Depart Saturday, March 10th and return Saturday, March 17th.

Cost is $1,800 and includes almost all expenses except meals to and from the DR, entrance fee to the DR ($20), and any expenses associated with attaining a valid US Passport (typically $120-$150).

A $500 deposit is due by January 18th to reserve your spot on the team.

Projects vary for this trip and could include some work at a local school with children, some light construction, and some teaching opportunities.  Dependent on the skills and gifts of the team.

Questions? Contact Melissa Hatfield, Pastor of Youth and Missions, at 573.634.3603 or by email.

Hello all!!

This last week we finished the Second Language Acquisition Class which is fancy words for saying we learned techniques for learning another language.  I really enjoyed this class.  We got to spend time learning phonetics which is the study of how sounds are made.  This means I had the opportunity to try to make as many silly sounds as possible.  My favorite part of the class took place in the afternoons.  They brought in many different people who English is not their first language to teach us their original language.  My language helper was a lady named Lhen (pronounced like Lynn) who came from the Philippines two years ago.  She taught us Tagalog.  I attached a picture of my group and a video of us to this email.  In the video she is telling us a story and we are matching up our pictures with what is taking place in the story.

This week we will be starting Teams.  We will be learning how to effectively work and communicate with our teammates in a cross cultural setting.  This is very important because team conflict is the number 1 reason why missionaries come back from the field.

Please pray for:

— my teammates (Jen and Walker) and I during Teams. 

—energy

—and continual delight in the Lord

 Thanks for all your prayers and support. Please feel free to send me prayer requests or let me know of others ways I can be of help to you.

 Kristen Foster

 Video

This summer we led three day trips to Joplin for debris removal. Over 60 individuals served on these day trips.  A group of 47 youth and adults also spent a week in July serving in Joplin removing debris and sorting donations.

The road to recovery is a long one for Joplin and we are committed to supporting Joplin for the duration.

Joplin Trip Opportunities:

Nov. 14 – 18, 2011 – Mission Trip

• $100
• Information meeting on Wed., Oct. 19th at 7:00 pm in Room 508.
• Download packet here 2011 Joplin Mission Trip Packet

A crew of over 100 members of First Baptist Church set out to complete a mission that dreary, drizzly morning of September, 26. Though the weather was poor, the workers’ spirits were up, as the crew began to tackle the tasks they were determined to complete. The outcome would glorify the Lord in the form of blood, sweat, and tears!

As far as blood goes much was given in the form of donations to the Red Cross. Over 24 productive units were donated which will help 80 struggling people in our community.

When it comes to sweat plenty was shed by volunteers of the Binder Lake and South School improvement projects. Work at Binder Lake involved collecting trash scattered around the area, filling many bags and helping the environment. At South School the crew of FBC and Southridge Baptist members partnered together, and spent their time repainting faded tiger paws on the front sidewalk, touching up a dull map of the states on the playground, and adding a fresh coat of paint to most of the floorboards and exterior doors of the school. Another group endured the rain while planting and re-mulching the flower beds, bringing life to South School’s landscaping.

And for tears there were none, only smiles on the faces of the humble volunteers.

Other projects included stuffing 50 toiletries bags that will impact the students in need at South School. These bags contained toothpaste, deodorant, and shampoo. They were assembled by Sharefest volunteers. A food drive supporting the Samaritan Center also took place in preparation to Sharefest events. Nearly 250 pounds of food were given by members of our congregation. Every project was completed and had a positive effect on the community, bringing joy to the giver and the receiver.

Those from ages 6 to 70 truly played their parts as God’s servants during 2009’s Sharefest event.   -Hope Watson, age 13

If you are visiting this blog for the first time, welcome.  We hope you will subscribe to this page in some form or fashion using the links in the right sidebar.  This will allow you to know when we post new information here.   While the missions blog may not have an active post each week, it is a great source for information about our mission partnerships and service opportunities.  It is also an active place whenever we have a trip because this is where we post stories and pictures while we are away.

So, take some time and look around! And welcome.

