April: This month we highlight the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering from the North American Mission Board (NAMB)

What is the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering?

According to their website: The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO) is the primary way Southern Baptists fund missions in North America. One hundred percent of gifts given to AAEO go to the field to support more than 2,400 missionary families serving across the United States and Canada.

The offering was started in 1895 by Woman's Missionary Union® (WMU) to benefit the work of the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board). In 1934, it was named in honor of Annie Armstrong, a bold missions advocate and WMU's first national executive leader. Today, more than $2 billion has been donated by Southern Baptist churches and individuals to support thousands of missionaries in church planting and compassion ministries. Because of this sacrificial giving, millions of lives have been and continue to be transformed by the power of the gospel.

Gifts to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering are used to train and resource missionaries in church planting and compassion ministries. Gifts are also used to create evangelism resources. New churches are being planted, hurts are being healed and lives are being transformed by the gospel because you give.

Would you like more info? Check out their website at: https://www.anniearmstrong.com/

May: This month we highlight the Baptist Children's Home and Family Services (BCHFS)

Per their website: Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS) was established in 1918 and is a source of Hope and Healing. They provide Christ-Centered services to children and families in need. 

“For the parents whose teen is struggling, the child whose home is no longer safe, the young woman facing an unexpected pregnancy, the infertile couple whose greatest dream is to be Mom and Dad, or the individual or family in need of counseling – BCHFS is here to help.”

They have five areas they provide help with: Residential Care, Maternity Care, Adoption Services, Counseling, and Pregnancy Resources.

This year we are highlighting their Mother’s Day Offering 2023. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

We at Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services want to recognize mothers and honor their legacy each year through our Mother’s Day Offering.

Mother’s Day evokes a myriad of memories and emotions. This year I approach the day with deep reflection and a heavy heart because Mom passed away last year. She loved the Lord and she wanted people to know Jesus. I think that’s the most important thing she would share. That’s what’s at the heart of providing Christ-centered services. I would like to ask you to partner with Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services by supporting the Mother’s Day Offering to help those who are hurting and grieving. ~ Kevin Carrothers, Executive Director  https://youtu.be/GPw05uFPGoo

To give to the Mother’s Day Offering or find our more information about BCHFS check out their website at:   https://bchfs.com/

Who is Feed My Peeps? Feed My Peeps is a faith-based organization which was started in St. Louis in 2012 and serves the Metro St. Louis area and Northern California. Feed My Peeps picks up food donated by several other organizations such as schools, restaurants, caterers, markets, and local farmers and distributes the food to needy families, group homes, soup kitchens and homeless in the area. They are very passionate that nothing goes to waste. In their own words “We are a food broker for God. We are passionate that everyone has an opportunity to eat fresh and nutritious food”. Feed My Peeps not only distributes food but hosts weekly outreach opportunities. They also distribute necessary items such as clean clothes and toiletry items as well. They serve their homeless friends with much dignity and God’s love. To quote them “We offer a hand up not a hand out”. If you would like to find out more about Feed My Peeps you can go to their website: www.feedmypeeps.org or contact Jacki Dirksmeyer.

 “Community Hope Center” located at 1201 Hope Center Lane in Cottage Hills, IL. Community Hope Center aka CHC has been serving individuals experiencing financial hardship since 1988. CHC helps by offering groceries, clothing, toiletries, household items, prepared meals, haircuts, and other services free of charge. They share hope by extending friendship, compassion, and encouragement to their clients each time they visit. Their desire is that all who come to CHC for help will experience the love of Jesus through their actions. They do this by emphasizing five core values: Christ-centered, Dignity of all people, Hope, Community, and Service. CHC is only able to provide these services through the volunteers and donors. It takes 35-40 volunteers a day to run CHC and a multitude of various donors such as businesses, churches, and individuals, along with some financial support from corporate, community, and family foundations. All this information was obtained from their website, which you can check out for more information or how you can donate or volunteer. www.communityhopecenteril.org. 

