There are two great opportunities we have to serve our local community and the world. Check out these fun service projects coming up this fall!
Fall Family Festival October 31, 4-6 PM
The Fall Family Festival is one of the important days around here. Our Family Ministry Team is excited to invite the entire church to help us make this year’s community outreach so much fun. We are making some adjustments this year to make sure the event is safe and fun for everyone. There are three ways you can help us! We want to provide our community a safe place and we appreciate your help!
First, we need your trunks! Our “Trunk or Treat” will be hosted in our parking lot and we need decorated car trunks for kids to visit. The trunks can be decorated with any child-centric theme like video games, cartoon characters, biblical themes, etc. The children will visit these cars to receive candy. Games are not needed this year. Just fun decorations and candy! We need individuals, couples, families, Sunday School classes, mission groups, etc. to sign up for a trunk. If you can help provide a trunk, call Jeff or email him.
Next, we need candy! If you are unable to provide a trunk, we certainly could use bags of candy! A collection box is available now in the hallway outside of Smith Hall.
Third, we need help on the day of the event. Greeters, parking lot attendants, etc. There are several jobs to make the event happen. These are simple volunteer tasks that help our guests feel welcome. If you are available to volunteer at the FFF, call Jeff or email him.
Operation Christmas Child Collection through November 3
Our church is working together on this year’s Operation Christmas Child, a ministry effort to share the joy of Christmas with children around the world. The entire church will be making gift boxes on Wednesday, November 3. We need donated items to go in the shoeboxes. These donations will be collected during the month of October. Donation boxes are in the hallway outside Smith Hall. Check out this list of suggested items needed for donation.
One of the things we love to do together is serve. When we are the hands of feet of Jesus, there is a connection which is made between our community and our Creator. So we have scheduled a simple service project for kids, teens, and adults of every age to complete together. We call it our “Family Missions Day”!
We are partnering with the Shepherd Center to help complete these projects. There is no cost and we have different jobs available for everyone, regardless of skill or experience. We will be doing things like yard work, simple repairs around the house, and similar jobs that we can complete in a short time.
We need you to sign up and tell us what jobs you are willing to do. The deadline is June 9. Sign up on Realm or send us an email. When we have a good number of participants, we will send out specific project details including location, tools needed, etc.
So get your family, your neighbor, and your friends to join us for this event. It is going to be great to serve with you!
Join us for Appalachian Outreach, June 21 – 26. Appalachian Outreach is a poverty relief ministry equipped to serve impoverished families through word and deed. Our mission is Matthew 25:40 – Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Appalachian
Outreach is a multifaceted Ministry that provides services to a four county
area of East Tennessee; Jefferson, Grainger, Hamblen and Cocke Counties.
Mission teams from across the nation gather to serve for a short time throughout the year. Appalachian Outreach greatly appreciates these teams and all the work they do. Every year, churches gather teams and funds to travel to Jefferson City, Tennessee in order to be the hands and feet of Christ. Members of these teams pay a fee per person. (Check with church office for cost.) This fee covers housing, food, and materials for the time spent with Appalachian Outreach. Each team works with Appalachian Outreach staff members and receives t-shirts to represent their time served each year.
Summer mission teams can serve in
Home Repair, Kid’s Club, the Ministry Center, or with the Samaritan House
Family Ministries. Home Repair teams work with a homeowner for four days to
complete necessary repairs. At the end of each job, the teams present their
homeowner with a Bible signed by the team. Teams working at the Ministry Center
work to separate and organize donations, aid families and individuals come in
for help, and restock and organize the Food Pantry. Additional services at the
Ministry Center include the furniture ministry, chopping firewood, and
recycling books, cardboard, and other recyclable materials. The Kid’s Club is
also an option short term mission teams.
The Furniture Ministry at Appalachian Outreach offers
furniture pieces to families in need for a very low cost. Everything
will be priced reasonably, from $5 to $25. The Appalachian Outreach
Furniture Ministry is open to all local counties. The sale will not
be limited to just furniture; we will have baby items, toys, bicycles, etc. Since
Appalachian Outreach operates on donations, furniture options may vary and
selections are limited to a first-come, first-serve basis. Also, Samaritan
House residents, along with burn-out victims (authorized with fire report) are
prioritized. Furniture and appliance items are donated year round by individuals, congregations, and local businesses.
