Title: Informational Meeting February
Location: Botsford Baptist Church (825 Botsford Church Rd, Waynesboro)
Description: We held our FIRST monthly meeting this Thursday for the Glade Springs and Central Baptist Mission Teams -  everyone was invited, especially those supporting from back home who want to be “in the know” how they can help. Below are the MINUTES OF THE MEETING.

Contact Stephanie Cooler Scott if you have questions.

Meeting was opened in prayer by Brother Matt Shryock, Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Alexander, GA

When are we going this year? July 11 – 18 (Saturday to Saturday)

Where will we be serving? Matoaka, War, Glade Springs, and Central – we are 99% sure we will add on Anawalt this year. We will also have a Construction Team and an Evangelism Team visiting every site.  We discussed the positive results at several W Va churches who have grown!

Where will we be living? We will live at Bluefield College, staying in the dorms. The traditional dorm room consists of 2 bedrooms with a bath in the middle, two single beds in each bedroom. This is the setup most everyone will be in – easy enough.   Alternative housing is the “hotel” which is one bedroom on each side with a bath in the middle. For very large families we can look into the faculty housing – the little white garage apt houses near the “hotel”.

How much does it cost? Total cost of the mission trip is $230 – up only $5.00 from last year.   Your $50 deposit is due by May 1st.

How can we register? You can fill out the paper form OR use our new website   http://hbakbamissions.org and register online – - this is the best way to register and we have a workstation setup tonight for you to use. You then mail in your check or give it to me to submit – your deposit MUST be in by May 1st.

What are the two “focus” churches? Anyone attending this informational meeting can work anywhere on any team. Katy Powell (706-554-0787) and Steph (912-667-6679) will be serving as the VBS directors at 2 churches – hence we are saying they are “focus” churches for us. Katy is director at Glade Springs where they now have a new building and Steph is at Central where all the rooms except the sanctuary have been renovated.  During these informational meetings we will provide some information about the trip overall – but we will “focus” on Glade Springs and Central.

What if I can’t go – can I be involved? Yes!  We are calling this “OFFSITE SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES”

1. Sponsor a missionary: organize your SS class or people at Work to pay $230 or more for someone else to go – remember this is tax deductible – - so if your business wanted to sponsor 10 missionaries, the check would be for $2,300 (all tax deductible) Praise the Lord
2. Adopt-a-Teacher: pick up an information sheet. Partner with a teacher to pray for them, get a 99cent green tote bag from Bi-Lo and fill it  with a clipboard, stapler, push pins, crayons, markers, a whistle, germ-x, hard candy, etc – all things a teacher would need
3. Adopt-a-Misisonary: pick up an information sheet. Partner with someone going to W Va to pray for them, write 6 cards of encouragement (give to Steph to hand out 1 per day), send small “love you’s” by including a seek-a-word book or disposable camera or something to remind the missionary of home
4. Clothing: pick up an information sheet. We are collecting Bibles and blue jeans (new and lighly loved) and tennis shoes for kids age 3 yrs old thru High School – we would like to have a pair of shoes for every child – we’ll publish a list of sizes already collected next month.  We are also collecting McDonald’s Happy Meal toys and Barbie Dolls
5. School Supplies: pick up an information sheet. We are collecting BACK PACKS – they cost about $10 at Wal-Mart – any kind. To fill the back packs, we are collecting lined notebook paper, pens, pencils, paper for the K5 children, erasers, pencil sharpeners, etc

What if I am going – what kind of  “jobs” are available? what would I be doing? We’re calling this “ONSITE SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES”

1. Registration Desk – making sure we have complete and accurate information on the kids – this is very important for follow-up
2. Teachers and Assistant Teachers – ideally, we would have 1 man/1 woman per class, pre-school thru adult
3. Crafts – Cooking – Recreation – these are Teams of people and we have lots of openings right now, first come/first serve!
4. Law and Order – we are looking for some men willing to be a support during VBS, stand around to keep law and order
5. House Mother – this is the person you go to for a band-aid, when you are sick, when you need shoes, when you just need a hug
6. Local Evangelism – we are thinking a group of 3 people, at least 2 men, to go with the local Pastor into the neighborhood during VBS or just before it starts to knock on doors, get the Pastor out in his community, meet the parents of the youngsters, etc; this Team would stay with the local church and be reinforced when the Missions Evangelism Team comes out
7. Construction Teams and Special Ministry – these Teams often travel to several sites, if you have a talent, the Lord can use it

What is the “theme” this year? We are using LifeWay’s BOOMERANG EXPRESS theme – - the key verse is 1 John 4:9     Everything Australian – notice the rustic orange color, the kangaroo, koala bear, and trains; start thinking about decorating and using these items as cues to teach about Jesus and helping the kids learn 1 John 4:9 and sharing the gospel.

