OAKVILLE – Caring for people is growing First Baptist Church of Oakville. “We had an incredible year,” John Hessel, pastor, said. “Twenty-nine people joined our church and nineteen of those were by baptism.” “God is gracious,” Hessel continued. “We’ve been more intentional about reaching out to people and relating to them. Our worship leader, John Gorse Jr. says every Sunday, ‘We’re the friendliest church in town,’ as a reminder for us to reach out to each other.” One of the early … [Read more...]
Monett church on the ‘go’ for Christ
MONETT – The location of New Site Baptist Church, Monett, may seem isolated, but this church is growing and thriving with ministry. New Site has two services with 700-750 members. “This is an exciting church,” Reese Morrow, member and retired Missouri pastor, said. “It is a GO church because folks are ministering to people.” According to Morrow, God is blessing the church with the staff He has assembled. “Aaron (Weibel) is a dynamic preacher,” he said. “He is mission minded and a soul … [Read more...]
Missouri Baptists touch children’s lives in Rwanda
RWANDA – The Journey of a shoebox begins in many Missouri Baptist churches. The manner of collecting the shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, varies with each congregation. “It is great to hear how a shoebox gift touched a young person,” Jesse Barnhart, pastor of Parker Road Baptist Church (PRBC), said, “and pointed them to follow Christ for the rest of their life.” PRBC serves as a drop-off location as well as packing more than 1200 shoebox … [Read more...]
Churches advance the glory of God in Italy
ITALY – Italy may seem like an unusual country for missions, but according to Rick Hedger, Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Multiplying Churches Catalyst, Northeast Italy is a great area for mission partnerships. “Missouri Baptists were contacted by the International Mission Board (IMB) to consider mission partnerships in Italy,” Hedger said. “It is considered an unreached area. Only four out of 100 have a relationship with Christ which is extremely low for any place. Many have an … [Read more...]
Macedonia Baptist youth camp teaches service
ALTON – A camp of Macedonia Baptist Church in Alton, was designed this summer to help students in fifth through eighth grade focus on others and ways to serve them. The camp theme, “Get Your Serve On,” helped the students focus on loving others and the practical ways to put others first. “Kids at this age need to see the big picture,” Sue Hudson, camp director and member of Macedonia, said. “We wanted to lead them toward the importance of service and the opportunities for acts of service … [Read more...]
Prayer for spiritual awakening in U.S. fosters revival at Springfield’s South Haven Baptist
SPRINGFIELD – South Haven Baptist Church, Springfield, accepted the challenge made at last year’s annual meeting by Ronnie Floyd, former Southern Baptist Convention president, and it led to a spiritual revival. “In his challenge,” Ryan Palmer, South Haven Baptist Church, said, “Dr. Floyd asked churches to consider giving at least eleven minutes of their services on Sunday, Sept. 11 (9/11), to pray for our nation.” “We decided to combine our two services to pray for Spiritual … [Read more...]
Churches hope to pack million meals for St. Louisans
ST. CHARLES – Most Americans just go to the pantry or refrigerator when they get hungry, but hundreds in poverty don’t have that option. Missouri Baptists are taking the lead feeding these hurting families as well as creating a community witnessing event to pack one million meals on August 26-27 at the St. Charles Family Arena. The group is looking for 5,500 volunteers to pack the one million meals during the two-day event. Volunteers can sign up for a variety of positions at times … [Read more...]
Strawberry Festival draws support for MBCH
Editor's Note: As reported in the June 13 edition of The Pathway, the Strawberry Festival hosted at First Baptist Church here each year draws valuable support for the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH). But, as noted more recently by officials from the MBCH, the Strawberry Festival does not fully fund the ministry. The event provides less than one percent of the MBCH’s annual operating budget and works alongside other means of funding—such as the Cooperative Program and the direct … [Read more...]
Lessons from 2015 floods proved useful in Eureka
EUREKA – Even before the waters receded in Eureka, the people of the town knew that the flood of April 2017 was going to be different than their experience just months ago in December of 2015. Michael Bagwell, co-regional coordinator for the East Central Region of the Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief and member of Central Baptist Church, said the main difference was preparation. “I knew the sandbagging did not work last time,” he said. “So, we decided to look at a more practical … [Read more...]
FBC Arnold ministry aims for ‘one less orphan’
ARNOLD – Adopting and fostering children is a journey. FBC Arnold has a ministry, “One Less Orphan,” to make that journey easier to navigate by providing support for parents and children. “We started this ministry to encourage couples interested in adopting or going through the process,” Lisa Jackson, leader and member of FBC Arnold, said. “Tim and I have three biological children,” Lisa added, “and we adopted a boy from China.” Tim and Lisa Jackson were surprised by some of the … [Read more...]
Refugees become friends for St. Louis Baptists
ST. LOUIS – Friendship is the focus of the new “Good Neighbor Initiative” established by the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association. The Initiative seeks to match Missouri Baptist families with refugee families new to the area. “The reality of increasing numbers of refugees,” Darren Casper, associate executive director of St. Louis Metro Association, said, “from war-torn countries with little more than the shirt on their backs, makes it important for us to connect with them in love.” When … [Read more...]
Spirit of giving displayed in Kimberling City
KIMBERLING CITY – Setting a goal proved to be inspiring and motivating for FBC Kimberling City in 2016. The congregation set a goal for 3,000 shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child (OCC) and they collected more shoeboxes than ever before with a final total of 3,231. Last year, the church collected 2,864. Senior pastor, Jeff Hardy, was overjoyed with the result. “It was exciting to see the church grab hold of the project and accept the challenge,” he said. “These shoeboxes are one … [Read more...]
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