MILO – After years of working and waiting, Milo Baptist Church here officially dedicated its new building on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 24. They celebrated with a special time of worship and fellowship, marking the culmination of countless hours of labor put in by Milo’s members and volunteer teams from across the state.
More than 50 people attended the service, enjoying congregational singing, responsive reading, special recognitions, and a slideshow memorializing the building process, which had officially been completed in August.
According to Jim Wilson, a member of Milo Baptist and the project’s general contractor, the purposes of the new building are manifold. Primarily, the church hopes to increase its outreach to the surrounding community by providing a place for fellowship, teaching, and events. In fact, the new building will be the first event-worthy venue in the town of Milo, which boasts a population shy of 70.
MILO – This plaque, hanging in Milo Baptist Church’s new building, gives credit to God for his faithfulness to the congregation.
Wilson explained that the new building could be used to host community weddings, reunions, and concerts, but the goal is for more people to give their lives to God. Toward that end, Milo Baptist plans to begin hosting monthly movie nights for the community, free of charge and featuring faith-based films as a springboard for deeper connection.
While the purposes of the building were evident from the start, the process of construction was exactly that – a process.
Blanche Williams, a member of Milo Baptist, noted that the building dedication was a particularly joyful occasion for the small congregation as the completion of the multi-purpose building “was longed for.”
There were “even some tears of happiness as we celebrated its completion,” Williams recalled. “Over the time of construction, we felt God’s love and power as he continued to give us finances and endurance.”
When the 25-member church was denied loans at the project’s start, members had been determined to proceed anyway and to do so without incurring any debt. They began to raise funds among the community, reaching out to the Osage River Baptist Association for support.
Wilson explained that some work had already been done, but efforts had come to a standstill when he first joined the church in 2015. Then, in 2019, Wilson began encouraging the church to keep pursuing the project, one step at a time.
“I suggested that we step out on faith and that we put up the building. We had $30,000 to start with; I felt that was enough to get it under roof,” Wilson explained. “As time went on and funds kept coming in, we kept working on it. I got whatever volunteers I could get, and we managed to get everything done on it.”
As the church received more funds to purchase materials, Wilson enlisted the help of volunteers to construct the building. Teams from Southwest Baptist University, Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief, and Campers on Mission were among those who contributed to the project from 2019-2023.
Finally, on Aug. 24, Milo Baptist Church saw their trust and obedience come to fruition as they realized their goal of completing the building project debt-free.
In light of the time, resources, and labor that were put into Milo’s new building, church members were quick to deflect praise to the Lord for his faithful provision. A plaque on the wall of the new building welcomes churchgoers to “the house that God built.”
“God is the one who gets all the credit for it, as far as I’m concerned,” Wilson said. “God is the one who provided the funds and inspired the people to give and inspired the people to volunteer their services.”