By Staff
STATESBORO, Ga.—“Mission: Georgia” was the motto for First Baptist Church, Lowry City, and its team of 16 members ages 11 to 80 that recently traveled here.
This was the second consecutive year that First Lowry City has ventured out of state on a mission trip. Last year’s trip was to Greensburg, Kan., to assist tornado victims and share the Gospel.
“Our primary objectives this year were to encourage the members of the Son’s Light Fellowship Baptist Church, assist the needy, and share the Gospel with unchurched folks we met along the way,” said Jeff Ferguson, pastor, First Lowry City.
The Son’s Light Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, meets in a formerly vacant motel located on Highway 301 in Statesboro. The church is in the process of transforming the motel into a total ministry complex, with the motel’s restaurant now serving as a worship center, and the motel rooms housing a food pantry, clothes closet, and a medical exam room for visiting physicians that volunteer their time in the evenings.
The team spent several days cleaning, painting, and beautifying the church facilities. Numerous opportunities came to share the Gospel with individuals and families coming to the church for assistance in various forms.
One day the men of the team traveled to Metter, Ga., to assist the Agape Mission, a mission outreach of the Son’s Light church.
“The poverty of the community surrounding the mission was humbling,” Ferguson said. “We shared Christ with a family of five living in 10-foot-by-20-foot, one-room plywood home with outhouse facilities.”
The mission currently meets under a simple carport with a dirt floor each Sunday morning. A raised deck with flooring was constructed by the Lowry City team so the mission will be high and dry and eventually be able to seal in the carport with siding and meet year-round regardless of weather conditions.
One entire day was spent by the team painting the 5,000-square-foot Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) worship center on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.
“When we arrived the facility was off-white and greatly in need of painting,” Ferguson said. “When we left, it looked like a Starbucks inside after we painted it a mocha cappuccino brown, just what college students would enjoy. We were delighted to improve the facilities as the BCM will be hosting bridge events that will reach many unchurched students for years to come.”
The last day of the mission trip was devoted to street evangelism with the team traveling to River Street, a popular tourist destination in Savannah, Ga. Each team member was armed with Gospel tracts custom designed for this year’s Georgia outreach.
“One of my greatest memories in the 12 years I’ve pastored First Lowry City was the sight of over a dozen of our team members in bright orange shirts stretched out over several city blocks of River Street sharing Gospel tracts and engaging tourists, street vendors, and the homeless in conversation about Jesus,” Ferguson said. “Our folks that came on this trip now have a better understanding of lostness and how the Lord blesses our availability to reach them with the only real message that brings lasting hope, the Gospel. It is my prayer that every Missouri Baptist church, large or small, will venture out of its comfort zone and experience God’s best as we have.”