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Missions Opportunities for Praying, Going, and Giving
Call the church office 903-657-1646 for additional information.
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
A call to prayer: Every member of First Baptist Church is called upon to choose at least one of the following missions opportunities to pray for throughout 2014.
OPPORTUNITIES IN OUR ‘JERUSALEM’ (HENDERSON AND RUSK COUNTY)
*Local Missions & Ministry Team: Men and women taking care of the needs of our congregation and also our community.
*Restorative Justice Ministries: Opportunities for men and women to minister in a variety of ways to offenders inside the Rusk County Jail, the Bradshaw State Jail, and the East Texas Treatment Facility, and to ex-offenders upon their release.
*Christian Women’s Job Corps: Reaching women with biblical truth through free classes in Basic Life and Job Skills, English as a Second Language, and GED and literacy. A huge variety of volunteer needs. Classes offered on-site and at Son Shine Lighthouse in New London. FBC contact person: Christie Gambrell (CWJC, 903-655-1684 or 903-657-2410, Home).
*Christian Men’s Job Corps.Volunteer teachers and mentors helping men who are seeking employment or better employment through Bible study, Jobs for Life,personality profile and computer classes.
OPPORTUNITIES IN OUR ‘JUDEA AND SAMARIA’ (TEXAS AND THE USA)
*Refuge of Light.Tyler, TX, in connection with Buckner International: The mission of Refuge of Light is to provide a safe haven, redemptive rescue and restoration of female victims of domestic minor sex trafficking through advocacy, awareness and holistic care.
*Volunteer Christian Builders and Retired Volunteer Christian Builders: Men and women participating on teams for church-related construction and repair jobs.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR US ‘TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH’
*Bangladesh Mission Trip in partnership with GOSPEL FOR MUSLIMS (www.gospelformuslims.com): Gospel for Muslims (GFM) is a Christian organization dedicated to bringing hope to the 1.3 billion Muslims around the world by helping Muslims follow Christ.
*Embracing the Kohistanis: This people group in northern Pakistan has no Bible in its heart language and remains unreached with the gospel. In cooperation with the International Mission Board (IMB) we are partnering with PAK MISSION SOCIETY that ministers to the Kohistanis through a small medical clinic and through agricultural and hydroelectric projects. We are funding the translation and distribution of 27 Bible stories in the Shina dialect.
*Emmanuel Baptist Church, Lugansk, Ukraine: Partnership since 1993. Pray for their children, youth, and orphan ministries, as well as a ministry to homeless, street people, especially in the winter months. Help is needed for their food ministry.
*Equipping the Saints in six states of Ukraine: Six training institutes meeting in homes, equipping pastors/leaders.In 15 years 120 churches have come out of the work; there are 75 new preaching points/evangelizing groups. Pray for pastors and church leaders not to get discouraged. Pray for the leaders Anatoly Skirdin and Vlademiir Semonov.
*The Bucket Project of Baptist Global Response: The BGR Hospice Kit is a five-gallon bucket filled with medical and hygiene supplies that provide a touch of physical and spiritual healing to people in Africa who are dying from HIV/AIDS. (See www.gobgr.org or email bgrbuckets@gobgr.org or call 615-367-3678.)
*EMBRACE by East Texas Baptist Area churches: This is a way for us to participate with several local churches that are planning to jointly embrace one or two unengaged, unreached people groups (UUPGs)in Central and/or South America.
The Local Missions Ministry is comprised of volunteers that help with projects for church members & community members in need. This ministry also encourages Sunday School classes to “adopt” a person or family to help throughout the year.
Requests for projects can be given to the church office or you can contact the church office for more information.
Our mission is to advance the Lord’s Kingdom by assisting Bible-believing, teaching and practicing churches, encampments, seminaries and other institutions, especially in pioneer areas, by providing volunteer labor to construct buildings for worship and other Kingdom-building activities.
Volunteer Christian Builders invest more than their vacations and time in service to churches across the nation. This began in 1963 when a small church in Colorado asked a group of friends to come and help build a church building. It was much like the old-fashioned barn raising in pioneer days. Many church and retiree groups continue to go and assist numerous churches each year. That original group of half a dozen families has now grown to 800 families.
Volunteers of all ages and walks of life pitch in and do any type of manual labor they are asked to do. One common goal binds all volunteers together–a desire to help small financially challenged Southern Baptist congregations build a building they could not afford without volunteer labor.
This predominately Southern Baptist group is chartered as a non-profit organization in Texas and Louisiana. It is organized under a Board of Directors with officers located throughout the United States. All operating funds come from donations by individuals and churches.
Individuals bring their personal tools and pay their own expenses to each project. Many families stay in personal RVs usually on the church site. Others are invited into the homes of local congregations. Not only do the volunteers feel rewarded by knowing they have been of service, they have also made many lasting friendships.
Volunteer Christian Builders offers the opportunity to grow in Christ through fellowship and obedience to God’s call to missions. Volunteers travel short or long distances, working from one week to several months of the year.
Please contact Shannon Coats for more info at 903.646.7836 or sbcoats@gmail.com.
Each week volunteers lead a class of female inmates and a class of male inmates in the study of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Each class meets for seven weeks. First Baptist Church volunteers began this ministry in February of 2009.
Volunteers host Sunday School classes for male and female inmates and a Sunday service for male inmates. The men’s classes are held in both English and Spanish.
Contact Jackie Legg for more information.
MTC is looking for male veterans to train as a facilitator of a Veterans Peer Support Group. If interested, contact Michael Beck at 903 245 5110 or Michael.beck@mtctrains.com
First Baptist Church volunteers join with volunteers from various local churches to teach a weekly Bible study for male and female inmates. Volunteers also provide Sunday morning services for male inmates.
