

• We have upgraded our technology to better tell our story through pictures and video.
• The children have done several projects including planting tomato plants.
• A couple of youth volunteers have been recruited to help out some this summer.
• Friendship House youth will present a creative movement Sunday, June 7th at Virginia Heights Baptist Church.
• They also attended an energetic and spirit-filled worship service last Friday led by Craig Tackett and the Jonathan Project.
• Registration for our summer programs have begun; the weeks are filling up quick!

Even as the summer begins, we are always looking forward. We are trying new ways to connect volunteers with the centers.  Two of our biggest needs this fall are:

• A team leader for each day of the week for our After-School Ministry. The team leader will assist us in recruiting 10-12 volunteers for the team, with the goal of having at least four volunteers at the Community Center each week. The team leader will then handle the scheduling of volunteers on their team for their designated day of the week.  Pat would then benefit by knowing that there is a deep pool of volunteers to help support her in her ministry. She would also benefit by not having to manage the volunteer schedule.
• Teams of churches to help provide meals once a month for the Ladies Bible Club at the Friendship House.  Currently we need one team for the 1st Thursday and one for the 4th Thursday. In the past, WMU circles have helped, but anyone or any group can volunteer.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Call for lunches

There is are two weeks one week this summer where we need churches to volunteer to prepare lunches for 60-70 volunteers and children.

The weeks are June 15-19 and is July 6-10.  All we’re asking is for each church to pick a day to help out.  Currently one church is signed up for the 9th.

We’re thinking that a sandwich, bag of chips, a small dessert, and possibly a piece of fruit would suffice.  We would provide drinks.

Please pray about it and call Nathan at 343.5437 or on his cell at 266.3226.

Thanks!

« Previous Page — Next Page »