First of all, thank you so very much to all of you who shopped for Christmas presents for our backpack children. They were very excited to receive their presents and I’m sure it meant the world to them. For the month of January, we will be collecting cans of Vienna sausages. They can be left on the back counter in the kitchen. Please keep these children in your prayers.
by Debbie Vanaman
When all was said and done, our relay center had a record year. With the state of the economy here in Southern West Virginia, I expected our numbers to be somewhat down from last year’s total of 2,958 which incidentally was all-time high for our relay. Well, that was so not true. The total number of shoeboxes collected from churches, schools, businesses and individuals was 3,103 shoeboxes!
Yep, that’s right. It was up, and up quite a bit. But it would not run as smoothly as it did without the help of a great group of volunteers who manned “Shoebox Center” in the Welcome Center that week. You guys and gals were great. And let’s not forget the Saturday morning loading crew who loaded 185 cartons in under an hour. A truly awesome task.
As the time creeps ever closer to Christmas Day, just remember children around the world who during the coming months will receive a shoebox filled with a toy or a stuffed animal, pencils, crayons and other personal items. Some of these children have never received a gift before and imagine the looks on their faces when those boxes are opened and these items are shared. They also will receive a booklet called “The Greatest Journey” which tells them about Jesus and how they can accept Jesus into their heart.
Just remember – it all starts with one shoebox and you can help change the world one shoebox at a time. Stay tuned for some shoebox changes in 2016.
The Christmas season is finally here and our kids are ready!
We will be continuing our bible study, Not a Fan, throughout December. So in order to have plenty of time for study and a month-long celebration, all Sunday evening events will begin at 5:30 pm.
Here’s what we have planned:
December 5th: Our kids will support the Agape Sunday School Class by participating in the Beckley Christmas Parade.
December 6th: It’s our second annual gingerbread house decorating contest. Prizes will be awarded!
December 13th: We will enjoy great music while we create a Christmas craft in time for gift-giving.
December 20th: Our kids will participate in a potluck dinner and gift exchange ($5 maximum).
We are so excited for Christmas! Please encourage your family, friends and neighbors to join us!
PS: To kick off the New Year, we are planning a party on Sunday, January 17th with movies, food and games.
by Rev Robert A Wendel
Every Christian knows that Christmas is for celebrating. Celebrating the gift of God’s Son to us. For us. “The Son of God has come, Light has entered the world. A Savior is here and our sins are forgiven.” (John 8:12)
What a grand reality. In the midst of all the sad, distressing news coming across the wires and internet these days. Just when our nights are the longest and our days seem filled with problems and too much pain, we are reminded again that God’s own Son came to earth to live and die among us.
We rejoice because Heaven-sent joy came to earth. We give gifts because the grandest One has been given to us. We feast because the Bread of Life has been provided. We sing carols because all the earth must hear those bright melodies again.
Still, amid all the brightness, our souls remain in death’s shadow. The power of human failure to stain the soul with sin is inescapable. Defeat and darkness continue to shade tomorrow’s horizons. The burden of our guilt leaves ridges in the mind which clouds the soul making it hard to gain confidence enough to look for tomorrow’s sunlight.
As we light candles this Christmas Eve, let’s you and I ask our mighty and loving Savior to dispel these shadows. As we lift our voices to sing carols, let’s praise the One who came to break the back of condemnation and restore our union with the Almighty Creator, to enable us to become all we were meant to be, children of our glorious Father. (John 3:17).
As we move through this Yuletide, join me in a duel declaration: “We receive your Light, Lord Jesus – purge our souls and let us live in your light. We will share Your Light – having so freely received your Love, we will share it with family, friends and strangers, in this blessed Holy Season. Heaven’s Light has come and the darkness will never be the same!”
The Food We Have Provides a Blessing: Our gentlemen will share in yet another breakfast at 8:00 am on Saturday, December 12th. Area Minister Jim Anderson will share WV/ABC information and inspiration.
Special thanks to all who provided and shared in our Fall Harvest Dinner and to everyone who gave to our Helping Hands food drive – many blessings !!!
by Joyce Mills
If the little voice in the stomach of 22 kids who get backpacks every Friday could be heard talking, this might be what we would hear. Those of you reading this probably have no clue what it is really like to be hungry. I have no clue what it’s like to be really hungry! Neither can I imagine a young child being really hungry! Living in this country, no child should have this hungry feeling for food. However, due to the various situations that happen in families, the research tells us that 1 out of 5 children is hungry. How very sad!
