Clay Baptist Association, with its office in Lineville, currently does not have a director of missions, so Fred Amason is the person people call.
For 21 years Amason has served as the chairperson of the association’s executive board, but he often works behind the scenes. Sometimes he can be seen doing maintenance work on the association’s office facilities. At other times one might see Amason running errands. “I help carry out what our churches vote to do,” Amason said.
Through Amason’s leadership in the association, the seven churches of Clay Association provide school supplies for Clay County schools, give Christmas gifts to residents of Lineville’s local nursing home, provide Christmas toys for needy families, participate in Lineville’s annual Heritage Day event and conduct an annual Christmas supper for the pastors, deacons and executive board of Clay Association and their families.
But Amason’s heart really is set on missions. “I think our association has a high view of missions. We don’t have large amounts of funds, but we put our money to work in ministry,” he said. “I believe in local missions. We start locally and go out into the world. When our neighbors are being taken care of we can reach out into the world. If we lost our vision for missions we’d be in a bad way.”
Local missions are carried out primarily through the association’s Baptist Center. Food, clothing, baby goods, some household furniture and other items are distributed daily to persons in need. Each quarter volunteers from Clay Association’s churches give more than 600 hours to the Baptist Center.
L.C. Harris, the association’s moderator, described the ministry of the Baptist Center as “Christianity in action.” Amason volunteers many personal hours to the Baptist Center ministry. “You’ll meet a lot of people here. Not only do we provide practical assistance, but we also get the opportunity to talk with people about their problems and pray with them,” Amason said.
Amason urged the association to exhibit a missional spirit in April 2011 when a series of tornadoes struck the state. “Our association’s churches, seven of them, and just country folks, raised more than $12,000 for tornado relief,” he said.
Gary Swafford, director of the office of associational missions and church planting for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said Amason’s leadership has strengthened the fellowship and ministry of the association. “Fred’s leadership has been a stabilizing force for many years,” Swafford said. “Fred’s personal ministry is impacting lives.”
Amason vividly remembers his experience of coming to faith in Christ at 20. “I was driving a milk truck for a Sylacauga dairy. One day on my route, the Lord spoke to me and pulled me to Jesus.”
What motivates Amason to serve? “I would say it’s the pay,” he said, laughing. “God is a terrific paymaster. You can’t place a monetary value on what God does through our churches. When you see God’s work being done it’s like drinking an energy drink.”
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