Volunteers are always needed to aid in the organization and distribution of
furniture. Also, volunteers are needed who can repair donated appliances.
The Appalachian Outreach Ministry Center, at 511 Municipal Drive, provides the following necessities: • Food Pantry • Clothing Ministry • Household Items • Toys for the children. The Ministry Center functions solely through donations that are accepted year round. Donations can come from individuals as well as companies, businesses, congregations, and schools. Local farmers often donate produce. Local stores and businesses donate near date and overflow items. The majority of the Ministry Center is driven by volunteers. Families who receive goods and services from Appalachian Outreach often volunteer to serve, to show their appreciation. This offers individuals a chance to give back to the ministry and develop a relationship with Appalachian Outreach and its staff. The Ministry Center serves 400 to 600 families per month. This means that approximately 1,800 individuals receive aid every month. Visiting the Ministry Center, families can receive five articles of clothing per visit up to six times per year. Food is offered to Jefferson County families once a month based on need. Various household items are also available. Grainger, Dandridge, and Cocke County residents may receive clothing and extra food items six times per year.
The Samaritan House opened in 1987 as a shelter for single women and families. Will and Ester Rubenstein donated the home as an emergency shelter for struggling families. The Samaritan House accepts single women and women with children. Men are referred to other shelters in the area. After two years of construction, thousands of volunteer hours, and many heartfelt prayers, the dream of a new Samaritan House Family Ministries facility became a reality in 2013.
The new 12,600 square foot shelter rests on 10.22 acres
donated by Jay Moser. The main floor has multiple functions. It stands as an
office space for staff, a common kitchen/dining area for residents, and an
outreach area for the community. The upstairs houses four family suites, a dorm
area, a single staff room, two staff apartments, a play area for resident
children, a common area for resident families, and an oversized laundry room.
Two additional rooms will be developed at a later date. This new facility can
serve an average of 55 families each year, which totals about 115 individuals.
Residents are required to save 80% of their income during
their stay in an effort to pay all deposits when they find permanent housing.
Each family is allotted a 45 day stay based on need and availability. Every
family is allowed to stay as long as they follow the rules and show a
persistent work ethic towards goals such as better jobs or more stable
circumstances. Extensions of stay can be provided depending on availability and
the situation. Each family is also commissioned to work on individual
development goals during their stay such as job plans and permanent housing.
While at the Samaritan House, all adults must be looking for employment unless
they are disabled or child care is cost prohibitive. Children must also be
enrolled in school. Families are required to participate in chores in order to
help maintain the home area and rotate with meal preparation.
Tuesday Night Bible Study happens every week. Local
churches provide the evening’s meal as well as a devotional time for both
children and adults. There are walking
trails around the grounds that add up to about half a mile. Along with a
children’s play area, two pavilions line the grounds with raised garden areas.
The Samaritan House Family Ministries center also has the only documented case of a geothermal utility in an abandoned mineshaft. This is a hidden blessing for the Samaritan House; the abandoned mineshaft has been transformed into a geothermal heating and cooling system for the entire building. The shaft itself is over 800 feet deep, but it is filled with over 600 feet of water. The natural temperature underground keeps a consistent temperature of 54° Fahrenheit within the shaft in order to balance temperatures within the area. This system has already paid for itself in savings. A national research company is in the process of studying the results of this geothermal system for five years following its development. An article has already been submitted for publication about findings in the first year.
HOW YOU CAN BE
INVOLVED:
College
Park has a limited number of spaces available this Summer to participate in
Appalachian Outreach. We are limited to 70 participants, including youth (but
not including children of parents who may want to attend). If both parents with
younger children would like to attend, the parents can alternate the days of participation,
and only one participant fee will be charged. Only children aged 12+ are
allowed on any of the jobs sites. If participants would like to stay in motel
accommodations, we have rooms reserved in the Jefferson Inn, in Dandridge,
Tennessee, which is close to the campus, and comes highly recommended to us by
the AO staff.
Please
contact the church office or view the information in the entrance hall for
costs of participation. All meals
(Monday-Thursday) will be provided as part of your fee, by First Baptist
Church, Jefferson City.
