Samaria Update—October 2005

This monthly update is designed to help churches that have    embraced the Acts 1:8 Challenge be aware of resources from the North American Mission Board (NAMB). Use them as your
church plans and implements its strategy to be involved in
reaching North America for Christ. Previous editions of the Samaria Update available here.

Hurricane-Ravaged Southern Baptist Churches Need  Your Help

Already, nearly 1,600 churches have signed up to assist hundreds of Southern Baptist churches damaged or destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Your church can be a part of Adopt a Church too. Adopt-a-Church is a plan for Southern Baptist congregations across North America to adopt sister Baptist churches badly damaged or destroyed by Katrina/Rita for a commitment of one to two years.

The initiative suggests partnering churches assist affected churches by sending missions and construction teams to help in recovery and building, provide care packages, take up a special offering, offer training teams to encourage and strengthen staff leadership skills, and assist pastors by replacing ministry libraries lost or damaged. Southern Baptist churches and individuals may now register online at www.namb.net and click on Adopt-a-Church. More information is available through e-mail at adoptachurch@namb.net or by calling 1 800 462-8657.

“Prepare” – Free Resources Available for Your Church  

A big part of your preparation to become an on mission church involves discovering everything that is out there for you and your congregation.

Free resources are available from NAMB to help you do just that. They include Pathways, featuring all types of information about on mission opportunities for members of all ages, and the Village Café CD-ROM, a multimedia resource that includes information about calling, what it means to be a missionary and discovering mission opportunities. Both resources are available by calling Missionary Mobilization at 1 800 462-8657 or e-mail call@namb.net.

“Learn” – New Resources Available for Mission Education

New resources are available this fall to help your church in mission education efforts. They include: Leading Baptist Men On Mission, available from NAMB; and Missions Moments, available from Woman's Missionary Union.

If you are looking for something different for your church in mission education, check out Sons of Virtue for boys and Men@WORK for Baptist Men, both from NAMB. These small-group resources get to the heart of discovering personal mission application in everyday life.

“Pray” – Lift Up Your Pastor and North American Missionaries

As you continue to focus on prayer for God to be glorified through the on mission efforts of your church, do not forget to pray for your pastor. A free seven-day prayer guide designed to assist your church in praying for your pastor is available for download at   www.namb.net/prayer.

Also, remember to include the more than 5,200 missionaries that serve faithfully throughout North America in your prayer ministry. Where do you start? It is as easy as going to www.namb.net.  There you will find specific requests from missionaries and other information to assist your church in praying for our missionaries on their birthdays.

“Give” – Support Hurricane Recovery Efforts Through DR

Contributions for disaster relief response may be sent to state conventions, associations, or churches responding to the effort or to the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Fund. Donations to Southern Baptist Disaster Relief may be made online, www.namb.net, or by calling 1 888 571-5895. Alternately, contributions can be mailed to the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, North American Mission Board, Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543.

“Go” - Opportunities Abound in Cleveland and New York

Cleveland Hope offers a variety of ministry opportunities for churches of all sizes including prayer walking, community research, servant evangelism, community ministries, English as a Second Language (ESL), block parties, creative arts, sports, music, children’s activities, youth events, light construction, landscaping, literature distribution, and many other opportunities.   

For more information or if you would like to receive a partnership interest application, contact Kim Edwards at (216) 281-7919, ext. 207 or e-mail kedwards@clevelandhope.com. Also visit www.clevelandhope.com.

New Hope, New York will host two major outreach initiatives in 2006: City-wide Servant Evangelism and Paint the Town - school painting initiative, sports camps, and block parties. For more information contact Leslie Epperson, volunteer coordinator, at leslie@newhopenewyork.com or call (212) 580-0655, ext. 26. Also visit www.newhopenewyork.com.

“Tell” – Equip Your Members to Share Their Faith

Free resources are available to help equip your members on how to share their faith. One Hour/One Day Witnessing Workshop materials are available here in four languages: English, Chinese, Spanish and Korean. For more information e-mail evangelism@namb.net.

“Send” – Is God is Calling Your Members to Service?

Most churches have members God is calling to be career missionaries to engage in evangelism, church planting, church and community ministries, and other special ministries. Are you issuing the call to your members? For more information about serving in full-time vocational ministry with NAMB, call 1 800 462-8657 or e-mail call@namb.net.

“Multiply” – Get Your Church Involved in Church Planting

Investigate the possibilities of connecting with a church planter for the purpose of starting a new work. For information about North America church planting, visit the NAMB Church Planting Web site, www.namb.net/cp, or call (770) 410-6218 for more information.

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