By KRISTIN EASTERLING/FL Baptist Witness
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| SERVICE Debby Akerman, national WMU president and FamilyFEST volunteer from Ocean ViewBaptist Church in Myrtle Beach, S.C., served with Binghampton Community Church during a day camp for local children. She is assisting a young boy in sewing a pin on his new toboggan given to him by FamilyFEST volunteers WMU photo |
A Pensacola family reported a new awareness of the “mission field” that exists in each community—and opened their hearts towards other like-minded families they served with.
“FamilyFEST showed me the need out in the community that I normally do not see,” said Scott Miller, a missions volunteer from Point Baptist Church in Pensacola. “It opened up my heart.”
Miller, along with his wife, Valerie, and their three children ranging in age from 6-13, helped with backyard Bible clubs and community surveys throughout the week.
“FamilyFEST was an extremely positive experience for our family,” Valerie Miller shared. “It allowed us to minister as a family, meet and interact with other like-minded families, be fully focused on His work for one entire week, and truly made us realize that the ‘mission field’ is all around us.”
The Millers served with around 200 volunteers from 15 states who ministered at 11 different project sites. States represented by volunteers were: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.
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| EVANGELISM Brook Lovett, associate pastor of children and evangelism at Concord Baptist Church in Calera, Ala., was one of 200 volunteers who joined together in Memphis to share the love of Christ. WMU photo |
Sharing the Love of Christ
“It was such a wonderful week, seeing people from all over, working side-by-side, and serving God’s people in Memphis,” reflected Cathy Chinn, regional coordinator for MRM. “It is a very unchurched area, and we are looking for creative ways to share the gospel.
“FamilyFEST was a week of people doing just that,” Chinn continued. “It was exciting to see various groups sharing God’s love in so many ways!”
Randy Pool of MRM of Tennessee added that FamilyFEST was a tremendous boost for several ministry sites in the Memphis area. According to Pool, some established works were enhanced by the presence of the volunteers while others were new church plants trying to make an impact in their community.
For example, Fayette Baptist Church is a new church plant in Memphis. The church was not yet open to the public during FamilyFEST, but FamilyFEST volunteers from the Boones Creek Baptist Association in Kentucky helped Fayette Baptist get their ministry started.
“We were asked to take information about the church and gospel tracts door-to-door for most of the week,” shared Todd Rader, a volunteer from Ephesus Baptist Church in Kentucky. “Two of our ladies baked over 300 cookies and we distributed them to local businesses. One morning we volunteered at a local thrift store. There have already been several individuals and families that have expressed interest in the church as a result of our outreach efforts.”
National WMU President Debby Akerman of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was among the volunteers and said, “The thought that comes to my mind and heart as I reflect on my week at
FamilyFEST is ‘immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.’ More than a thought, it is Paul’s prayer for God’s work through us for His glory.”
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| EVANGELISM Brook Lovett, associate pastor of children and evangelism at Concord Baptist Church in Calera, Ala., was one of 200 volunteers who joined together in Memphis to share the love of Christ. WMU photo |
Bonnie Draper, FamilyFEST volunteer and youth director at Landover Hills Baptist Church in Landover Hills, Md., said, “Some of the children thought they had to pay for popcorn and snow cones at the block parties. We were able to tell them the food was free, but more importantly shared the free gift of Jesus Christ coming into their lives. We know of four that prayed to receive Christ and others were open to listening.”
During the week, teams also assembled and distributed more than 1,000 hygiene kits in the Memphis area.
Beyond FamilyFEST
FamilyFEST volunteers came to be blessing to the community, but were blessed themselves as the prayers of the coordinators were answered, and then some.
“FamilyFEST not only had an impact on the community but on the volunteers as well,” said Denise Bronaugh, adult ministry and communication specialist for Tennessee WMU. “That was evidenced at the celebration
dinner that was held on the last night of our week. From the 70-year-old man who confessed that this was his first missions trip to the 6-year-old who was excited she got to tell someone about Jesus, you could sense that their lives had been changed as well. Most volunteers said they wanted to go home and make an impact in their own community with what they learned at FamilyFEST.”
“God honored the fact that families came together to work in different neighborhoods of Memphis to share Jesus Christ,” said Sherry Hall, director of the Mid-South Baptist Association WMU. Since FamilyFEST ended, Hall said four groups of volunteers have already made plans to return in the spring and summer of 2013.
“Every church should be involved in a family-oriented mission trip,” said Brook Lovett, associate pastor of children and evangelism at Concord Baptist Church in Calera, Ala. “FamilyFEST created a passion in our church for the work we need to do [at home] in Calera. It made our church family and the families in our church healthier and stronger.”
FamilyFEST in Memphis was a partnership between national WMU, Tennessee WMU, Mississippi River Ministry (MRM), and the Mid-South Baptist Association.
Kristin Easterling is a senior at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala. She served as an intern last summer at national WMU on the Corporate Communication Team.
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