FLORISSANT – Florissant Valley Baptist Church (FVBC) shows the fruit that is born of true salvation in wisdom, experience and persevering love; and that the little we have is much to give when our days endure through the blessing of God to make for ourselves much eternal wealth in heaven.
“We have a typical mission statement, but the flavor, I would say, that has come in the last few years is the idea of blessing,” said Pastor Ronn Brooks as he commented on the unique way his congregation conforms to service in the gospel.
“Blessing our God and Blessing our World” is the cheerful motto, and Florissant Valley is a homegrown church. Much of its congregation has served from amidst its halls for the majority of their lives—some over 50 years. Many do not carry iPods or iPads. They do not have a Facebook page or a Twitter account. And though they read God’s Word the old-fashioned way — from the pages of leather-bound Bibles — they love to give. Both spiritually and physically, the people of Florissant Valley are anxious to attend to the need they see exposed in their community.
“We can’t necessarily do the cool thing, but we can be a blessing. We can be a part of this global thing God is doing to bring glory to Himself,” said Brooks, who also serves as a member of the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board. Brooks has involved his church in an organized outreach called, “HarvestMinistry.” Each “harvest season” its members fill two rooms a night for five nights a week. One room is for phone calls, and one is for prayer. While one group makes phone calls gathering information about needs and prayer requests, the other prays continuously as information flows in.
“One week we called (a woman), and she said, ‘Your the church that prays. You prayed for my neighbor, and I was hoping that you would pray for me,’” said Cynthia Little, a member of Florissant Valley Baptist who recalled the response and gratitude of a particular woman in need.
The church receives much gratitude for their care in involving themselves in the needs of the community and always follows up requests in a separate intercessory prayer ministry.
“It’s such an enormous blessing knowing where the needs are in the community as we are praying for them,” said Brooks.
Apart from Harvest, its members also seek to get involved in serving practical physical needs. They have been active in Angel Food Ministry and Foodshare. Lunch Bunch is a ministry that feeds children who are dependent upon a subsidized lunch program by providing lunches on the weekend.
Though FVBC is a small congregation of limited means, its members boast of many years experience being led by the faithful hand of God. They rest assured that the true gift is in the giving. While the world competes for the fastest and the loudest, they seek to stay the course, finish the race, and to be a blessing to all whom they find along the way.