Our church family has been asked by school staff if we could help with Christmas for these same kids. It is one thing to be hungry for real food – it is another thing to know that Christmas is coming and that Santa is probably not going to visit. How can these same 22 children have much excitement or joy in thinking about Christmas?
Thanks to those who attended the November Business Meeting of the Church and voted to help these students in another way besides food. Again, because of a caring church and loving members, the Backpack Kids will certainly have a Merry Christmas. Thank YOU! AND, a Very Merry Christmas to YOU!
The one thing you could donate in December would be the individual pudding cups. Any flavor will work! Just put it on the back counter in the kitchen and know that every cup is appreciated.
by Norma Gunter
Ladies, we have a challenge. Ten women from West Virginia Baptist have accepted the call to go on a mission trip to the Philippines in February. They are going to SHARE & LIVE OUT the GOSPEL among Filipino women caught in prostitution.
The women will be working with Debbie Mulneix, one of the missionaries FBC partners with each month. Debbie supports the anti-human trafficking work of Samaritana Transformation Ministries in Manila, the Philippines. She assists in the development of the Guest House facilities and in the marketing of livelihood products, such as jewelry, and greeting cards.
SMT provides a safe, comforting place for these women. These women may have never known people who accept them as they are. Samaritana assists these women as they develop many relationships that will last a lifetime. To learn more about Samaritana check out www.samaritana.org.
The challenge is to sponsor an event at our church to raise $100 toward the cost of the trip for your sisters in Christ and ministry supplies. Believe me mission trips are expensive for it took me a while to pay off my trip in January to Costa Rica. By the way, thank you to the ones who helped me with my trip.
Since sponsoring an event costs a lot of money may I suggest that anyone who would like to help us meet this challenge give a donation with a check made out to FBC and mark it for the Philippines Mission Trip. When we meet the challenge the money will to be sent to Linda Carpenter, Treasurer, 63 Wakefield Place, Washington, WV 26181. Be in prayer for these ten women and Debbie Mulneix. It takes special people to do this work for our Lord.
Most of you have heard Lauren Bethel, who spoke at our church October 27th and several other times, who is a Global Consultant on Anti-human trafficking. She travels the world and on Nov. 22-28 she will be at the ICAP/Central Asia Conference in Central Asia, and several other conferences in Dec., sharing Jesus’ Hope and Healing. Lauren is another missionary that FBC partners with every month. Remember our missionaries in prayer.
MISSION CHALLENGE TO ALL WOMEN came from the WV ABW Mission and Service Ministries.
by Doc Adkins
“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” Luke 2:16 (NIV)
“Hurry up! We’re going to be late to the choir concert!”
“Come on kids. Help me unload these groceries right now. I’ve got to get a lot of stuff done before bedtime.”
“Who stocks this stupid store, anyway?”
“Is it 6 a.m. already? I gotta get to that door buster sale as soon as it opens so I don’t miss out on the deals!”
With the holiday season upon us, the music at the mall announces that folks are dreaming of a white Christmas. That may be true. But in reality, many of us are dreaming of something else white: a little more white space on our December calendars!
Pageants. Parties. Shopping trips. Baking days. Wrapping nights. Extra hours of work. At every turn there are people to see, things to do, stuff to buy. The hustle and bustle of this supposed-to-be-happy season can knock the holly-jolly right out of our holidays and replace it with hurried-up headaches instead.
As a result, our calendars become overloaded, crowding out the spiritual significance of the season.
I wonder if the participants in the original Christmas story ever dreamed that the celebration of Christ’s birth would become so hassled and hurried. The shepherds? The angels? The wise men? Mary and Joseph too? Was hurriedness present the night Jesus was born? We might think that it was not. But actually, there was hurry present that night. However, it wasn’t to the mall or grocery store that people were rushing.
The shepherds were working in the fields when suddenly an ensemble of angels told them the Christ Child had been born. Luke 2:16 says they hurried off to find Him lying in a manger. If I had been one of those shepherds, I would have been quiet and amazed once I got there. Being around a newborn baby makes me speak in a hushed tone and feel such awe as I see new life. In the presence of Jesus I wonder if those men too were settled and silent.
Maybe we could do the same today. In the midst of our holiday hustle and tasks, we could stop; leave our work. We could slow down long enough to hurry in another direction. We could put a few minutes on hold so we might quietly meet with our Lord. We could be settled and silent in the presence of Jesus.
