Birmingham Association’s MissionsFest encourages service among area churches

Colorful kites, pastel balloons and homemade vegetable soup warmly welcomed the rain-spattered volunteers who gathered in the Huffman Baptist Church fellowship hall for MissionsFest 2003.
  
According to Linda Pair, Birmingham Association short-term ministries team leader, MissionsFest is an annual event “to make area churches aware of ministry opportunities in the Birmingham area.”
   
Originally hosted by WMU, MissionsFest began about seven years ago, noted Pair, who coordinated this year’s event. The crowd was made up of seasoned and rookie volunteers representing 40 Birmingham-area churches.
   
Booths lining the perimeter of the fellowship hall featured the needs of premature babies, tornado victims, homeless women and juvenile delinquents. Thirty-five ministries were present.
   
Many of the ministries represented are direct arms of the Birmingham Association, such as Caring Hands Medical Apartments and Disaster Relief.
   
Others are nondenominational but have partnered with the Birmingham Association throughout the year.  A few such as the Salvation Army and American Red Cross are international agencies with local offices that work cooperatively with the Birmingham Association.
   
Representative Joe McNulty has found MissionsFest to be a great way to introduce the Amelia Center to volunteers. It is a grief counseling center for children and their families who have lost a loved one. “MissionsFest lets us get out the story of the Amelia Center and share our mission. We always get several calls from churches and Sunday School classes wanting to help after hearing about us through MissionsFest,” said McNulty.
   
MissionsFest offered Christy Waldrop an opportunity to introduce volunteers to Threads of Love, a new ministry based in Trussville. Threads of Love is a sewing ministry meeting the special needs of premature infants.
   
Sharing tiny, handmade clothes and prayer, at least 30 dedicated seamstresses are reaching out to parents at Medical Center East and Brookwood Medical Center. The group hopes to expand the ministry to other area hospitals as they move nimble fingers to meet the demand.
   
Before visiting ministry booths, the participants were inspired by local volunteers Bobby and Donna Keith, members of Green Valley Baptist.
   
Bobby shared stories from missions trips to Venezuela, Brazil, Romania and Spain as well as biblical mandates for volunteerism. He challenged the audience to be prepared for the miracles they will witness on the missions field. “These [miracles] are the things you experience when you’re where God wants you to be doing the things He wants you to do,” he said.
   
Donna Keith explained the changes she saw in Bobby after his first trip to Brazil made her want to do missions herself. “He was a changed man,” she said. “I saw his joy and wanted the same thing.”
   
Now she has gone to Brazil twice and Venezuela once. Missions has become a family affair for the Keiths. Both of their daughters and their sons-in-law have gone on missions trips with Bobby.
Donna explains, “The excitement just trickles down. Our grandchildren can’t wait until they’re old enough to go on a missions trip with ‘Pops.’”
   
Director of Missions Ricky Creech helped with the evening meal despite his being injured only two weeks before. Creech stopped to help a man in the street near the association office after dark Feb. 17.
   
The man tried to rob Creech, struck him in the head with a bottle and shot him in the leg.