• Gene Taylor, interim pastor of Steele Baptist Church in St. Clair Baptist Association, once served Lakeview Baptist Church in Portage, Ind. When some members of that church contacted him about locations for a possible missions trip, he suggested Shoal Creek Valley.
So a group of 15 youth and adults from Lakeview Baptist assisted Greensport Baptist Church, Ashville, with an outdoor Vacation Bible School (VBS) under tents in the mornings June 11–15.
In the afternoons, the group cleaned up tornado-damaged homes.
“We thought our youth would be turned off by the hot afternoon cleanup projects. [We were] wrong. You ought to see how enthusiastic and hard-working they have been,” adult chaperone Anne Armes said.
In addition to losing four of its members April 27, Greensport Baptist suffered major tornado damage. The storm destroyed the 3-year-old fellowship hall and did some damage to the sanctuary. Members wondered if they would be able to have VBS this summer.
“We determined … to have a Vacation Bible School somehow,” church member Teresa Sanders said. “The group from Indiana was an answer to prayer.”
• Day of Hope in Hackleburg is set for Aug. 6 from 6–8 p.m. at First Baptist Church, Hackleburg.
“It will be a fun day with door prizes, gospel blue grass (music), barbecue, hot dogs, hambugers, games, surprises, funnel cakes and more fun than a barrel of monkeys,” said Mark Gallups, director of missions for Marion Baptist Association.
“There will be lots of free stuff for [displaced people],” he said, noting about 1,000 people are expected to attend.
For more information, call Gallups at 205-921-7572.
• Ten youth from Crooked Creek Baptist Church, Silver Creek, Miss., traded their plans to attend camp to aid in Alabama disaster relief.
They worked on roofing and other construction projects July 11–16 at a home near Oxford that was destroyed by a tornado.
Lakeview Baptist Church, Oxford, housed the team of 10 students and two adult volunteers.
“After the tornado damage, we didn’t feel right going and playing while the people in Alabama were in such a mess,” said Larry Davis, volunteer youth director for Crooked Creek Baptist.
Although it was very hot and the work was hard, Davis said the students liked this trip better than any other trip they had taken before and are eager to complete another missions trip like it next summer.
• Hayneville Baptist Church, in Montgomery Baptist Association took 90 people — more than half its congregation — on a one-day missions trip to Tuscaloosa July 30 to help Alberta Baptist Church continue to serve its community.
The team, including 25 children, made and served lunch and dinner to the community — with food donated by Hayneville community and Hayneville Baptist members — and had bounce houses, carnival booths and games available at an evening block party.
The trip was coordinated through John Matthews, a deacon at Alberta Baptist and the storm recovery team leader.
“[Alberta’s] name is carved into some of the bricks at Hayneville Baptist because we sent out a team of men to help lay Sheetrock in their sanctuary in 1999,” Matthews said.
When Hayneville Baptist saw the damage endured by Alberta after the tornado, the congregation wanted to help, Hayneville Baptist Pastor Darrell Paulk said.
Paulk said although his church is small, it really “grabbed on to the idea” of a one-day missions trip and although he had hoped for at least 20 volunteers, it became much bigger than originally planned.
“[Some members of the Hayneville Baptist team] also (served) at an Alberta Baptist member’s home with clean up,” he said.
And Paulk was pleased to lead Hayneville Baptist to Tuscaloosa.
“Alberta Baptist is just a real good example of reaching the community although they had to start from scratch,” he said, noting that it meets at Open Door Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, and has Wednesday services in its own parking lot.
“We just really wanted to help them minister to [their] community.”
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