Arkansas
Since its launch in October 2014, Crosspointe Church, Bryant, Arkansas, has learned, grown and adapted. Today, the church, located between the third-largest high school in the state and a business/residential district, plans to develop a community park complete with food trucks, green space, an amphitheater and a playground, Arkansas Baptist News reported. Ryan Ingold, teaching pastor and elder, said God has “given us a unique calling for where we are.”
Florida
Ensley First Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida, has been ministering to the homeless for more than a decade: distributing food, providing a women and children’s cold weather shelter, offering a Sunday afternoon worship service and meal and even conducting funerals. Now the church is taking its ministry a step further by offering an addiction recovery and transitional housing program for homeless women. The ministry is possible through support from other churches and the community.
Louisiana
Young Jeremiah Williams had to use a makeshift goal to train for Upward basketball games at First Baptist Church, Pineville, Louisiana. Seeing the youngster shoot a basketball into a trash can inspired Devin Hinkston, a member of New Scott Olly Baptist Church, Alexandria, Louisiana, to buy Williams a basketball goal. The experience led Hinkston to start Jeremiah’s Dream, a non-profit organization to fund a recreational center in the community, the Baptist Message reported.
North Carolina
After a local resident placed incendiary devices near First Baptist Church, Brevard, North Carolina, and a county building in the downtown area, the church found an opportunity to pray for the suspect and build community ties. No one was injured in the incident. Pastor Jeff Maynard led the church in thinking through how it could lean toward God’s purpose and see Him do something good with the incident, the Biblical Recorder reported.
Tennessee
It was not the typical request for help, but Tennessee Disaster Relief volunteers have responded to a request to assist with COVID-19 vaccinations in Memphis. “It is one of our most unusual responses,” said Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Volunteers are helping with data entry, filing paperwork and keeping traffic flowing in the drive-up vaccination sites, the Baptist and Reflector reported.
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