Friday
morning, the adventure is officially over, and we are free to leave for home,
or Dollywood, or wherever!
About 40 people from College Park Baptist (Winston-Salem) spent the day in Grifton, NC to assist those still suffering from the aftereffects of Hurricanes Florence and Matthew. We spent the day serving lunch, handing out bags of groceries, packing food bags for Grifton Mission Ministries and unloading trucks and stacking loaves of bread. Thanks to all those at church that donated, cooked, traveled, and helped in the many ways needed to make this a success.
Photos from our trip are below. Click on any photo for a larger image. You can then scroll from image to image.
We press forward with our plans to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our Jerusalem, our Judea/Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
October is a month of collecting
November is a month of sending.
December is a month of celebrating the reason for it all!
Jerusalem: See the display about the Toy Store in the entry hall. Sign up to bring a gift, make a donation or participate on December 14. This effort joins 5 churches to minister to 50 families in need during Christmas.
Continue to support the Backpack Feeding Ministry by volunteering hours or dollars.
Judea/Samaria: See the display about the Day of Blessing in the entry hall. Sign up to travel to Grifton to cook, serve, pray, sing, give groceries, or help in any way needed. We need lots of desserts individually packaged – like 600 servings! – on November 8. We will package the groceries on Wednesday, Nov. 6. See the Grocery Sheet for specifics.
Ends of Earth: The entry hall has bright Christmas boxes to collect small toys, toiletries, and other gifts for Samaritan Purse’s Operation Christmas Child. You can also get a shoe box and pack your own. Final date for all Christmas Child donations is November 20. See the display and the newsletter for specific suggestions to put in your box.
Remember that Advent brings the opportunity to give to mission offerings for global missions. Missionaries who have followed their calling to serve are enabled to further their ministries with these funds.
Every Day, Every Where: Pray for each of these ministries! Pray that we are using our blessings to bless others! Pray for people to see Jesus because we step outside our doors!
GROCERY BAG SPECIFICS FOR THE DAY OF BLESSING
Food boxes are in the entry hall to receive your groceries.
Each grocery bag costs about $30.00. Monetary donations for bags can be made to College Park with Day of Blessing in the remarks. If we get enough donations, we can order from the food bank and bring the cost down.
We need 300 “reusable” grocery bags that are at least 12 x 12 x 6. If you have some extras around the house, please bring them. Smaller flat bags are not big enough. The color and logo do not matter as long as it is not offensive.
We will have a packing party on Wednesday night, November 6. All hands on deck to pack up 300 or more grocery bags!
Every two years, our high school students go on a mission trip either to a domestic or international location. And in 2020, they will be blasting off in College Park’s first-ever interplanetary mission trip to the Moon!
The purpose of this trip is to lay the foundation for future mission teams to share the Gospel in a human colony on the natural satellite. Team members will participate in prayer walks across the surface of the Moon, help build habitats for future colonists, lead a Vacation Bible School for the local children, and visit the alien base that is known to exist on the dark side of the moon!
Through a partnership with the Interplanetary Missions Organization (IMO), our group will be able to minister and stay in different communities on the Moon. IMO is a Christian organization that enables churches to take mission trips to different planets throughout our solar system. Through fundraising events like Dinner and a Show, College Park is able to offer the opportunity for high school students to go on this mission trip and many others.
If a high school student is interested in going on this mission trip, please contact Jeff Allen, the Associate Pastor of Students and Families.
We are excited about this mission trip in 2020 and can’t wait to minister to the people of the Moon!
Note: If you haven’t caught on yet, April Fools! While our youth won’t actually go to the Moon for their mission trip in 2020, they will be heading to an international country. We believe our mission trips are vital to the spiritual health and upbringing of our youth and necessary in the fulfillment of The Great Commission and College Park’s mission. Because of the support of College Park and it’s members, and through different fundraising events, like the Dinner and a Showthat took place last month, the youth of College Park are able to go on these amazing trips. Thank you for your support! To learn more about Youth Missions, click here. To see where we went on our most recent mission trip, click here.
In April we will have Big Tent Re:Vival services on the front lawn, which will explore new ways to exercise our faith as the body! The dates are Sunday, April 7 through Wednesday, April 10, so mark these dates on your calendar! We will have dinner each night at 5:30pm, and then the services will begin at 7:00pm. Plan to be here every night and bring guests with you! It will be a great time of Re:Vival!
