Well the calendar has turned another month and we are one month closer to our November collection week. Your donations so far have been very generous. For the month of June we are asking for toothbrushes and small hair brushes. The Dollar Tree is the best place to purchase these items. There is a donation box in the Welcome Center for you to use. Please keep this ministry in your prayers as they continue to distribute shoeboxes to children around the world.
Now that school is out, we here at Helping Hands expect our requests for help to be even greater. Our clients are extremely grateful for the food and clothing items that they receive. Your donations of non-perishable food items, soap and toilet paper are always needed. We are also taking summer clothing donations on Tuesday’s only. This mission is a vital part of our outreach to the community and your support and prayers are appreciated.
We now have a blessing box located on the sidewalk on the college side of the building. This is for people who need it to come and get something to eat. This is all non-perishable non-cooking food items and bottled water. Your donations would be greatly appreciated. There is a box outside the pastor’s office for you to place your donations. Please keep these people and this ministry in your prayers.
by Pastor Doc Adkins
Psalm 30:1 “I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up…
I’m sure you are familiar with the expression “upsy daisy”. It’s a phrase I have heard most of my life and yet for whatever the reason it seems forever ever ago since I actually have heard it. But, the other day, I saw a grandmother with her little granddaughter or maybe even great granddaughter and the beautiful little gal evidently had just learned to walk. Actually, she was doing pretty well but, it wasn’t the walking that seem to be the challenging thing…it was the stopping. As soon as she stopped…down on her little bottom she went and immediately Grandma, in that Grandma assuring voice proclaimed, “upsy daisy”. And you know what? The beautiful little girl laughed out loud. You see “upsy daisy” is the phrase we use when we want to give encouragement to our children when they are learning to walk or when they’ve had a fall. It means “up you go”.
I think that God does the same with us. We go walking along in our Christian life and hit some bumps in the sidewalk or maybe we even fall into a big hole and God helps us up and says, “upsy daisy”.
He brushes us off and tells us everything is going to be okay.
It’s not fun when we are down and we find our lives turned upside down. It’s sometimes hard to see everything in the right perspective when we aren’t standing upright. But we have a God who cares about us and is there when we get down and He helps us up.
There are some great examples in the bible of some people who had some “upsy daisy” moments.
I think of Job first and foremost. I guess because when he went down, it was with such a sudden force and a big thud. Here he was, going through life so blessed by God and all of a sudden, Job was laid low.
So much happened to Job in such a short time but God was with him all the way and in the end said, “upsy daisy, Job”.
Job is such a great example to show that when we don’t see God, God still sees us.
It’s like when a toddler falls down and doesn’t see his mother because she’s out of site for a little bit while he’s lying on the ground after he’s fallen. It’s kind of scary. But then after a few moments when he sees the face of his mother and knows she’s there to help him up, he’s okay again.
Job might not have been able to see God but God could see Job and Job knew God was still there within reach. What’s worth remembering is that even though he couldn’t see God, Job still obeyed God.
Job 23:8-12 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
It’s so exciting to see how God said, “upsy daisy” to Job. The Lord had a way of showing Job that all was okay. God lifted up Job and put him upright on his feet once again and “the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).
And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and everyone an earring of gold.
Job 42:10-12a So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.
Conclusion:
Maybe you feel like your life has been turned over on its head and you are feeling the pressure of an “upsy daisy” moment. Just hold on. God knows you are down. He’s not far from you.
I know it’s hard to be thankful for those “upsy daisy” moments in our lives but don’t you just love the fact that it is God that does the “upsy” part. It is Him that lifts us up. It may be through several circumstances that work together but God has His hand working in all of it.
There has been many a moment that I’ve wondered why I’d been brought so low but those are the moments that I’ve seen God the closest and had to rely on His encouragement the most.
If I just look around for Him and listen to His voice I know He’s there even when I’m down and I know I can get through anything when I have Him with me.
God has that way of giving us His presence and saying, “upsy daisy”. It’s all going to be okay. You’ll get back on your feet again. Up you go!
So, are you thankful for your “upsy daisy” moments?
by Rev Robert A Wendel
In everything, do to others, as you would have them do to you. Matthew 7:12
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely. Hebrews 12:1
In the town where I grew up, Robert and Charles Livingston were a pair of brothers who delivered the daily newspaper to our town of six hundred. They did this for more than a decade and a half. Most of us took them for granted. The paper was always there, come rain or shine.
Recently I began to think about so many other service workers we hardly notice: garbage workers, mail carriers, garage mechanics, and even policemen and emergency workers. Through the years there have always been those workers in discount stores, restaurants, hospitals, swimming pools, and school classrooms. All of them serve the public well. As I moved into apartments, there were plumbers, electricians, painters, and electronic repair people.