“Got Faith?”, a Nonprofit organization located at 508 West Pine St., Jerseyville, IL 62052. According to their website, Got Faith’s motto is to “Feed and Inspire the Hungry and Serving the Needs of Our Community”. Their Mission is to “Honor God by serving the people of Jersey County, IL, as we seek to Feed and Inspire the Hungry”. They believe “that God has a purpose and plan for every single life on this planet. Through lending a hand, feeding the hungry and encouraging our community through various events to come together to help make a difference in the lives of others.” Got Faith? Also has a Community Outreach Program with events throughout the year to bring the community together but also events to raise money to use to serve the community better. Such events include an upcoming Men’s Breakfast on August 5th  at Walmart in Jerseyville where Time Ezell will be the guest Speaker. Another event is Fill the Bus, which is in front of Walmart in Jerseyville, that collects donated school supplies for teachers, will be happening at the beginning of August. Got Faith? also houses a food pantry and Martha’s closet, where clothes and shoes may be purchased for a small price. For more information you can check out their website at www.gotfaithonline.org or on Facebook at gotfaith.jerseycounty. 

Cru Military is a division of Cru, the U.S. segment of the Campus Crusade for Christ, which was started back in 1951 by a Fuller Theological Seminary student, Bill Bright. Cru is passionate about connecting people to Jesus Christ. That is also the mission of Cru Military. To quote Cru Military: “We are a caring community passionate about connecting the global military community to Jesus Christ. Together we can see this community grow so that everyone in the global military community knows someone who truly follows Jesus. In doing so, we believe many will become followers of Christ who in turn evangelize and disciple others. Guided by these aspirations, we pursue our mission with humility, compassion, and excellence because the people whom we serve deserve nothing less.” Our missionaries to Cru Military are Bill and Lisa Bennett. Bill Bennett will be here on September 11 during worship to tell us more about Cru and how they serve our military and their families as well as how we can partner with them. If you would like to find out more about them you can check out their website: www.crumilitary.org. 

We first introduced Freedom Cry last October and spoke about Wendell Phillips and the mission that he is on in the Pakistan brickyards. What is Freedom Cry? “Freedom Cry is a non-profit organization helping to save families from oppressive systems that hold people as modern-day slaves. Breaking the cycle of bondage, one brickyard at a time.”  Since Wendell visited with us, Christway has been helping to support the mission of spreading God’s word and trying to free families. His mission continues and to give you an update: Wendell is back in Pakistan continuing to free families. As posted on their Facebook page, on September 9 of this year they held an Inauguration of Jeremy Mulder Freedom School at Village 29 Okara. There hasn’t been a school there for 50 years. Also in a post from Facebook, a mom whose daughter is being educated in the brick yard also craved to catch up and be taught, and is being educated by one of the teachers. She had spent her childhood into adulthood in bonded labor making bricks. She’s now reading in her native Urdu. As Steve mentioned in his sermon on Sunday, September 24 Wendell gave an update online that the funds we sent in support on Freedom Cry helped to free and lead another family to freedom from the brickyard and into the family of believers. If you would like to learn more about Freedom Cry you can go to the website: www.FREEDOMCRY.LIFE or check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/freedomcrylife. 

What is Operation Christmas Child? In their own words: Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization. Our mission is to provide local partners around the world with shoeboxes filled with small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies as a means of reaching out to children in their own communities with the Good News of Jesus Christ. We ship these simple gifts outside the United States to children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and disease; and to children living on Native American reservations in the U.S. The program was started in the United Kingdom in 1990 by Dave and Jill Cooke. Three years after this beginning, the Wales-based shoebox gift project merged in a partnership with Samaritan’s Purse, allowing us to share 20 years of expertise in relief and aid work with the project, and expand the reach of the shoebox gifts to more than 28,000 children that year. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered gift-filled shoeboxes to over 198 million children in more than 170 countries and territories. Shoebox gifts demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world. By partnering with the local church worldwide, each shoebox gift is a powerful tool for sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. For more info: www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child.