Members of Timberlake Baptist Church in Timberlake did not let a flat tire detour them from a trip to Greensboro.
Because the team of nine was already ahead of schedule, the flat only made them 15 minutes late for their day trip in August to serve with Rescue Temple Church in Greensboro.
“I really think one of my goals [is] just to have better race relations,” said Hal Dickerson, Timberlake’s pastor. “So often black and white people are not getting together and doing positive things … even in our churches.”
Timberlake is a Caucasian congregation while Rescue Temple is made up of African-Americans.
Dickerson said they are trying to emphasize missions even with a smaller crowd of 50 to 70 on a Sunday morning. Members have not only served in Peru but in Kentucky as well. The church also sends teams to Maggie Valley to help with a camp there. A team leaves soon to cut wood for the camp.
Timberlake borrowed a “block blast unit” from Beulah Baptist Association to help them throw a block party at Rescue Temple. “God was greatly glorified and members of my church came back fired up and blessed,” Dickerson said.
The two churches combined efforts to feed about 150 people from the community as well as hold a worship service, serve refreshments and provide games.
Dickerson said the effort was in response to the North American Mission Board’s emphasis to go to the cities. Within the Beulah association, Dickerson said there are a lot of smaller churches.
As a follow-up to the August mission trip, Dickerson said his congregation is hosting a missions day in November and inviting members of Rescue Temple to come join them for a worship service.
Dickerson hopes to continue to lead his flock to be on mission through service like this trip to Greensboro and beyond. “We’ll be doing it again,” he said. “We’ll be looking at partnering with another church to go to a larger city.”