One important lesson we all can learn is not to take such ordinary people for granted. A “Thank you” and an occasional cash tip might be appreciated.
One special person I remember meeting is Phil Coyne, who had been an usher for the Pittsburgh Pirates for eighty-one years, doing nothing more than showing people to their seats. Before his retirement, he became a legend among Pittsburgh sports fans, dying in April at age 102. His biggest achievement was the thousands of friends he made over the years. People can easily remember those around us who live out the Golden Rule.
“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa
Let the Walls Fall Down
Women’s Day 2021
Saturday, June 12, 2021
1:00-3:30 PM EDT
Get ready for Women’s Day! Come and gather with women and girls for worship and fellowship.
American Baptist Women’s Ministries (ABWM) is hosting our first Women and Girls’ Virtual Weekend on June 11-12, 2021. On Friday, June 11, 2021, at 8:00 PM EDT, ABWM hosts our first virtual Gala. We will begin with worship, our keynote speaker will be Rev. Dr. Cheryl Dudley, Regional Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York. Plan now to put on your dancing shoes and best disco swag as we celebrate the disco era in fellowship, music, and dance.
On Saturday, June 12, 2021, at 1:00 PM EDT, our biennial Women’s Day program will be held. Women and girls from across the country and Puerto Rico will gather via Zoom for Women’s Day. Our theme is “Let the Walls Fall Down/Derribando Las Barreras,” based on Ephesians 2:14 NIV. Special guests include Rev. Aracelis Vásquez Haye (keynote speaker), Linnita Hosten (keynote speaker for AB GIRLS), and Lauren Thomas-Moyett (music leader). When you register please sign up for community service.
Register today!
Click here to register. Registration fee is $50; $65 after May 1, 2021
More closer to home – our ladies are still collecting stamps for their mission project. They can be left in the church office. We are also continuing our Quarters for Weirton project. These quarters are given to the children in exchange for their good grades. This money can be given to Debbie Vanaman with the designation Quarters for Weirton.
I am sure our Backpack Kids are happy that they have only four more weeks of school. We currently have 21 children and will furnish food for them as long as the school requests.
Thanks to everyone who has supported our Backpack Ministry in any way. Due to your help we have been able to supply our children with healthy and delicious food. God bless each one of you.
Please pray that each of our children will have a safe and happy summer.
For the month of May please donate packets of oatmeal.
The mission of Helping Hands has been to lend a hand to those less fortunate by providing food and clothing. While the COVID virus has slowed down our clients, we continue to be here and serve the people of the city Beckley and Raleigh County. There is one thing (or maybe two things) that you can do to help. We are always in need of non—perishable food, toilet paper and bar soap. These items can be left in the back container outside the church office. More importantly we need volunteers to work both in the front office and also in the food room. We are open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 until noon. You will be blessed if you can spare one morning a week. See Edna Nasby and let her know when you can help. As always, please keep us in your prayers.
The Bible teaches us about sharing and that’s what this blessing box does. It allows us to share the blessings that God gives us in helping those less fortunate who are possibly living on the streets of our towns. What is being collected is bottles of water and non-perishable items that are ready to eat such as crackers, cookies, small jars of peanut butter and other individually packed snack items. A great place to shop for this is the Dollar Tree because everything there is literally a dollar and you get a lot for your dollar. There is a box located outside the Pastor’s Office for your donations.
Not even the COVID-19 virus can keep Samaritan’s Purse from sharing the good news of the name of Jesus to children around the world. Shoeboxes have been delivered to children by boat, plane, camel, elephant, horseback and whatever other means of transportation available for the area to distribute shoeboxes to remote towns and villages that may have never heard the name of Jesus Christ.
Closer to home your shoeboxes are a vital part of this ministry and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support over the years. We will never know how many lives have been impacted by the shoeboxes that are made and delivered. What a blessing this ministry is.
For the month of May, I’m going to make it very easy for you to support this effort. It doesn’t involve shopping. It doesn’t involve much thought at all. What I’m asking for is help to cover the shipping for the shoeboxes that we will be creating later this year. My goal is to collect enough to make 100 shoeboxes so 100 times $9.00 per box means I need $900 and no I don’t expect someone to just write a check for that amount. What I am asking for is if 100 people gave $9.00 that would cover it or if 50 people gave $18.00 that would accomplish the same thing. That might mean giving up one Sunday dinner after church to help spread the name of Jesus to a child and his family. That impact could grow from his or her family to towns and villages and help ignite the word of God literally around the world.
So, if you wish to help here’s all you need to do. Write a check to FBC and put shoeboxes in the memo line – that’s it (cash is always welcome too). And as always please keep this ministry in your prayers as we deal with the challenges of the times.