Dress Code and Child Safety? We have decided to keep it simple: you may wear a t-shirt or a shirt with a collar; you may wear jeans, capri’s or bermuda shorts that touch your knees. Those are your options and it keeps life simple (and appropriate).  Last year we ended up wearing the same color shirt each day (different styles but same color) – this worked good – - we’ll come up with a list of what color/what day to make packing easier on you.         Child safety – everyone going will need to have an active child safety background check; if you have had one in the past 3 yrs then you do not need to renew one; if you are going for the first time OR if yours is older than 3 yrs, fill out the paperwork and we’ll submit it at no charge to you. This doesn’t tell us how many speeding tickets you have had… it is for the safety of our kids.

What about Supplies? We have samples for you to look at tonight. All area churches donate supplies and usually we have enough Leader/Learner books for everyone – you are NOT expected to go out and purchase supplies with your money.  This includes crafts – area churches donate crafts – - – - this also means we need to get the word out to all our sister churches to help us out by donating their left over supplies of any type. Include your friends who attend church in Sylvania or Augusta – most are using the Boomerang theme.

What about Decorations for our classroom? The local area churches also donate the decorations – you will be selecting your decorations before you travel to West Virgnia.  Last year, we had several clear plastic totes – you would put your decorations in them and label the totes so that we don’t carry anything extra and when we unload in W Va the men know where to take the tote because you have labeled it.

I’ve never done anything like this, where can I get some training?

1. Georgia Baptist Convention is offering training classes for only $20/pp at the following locations:       First Bap Church in Statesboro on March 14th    108 North Main Street   8am to 4pm;        Lakewood Bap Church in Gainsville on March 21st  2235 Thompson Bridge Road   8am to 4pm
2. Hephzibah Baptist Association is offering training classes for FREE at First Baptist Church in Louisville – I believe the start time is 8am but it may be 9am, call the association office to double check
3. Volunteer: at your own church to help with VBS in one area, then go to a sister church (such as Bethel) and volunteer there in a different area and ask the Lord which one He wants you to serve in for West Virginia – OJT, on the job training at its best!
4. Talk: take time to talk with people who went last year, ask them what it was like and what is expected of you for this position or that position, it is like “interviewing” someone – just ask around and see where the Lord may be leading you to serve

What is my Next Step? The HBA-KBA Mission Leaders will meet March 12th then we will travel the weekend of March 20th to scout out our sites in West Virginia – expect another Informational Meeting just like this AFTER that scouting trip.   You can start PRAYING, asking God what He wants you to do…… REGISTER and send in your deposit now….. SPREAD THE WORD about collections and sponsorships available….. ENCOURAGE your friends who attend sister churches like W’boro First Bap or Rosemont or Stapleton or Midville, let’s get someone from each church involved!  You may invite friends from other churches/associations – they will need to Register and have a Background Check just like you, same process…. PICK UP INFORMATION sheets that we have available tonight or by request.

Meeting was closed in prayer at 6:52 pm by Brother J C Christy

GA's Tea Party Badge

Botsford Baptist Church will be hosting a Tea Party to help others learn more about North American Missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

This event is open to all HBA churches, and is intended to reach girls 1st through 6th grade. Mothers, Grandmother, etc are encouraged to attend!

A round table will be provided for each church to decorate for the tea party. Join us for fun and fellowship as we raise awareness for Annie Armstrong Offering.

WHEN: Saturday April 25th, 2009 from 10:00 am to noon.

WHERE: Botsford Baptist Church 825 Botsford Church Road (706) 554-3756

Contact Stephanie Scott for more information.

Bruce Poss has faithfully served in the Kilpatrick Association for many years through his local church Marshall Baptist, in Disaster Relief and the West Virginia Mission program. He has accepted, and is already serving in, the Coordinator position for Disaster Relief for the North American Mission Board.  Read the article here…