{"id":46431,"date":"2023-08-31T08:44:12","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T13:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/?p=46431"},"modified":"2023-08-31T08:44:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T13:44:12","slug":"fbc-festus-crystal-city-takes-christ-to-the-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2023\/08\/31\/fbc-festus-crystal-city-takes-christ-to-the-homeless\/","title":{"rendered":"FBC Festus\/Crystal City takes Christ to the homeless"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>FESTUS\/CRYSTAL CITY \u2013<\/b> Missions can conjure up the notion of far-flung locales across the ocean and church planting among an unreached people group. But First Baptist Church, Festus\/Crystal City, knows that those right around the corner at home are just as in need of the Gospel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">The church engaged in a week of missions called &#8220;Hometown Missions,\u201d July 31 through Aug. 3. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">It was a week of evangelism and service projects to our community that included morning Backyard Bible Clubs in an apartment complex, assisting refugees in St. Louis, and hosting a Homeless Relief effort by partnering with local entities \u2013 such as Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief, the Salvation Army and Jefferson County Health Department \u2013 to assist the homeless in the community with meals, showers, laundry, dental and health checkups.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">The week is a tradition with First Baptist, though it was interrupted by COVID-19 and other circumstances the last few years. But this year, it came roaring back. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cIt\u2019s a time to focus on our \u2018Jerusalem,\u2019\u201d said First Baptist\u2019s executive pastor, Carey Jones, referring to the Acts 1:8 call to make disciples near, far and everywhere in between. \u201cWe\u2019ve done missions in other states \u2013 Indiana and Montana most recently \u2013 and Ecuador internationally, but this is our week to focus on missions right here in our area.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">The church combined youth missions efforts with the church\u2019s at large during the week toward that goal.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Students led a backyard Bible club at a local apartment complex every morning, followed by a lunch hosted by the church, capped off with a block party for residents. While the backyard Bible clubs were going on, adults focused on service projects for the elderly and widows in the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">In the afternoons, the church sent teams of volunteers to Oasis International, a refugee ministry in nearby St. Louis that aims \u201cto love and care for those who seek refuge from a war-torn country.\u201d In its history, Oasis has helped people from over 50 nations who came to St. Louis. (For more information about Oasis International, go to goodneighborstl.com.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cOur students were able to see and hear the story of what Oasis is about,\u201d Jones said, including meeting and talking with several refugee families. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Toward the end of the week, the church returned back home to serve those in their communities without homes. What initially was going to be a free meal quickly turned into much more. The church brought in private and public agencies to help host a resource center. People in need were able to get much more than a meal. A local Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief laundry unit was on site providing, and the local health department set up a table as well, along the Missouri Department of Social Services, and the Salvation Army.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cAll together, we were able to offer people free laundry, a meal, groceries they could take with them, clothing, a shower and a complete health checkup and a dental exam,\u201d Jones said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">One barrier making life difficult for homeless people is lacking an address, so the church even aided people in securing a free PO Box through the post office. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cOver the course of two days, we saw at least 40 individuals and families come through who we were able to minister to,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe had some good biblical counselling, prayed with people and had one salvation that I\u2019m aware of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Jones said the event was also a hit with the local government, which was able to connect citizens to housing, behavioral health and other programs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cThey\u2019ve tried to do similar events, but were disappointed with the results,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was by far the most successful outreach they\u2019d ever seen, and they want us to consider doing it again. The news got out community-wide, and I think it was a shining witness that was glorifying to the Lord. We credit that to prayer and a whole lot of flyers.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">International mission trips can be an eye-opening experience to American Christians, and Jones said these home missions efforts were no different. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cIt was a wakeup call for many of our people,\u201d he said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt gave our people a vision for our community and really united our youth with our adults as they worked side by side carrying out these ministries.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Missions can conjure up the notion of far-flung locales across the ocean and church planting among an unreached people group. But First Baptist Church, Festus\/Crystal City, knows that those right around the corner at home are just as in need of the Gospel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":46432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[177,36,41,45,8,48,15,17,21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>FBC Festus\/Crystal City takes Christ to the homeless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Missions can conjure up the notion of far-flung locales across the ocean and church planting among an unreached people group. 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