On a hot Saturday morning
May 1 Rhonda and Kent Lambert made their way down the street in a neighborhood
not too far from Central Baptist Church.
They left a flyer about the
church at each home, prayed for the families in that neighborhood and talked to
those they met on the street.
The Lamberts are hoping to
join other members of their Sunday School class and begin a Bible study in the
neighborhood.
“This is the greatest
opportunity for us to do what we say we want to do,” Rhonda said. That’s what
Operation Inasmuch is all about — local churches getting out in the community
and serving others.
As many as 1,000 North
Carolina Baptist churches participated in Operation Inasmuch April 24 and May
1, joining hands in a one-day missions blitz.
From children to senior
adults, Central Baptist volunteers met for prayer at 8 a.m. before heading out
to their various project sites in Wendell.
Members of Central Baptist Church of Wendell work on a project for Operation Inasmuch May 1, one of the days set aside for statewide mission projects. See photo gallery (including other links to related stories) for more pictures from Central Baptist and other churches. |
Tammy Johnson and her
daughter Lauren, who is in elementary school, served at two local assisted
living facilities.
Tammy and Lauren visit
assisted living facilities several times throughout the year. Tammy hopes that
by involving Lauren in such a ministry at a young age will “instill in her that
this is what we’re here for.”
Tammy knows that with her
busy schedule it would be easy to forget that serving others needs to be a
priority in life — and so she must be intentional in teaching that to her
daughter.
At the assisted living
facility church members passed out pillows and walker aprons they made earlier.
One team visited a couple no longer able to attend services at Central.
Within a few minutes of the
team arriving the couple was reminiscing about time spent with people at the
church and sharing how much they missed being able to attend services. Other
Operation Inasmuch projects included construction and roofing on a facility at
a local park and packing boxes of food to give to families in need. Central’s
youth took the lead in adopt-a-highway clean up in front of the church.
Pastor Ed Rose spent most of
his time helping with construction and yard work at the home of a single
mother, a woman who is the friend of a church member, but antagonistic to
Christian faith.
Rose wants Operation
Inasmuch to be the “springboard” for other opportunities of community outreach.
“We want our identity to be missions and evangelism,” he said. In a day when
churches are not always known for these two things, Rose wants Central to be a
noticeable presence in the community. “If the church left in some communities,
no one would miss it,” he said.
Operation Inasmuch is a chance
for churches across the state to “go beyond missions giving to missions going,”
Rose said. “And that starts here. We want to be a people who are constantly
looking and planning to serve the community.”
For a longer version of this
story, click here.