Our youth will be leading us in a combined worship service on Sunday, April 28, at 11 am. This is always a significant time of worship for our congregation.
As the new year begins, there are several things coming up for our youth ministry. At this Youth and Parent meeting, will be discussing Dinner and a Show, changes to Youth Camp, and more. We also need feedback on some questions we have regarding potential events. My plan is for the big meeting to be quick so that we can get to work on the main event.
The major item to discuss is the Dinner and a Show. There are 5 planning teams which we need to make the event happen. Some parents have already picked a team and started working. This meeting will be the time for everyone to pick and team and start planning. We will spend the bulk of our time planning with our teams. Here are the team choices:
Meal Planning and Preparation
Meal Service/Decoration
Show Planning and Preparation
Tickets/Promotion
Clean Up
We hope all of our youth and parents will be part of our upcoming planning meeting on January 27. With so much going on this year, we want to make sure everyone is aware of what is happening.
Our neighbors to the east are still suffering the effects of Hurricane Florence. We want to continue to be the hands of Christ as we send relief items to Griffton, NC.
A truck will be packed on Wednesday evening, January 23, with non-perishable food. Please bring your items to help fill the truck.
The deacon board will bring a motion at the regular church conference of October 24, 2018 to vote on a ministry opportunity involving temporary occupancy of the Ransom Road house.
The house would be occupied by two families of two persons each, for a total of four individuals. This emergency request comes from Marc Wyatt of Welcome House Ministries, and would not exceed six months without additional church approval.
If you have questions, please contact deacon chair Russell Talley or any other deacon.
Your response to our efforts to help with hurricane relief has been amazing! Your contributions have brought much needed food and supplies to those who have lost so much!
We are continuing to work with Grifton Mission Ministries, Impact Church in Wilmington, and NC Baptist on Mission in Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington. We will be sending another truck to Grifton next Thursday.
They specifically need:
baby diapers (small sizes)
non-perishable food
cheap, manual can openers
smaller size bags of rice
water
personal hygiene products
cleaning supplies
The need is great and we have been called to help!
If you are not able to purchase items, you can send a donation to the church through our online giving option on the church website, or give staff a check designated for hurricane relief.
P.S. In response to questions: 100% of the money you donate through College Park goes for supplies for hurricane victims. There are NO administrative fees or even transportation fees taken from your contributions. 100% of the supplies purchased go directly to Ministry partners in Grifton and Wilmington who have the capability to get the aid into the hands of those who need it. The supplies we send are not warehoused waiting for distribution, they are put into hands…to help people!
Our children and youth mission groups are working together on this year’s Operation Christmas Child, a ministry effort to share the joy of Christmas with children around the world. Our children and youth will be making gift boxes on Wednesday, November 7. We need donated items to go in the boxes.
These donations (suggested list below direct from a missionary) will be collected during the weeks leading up to November 7. Donation boxes will be placed in the hallway outside Smith Hall.
For any age boy here, what they really want is a soccer ball. So get the best quality mini soccer ball that you can fit into the box when it is inflated (or send a deflated ball with a pump) and you can basically forget about anything else!)
Brand new nice short-sleeved shirts (with no writing on them) for boys and girls. Kids have few clothes and often wear old, ripped, hand-me-downs.
Small flashlights with batteries (Most families don’t have electricity so a working flashlight is gold!)
Good quality melamine plates, bowls, and/or cups.
Bars of soap AND plastic soap dishes that have a cover.
Toothbrushes with toothbrush holders.
Pencils, erasers, colored pencils, and sharpeners for all school-aged kids. And good quality pens for kids aged 10-14, in black, red, green, and blue.
Jump ropes
Marbles
Harmonicas
Band-Aids
Hard candy and gum
Combs
Hair elastics or headbands for girls
Simple watches for older kids
Solar calculators for older kids
Sunglasses for older kids
Socks
For the youngest girls, baby dolls with light brown skin and no hair
Toy cars, trucks or airplanes for the youngest boys (The ones with bigger wheels that are made for toddlers and are larger than Matchbox size are good. Matchbox wheels are so small, they don’t work well in the dirt.)
