The question of what to do with the children while mom and dad volunteer for summer missions has a new answer: Take the children along.
That’s what several Alabama Baptist families did this summer at the national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) FamilyFEST missions experiences in San Antonio and Cincinnati.
The 160 volunteers in San Antonio June 8–12 included participants from First Baptist Church, Madison; First Baptist Church, Prattville; First Baptist Church, Fort Payne; and First Baptist Church, Fyffe.
Pastor David Tew, who led a group of 11 from First, Madison, said, “It was the family opportunity that attracted us to FamilyFEST.” First, Madison, had previously participated in WMU’s MissionsFEST, which provides volunteer opportunities for adults ages 18 and up to support on-going missions projects across the United States several times a year.
The FamilyFEST experience takes place in conjunction with a MissionsFEST but is of shorter duration and has family-friendly schedules and missions projects.
Kathy Pressnell from First Church, Madison, had experienced volunteer missions as a single, but this was her first time to go with her husband, Wayne, and son, Collier. “It was a great experience for our son, Collier. He even volunteered to share about his experience at the volunteers’ dinner on the last night,” she said. The family led a sports camp for two densely populated, low-income apartment complexes.
Collier Pressnell recalled the trip enthusiastically. “It was really fun. I want to do this every summer,” he said. “I played football, basketball and tag with the kids. And we passed out meals and helped college kids (volunteer summer missionaries).
“I liked [FamilyFEST] because I got to help kids who are not as fortunate as I am,” he explained.
The family-friendly opportunity also attracted the Burtons from First, Prattville. Bob Burton called FamilyFEST an awesome experience for his family — wife Sharon, daughter Emily Rae, age 7, and son Daniel, age 4. “We will do something like this every summer from now on,” he added. “It was great for our whole family, even our four-year-old.”
Bob Burton said the experience deeply impacted his daughter. “The first day there, Emily Rae told us she met a little girl who didn’t know Jesus so she told her all about Him, heaven and the streets of gold.” Emily Rae Burton recently told her dad she wants to be a missionary in India when she grows up if there aren’t too many spiders there.
The FamilyFEST experience didn’t just appeal to young families. Senior adults and retirees joined children, youth and adults of all ages in the San Antonio heat and at the Cincinnati experience, which also drew 160 volunteers.
Participants from First Baptist Church, Chalkville, and Northside Baptist Church, Piedmont, joined volunteers from 13 states at 13 ministry sites in the greater Cincinnati area.
“I have never enjoyed anything so much,” said retiree Aylia Shadix from First, Chalkville. Their 10-member group worked with Newtown Baptist Church in the greater Cincinnati area, providing community and personal ministry.
Shadix helped restore a garden for an elderly widowed church member. She recalled, “It was a thrill to help someone one-on-one. I hope I can do this again.”
Christy Carr from WMU volunteer connection notes that the variety of ministry opportunities attracts volunteers of all ages. Many people don’t realize that doing missions can include planting flowers. From the one-on-one ministry of Shadix to backyard Bible clubs that even four-year-olds enjoy to the unusual ministry of painting a Chinese restaurant, volunteers find there is something for everyone.
Carr summed up the spirit of FamilyFEST, “FamilyFEST opens up missions to a lot of people in congregations. [It] allows them to do missions as a family by providing a family-friendly schedule and ministry experiences.”
For information call 205-991-4097 or e-mail volconnection@wmu.org.
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