Originally published in the May 22, 2008 issue of The Evangel.
by Jason Rogers, FBC member
On May 4 we celebrated Children's Day during morning worship. The sermon focused on the Israelites' commemoration of God's protection as they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. At Joshua's instruction, each tribe gathered a large stone from the dry river bed and set up a rock memorial on the other side. When asked by future generations "What do these stones mean?" parents told their children of the day the Lord provided for His people. Pastor Frank challenged our church to symbolically set some stones for our children by living out the love of Christ in spirit, word and deed.
This summer our family of faith has the opportunity to set some stones with our children by participating in the second annual Family Mission Trip to Elizabethton, Tennessee on
July 3-6. Entire families will engage in hands-on ministry that demonstrates the love of Christ to individuals with physical and spiritual needs.
By participating together, we can create memories that will be markers of our faith.
We will work with Hale Community Ministries in the mountains of East Tennessee. A ministry of the Watauga Association of Baptists, the mission of Hale Community Ministries is to "evangelize the lost; demonstrate the love of Christ by promoting, encouraging, and facilitating Christian ministry; and outreach to individuals and families . . . who have physical and spiritual needs." We expect to participate in a wide range of ministry projects that can involve the whole family including young children. These projects include Backyard Bible clubs for children in low income housing, clothes closet support, food pantry work, and nursing home visitation.
Last year's participants included families with preschool-aged children and teenagers, as well as "empty-nester" grandparents. Families of all ages and stages in life are invited to participate. If you are interested, please contact Jason or Elizabeth Rogers, 665-7363 or rogerse@mail.belmont.edu, no later than June 1.