The Fall Family Festival is one of the big days around here. This year we will have inflatables and other activities outside starting at 5 PM! But we will not stop there.
We are headed back outside for this year’s event. We will be doing another “Trunk or Treat.” Basically, we would like decorated vehicle trunks for kids to come to visit. These vehicles will be placed on the front lawn of the church alongside the inflatables.
The trunks can be decorated with any child-centric theme like board games, cartoon characters, biblical themes, etc. The children will visit these cars to receive candy, other giveaways, & even play a game you create!
Because this year’s event is happening on Halloween night, we expect a huge number of children.
So we need 25 trunks this year!
We need individuals, couples, families, Sunday School classes, mission groups, etc. to sign up for a trunk. If you can help, call Jeff or send him an email at jeff@collegepark.ws.
We want to provide our community with a safe place & we can only do that with everyone playing a part!
The first truckload has been delivered, and no doubt Billy Tarlton and the good people of Grifton Mission Ministries are already getting supplies in the hands of those who are in need. Special thanks to Joshua Hauser and HKS Hardware & Hollow Metal for the transport truck, and their driver Jeff, for delivering the load safely. Also, thanks to Rick Bailey, and the good men of First Baptist Church, Farmville, for helping Jeff unload the precious cargo! The next load will go to Wilmington next Thursday, and we will need:
canned (pop-top) foods
other non-perishable foods
water
cleaning supplies (spray cleaners, sponges, cleaner wipes, paper towels, gloves, etc.) There is a great need for cleaning supplies!
paper products
personal hygiene items
You can bring items by the church, M-F 8:30am-4:30pm, and 6-8pm Tuesday evening, as well as Wednesday evening 4:30-6:30pm. The need is great and our ministry partner in Wilmington, Impact Church, is ready to get these supplies in the hands of people who need the help!
You have done a great job so far, but there is more work to do! Spread the word!
P.S. In response to questions: 100% of the money you donate through College Park goes for supplies for hurricane victims. There are NO administrative fees or even transportation fees taken from your contributions. 100% of the supplies purchased go directly to Ministry partners in Grifton and Wilmington who have the capability to get the aid into the hands of those who need it. The supplies we send are not warehoused waiting for distribution, they are put into hands…to help people!
Pastor Ramon Smith posted to Facebook on Sept. 21:
“In response to a couple of PM questions: 100% of the money you donate through College Park goes for supplies for hurricane victims. There are NO administrative fees or even transportation fees taken from your contributions. 100% of the supplies purchased go directly to Ministry partners in Grifton and Wilmington who have the capability to get the aid into the hands of those who need it. The supplies we send are not warehoused waiting for distribution, they are put into hands…to help people!
Brothers and Sisters, College Park will be coordinating and implementing the distribution of survival and cleanup supplies to the coastal area of NC.
The first and most immediate need is for non-perishable food items and other basic supplies to be sent to Grifton Mission Ministries on Thursday morning. These supplies are needed ASAP and we will be collecting them in the Gym Lobby as you come into the church. These will be loaded Wednesday night and then leave town early Thursday.
Needed immediately:
Non-perishable foods (with pop tops where applicable)
Water
Personal hygiene items
Food is critical for daily survival for those who have lost pretty much everything they own
These items can be dropped off 8:30 am till 4:30 pm during the day, as well as 6:00-8:00 pm Tuesday evening, and of course Wednesday evening also.
We will also be continuing to gather other items to be used for weeks in the recovery efforts. We will continue reinforcing Grifton Mission Ministries and add to that a Wilmington presence with a cooperative effort with Impact Church in Wilmington.
The items needed going forward will include the above-listed items PLUS:
Gloves (disposable and work)
N-95 Masks
Flathead shovels
Insect repellent
Concrobium in the gallon size (or similar)
Plastic storage containers
Plastic/trash bags (all sizes)
Household cleaners
5-gallon buckets.
These items can be dropped off at the same time and should be transported at the beginning of next week as Wilmington area is opening up.
If you are not able to purchase items, you can send a donation to the church through our online giving option on the church website, or give staff a check designated for hurricane relief.
Your response to our efforts to help with hurricane relief has been amazing! Your contributions have brought much needed food and supplies to those who have lost so much!