As a result we just might discover an unhurried holiday: a season that will strengthen us spiritually instead of sapping our energy and joy.
How about it? Will we pause to enter into His presence instead of rushing from task to task? Would we linger long enough to be refreshed by the company of the One whom the holiday is really about? The tasks will wait while we do. Here’s to more “white space” this Christmas; space that creates more room in our days for meeting with Jesus!
What activities and responsibilities threaten to make you rushed and stressed at the holidays?
Pull away from the holiday hustle and spend time with Jesus is to many unthinkable, but it is so very necessary.
Luke 2:15, “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'” (NIV)
Proverbs 8:17, “I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.”
by Norma Gunter
Ladies if you missed the 132nd Women’s Day at the West Virginia Baptist Convention at the First Baptist Church of Hurricane, WV you missed a special occasion. Jeff Oakland drove the church bus and we want to thank him.
The meeting started with Mark Burdette playing the bagpipes for the banner processional. Joyce Mills brought our banner made by Mary Nell Godbey and it hung on the wall with many other church banners. The music was great and the lunch exceptional.
Two of our WV supported missionaries spoke about their work. Rhonda Reed told of her families work in Bolivia and Debbie Myers told of their work in Mexico.
The book with the women honored in the MILLION WOMEN MOVEMENT was presented to the group. The money collected, $1.00 for each name honored, is to be used for new work. The first project for 2015 was three scholarships for a Mexican Missionary trip. Jordan Lallemont, a recipient of the scholarship, gave a report on the trip. Later I looked in the book and found my mother’s name, one of the ones I honored.
Claudia and Tom Tull presented special music on dulcimers and a skit, “Light of the Storage Closet” was given by the women. The meeting closed with a video by Kathy Troccoli “Go Light Your World” and each lady was given a candle to show her light.
We learned of new things scheduled for us. April 1-3, 2016 is a Women’s Camp for women 18 and older at Camp Cowen for $35. The camp is to unite generations of women to experience a weekend focused on living life as a Christian woman. Ladies let’s get together and go to the camp. Everyone loves camp.
Another opportunity is a bus trip sponsored by the West Virginia Baptist Convention to the World Mission Conference at Green Lake, Wisconsin. Ladies I’ve been there twice and it’s worth the trip. The trip is July 3-9, 2016. The first deposit is due January 15, 2016. This is open to anyone who loves missions.
Our cancelled stamps for missions is ongoing. I mailed a 5.8 oz package October 6 to Fort Myers, Florida. Remember to leave 1/4” around the stamps for damage stamps are of no value. May God bless the women of Beckley First Baptist.
by Debbie Vanaman
More than 15 years ago, FBC partnered with Samaritans Purse and got involved in Operation Christmas Child for the first time. Hundreds and thousands of shoeboxes have been collected during that time and for that I am truly grateful. These children, most of whom have never had a present before in their lives, received a shoebox filled with school supplies, small toys and hygiene items. Many of them had to wait in line for what seemed like hours for a young child just to receive this box. The joy and smiles on their faces as you see pictures of boxes being distributed will melt your heart. With every shoebox that is given out, the word of Jesus goes with it to that child’s home and eventually to their village or town that they live in. This also has an impact on the families who often have never heard of Jesus and ultimately through their child, give their hearts and lives over to Jesus. Yes it takes a bit of time and some money, but the reward is immeasurable. Just one shoebox in one small town halfway around the world can have an extremely positive impact.
Collection week this year is November 16th through 20th. This is when shoeboxes from churches and organizations in our community return their shoeboxes to be packed in cartons and start their journey. Helpers are needed during that week but also on Saturday, Nov. 21st when these cartons have to be loaded and taken to Princeton. The time for this is not definite – so keep an eye on the church bulletin for that info.
As always, I ask you to keep this program in your prayers throughout 2016 as the shoeboxes are delivered around the world. Remember – it’s a simple shoebox but it has the power to change the world through your gift.
With the winter months quickly approaching, we’ve started a program called “Pack the Pulpit”. During the month of November, we are asking for non-perishable food items and new blankets which will be distributed by Helping Hands to be placed in the sanctuary on the stage around the pulpit. Our goal is to pack the pulpit so much that Pastor Adkins has to preach on the floor on November 22nd, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Please consider lending a hand so that others will be warm and have enough to eat this winter.