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson

Frances Taggert and her little sister.

Mentoring is planting trees.  The45-minutes a week that our mentors spend with a student at South Elementary are planting and tending to the tree.  For many, we may see some sprigs of growth but we may never sit in the shade of what we have planted.  But we are called to the labor,  not the reward.

“A wise and trusted counselor” is what you find if you look up the word ‘Mentor’ in the dictionary. As I meet with a precious six year old every week at South School I’m not sure how much wise counsel is given, but I walk away blessed by having spent just a few brief moments listening, playing, teaching, hugging and giggling.

I treasure those moments I spend with her and I take away far more than I leave with her.  My prayer is that we are building a trustworthy relationship that she can count on.  Someone she knows she can count on to be there to listen, play, teach, hug and giggle.  You know, I think if it’s what I needed Jesus would giggle with me.

Why don’t you consider being a mentor?  I can guarantee you’ll be blessed.

- Sondra Allen

We are looking for new mentors for the 2011-2012 school year.  If you are interested in mentoring, please contact Melissa Hatfield at 573.634.3603 or by email.

We are blessed to partner with South Elementary School, a wonderful school that has a huge ministry in our community.  Many of the students have trouble providing their basic school supplies.  Who ends up covering it?  The teachers.

Every year we collect supplies and give them to the school to cover those supplies not brought.  Help us fill their supply closet so they are ready to go!

Throughout the month of August bring your donated supplies to the church office or place them in the mission donation boxes in the Narthex, Fellowship Hall or second or first floor entrances.  You can download the list of needed supplies here.

Marcia, Gabriella, and Abigail at the HOHH

It is Friday 5:00 pm here in Naivasha, Kenya, and as I write this I’m surrounded by children from the House of Hope who are fascinated by the computer.   They are also braiding my hair.

We are doing the final preparations for a celebration dinner in a few minutes.  Rand is carving the freshly cooked goat and lamp and pineapple is being prepared.  We cannot wait!  It is like Christmas here at the House of Hope to have such a party.  It is a good way to end our time here with our friends and family at HOHH. 

It has been an amazing week and you all should be so proud of our partners here.  Joel and Susan Karanja are amazing, faithful people who have created a loving, God-blessed home for these beautiful children.

Rand carving the goat for dinner.

This morning we toured a government school nearby.  We even played soccer with some of the 350 students at the school.  Our partners, Heart of the Bride, have begun some important ministry with this school in the past year and we are blessed to help and to see what they have done.

Tomorrow we will travel to Kijabe for the day and night to tour Rift Valley Academy (RVA) and the Kijabe Hospital.  We will be blessed to also stay with Tim Myrick for the evening.  On Sunday morning, we will travel to Masai Mara for our safari.  On Tuesday, we return to Nairobi for a day of shopping before we fly out Tuesday night. 

We are so blessed and God is at work here in Naivasha.  We can’t wait to share pictures and videos of our friends and family at HOHH.

Sisi twawapenda nyinyi wote. (We love you all!)

Melissa

The handsome Jack

It is Tuesday afternoon here in Naivasha, Kenya.   We have a chance to use internet so wanted to send a longer update then our tweets. I notice that the tweets are only showing a Facebook link here on the FBCJC Mission page.  I’ll try to correct that.  Regardless, you can always read our updates on my twitter feed at www.twitter.com/melissahatfield.

Things are going wonderful here!  We are so blessed to be at the House of Hope home once again.  We arrived here around 10:30 am this morning for the first time and were warmly greeted by the staff and some of the children.  The other children from HOHH are still at school.  So much has progressed here in the past year.  Three new classrooms are up, there is a greenhouse full of tomato plants, and they are finishing the touches on a building for six milking cows.  Joel’s store that he uses to financially support the home has doubled in size and he is adding a second floor for more room to sell furntiure and appliances.  The town of Naivasha continues to grow and Joel’s department/grocery store is one of the only ones in this area. 

Gabrielle and Abigail with Faith and Ruth

We had chai time (tea break around 10:30 am every day) and just finished our lunch of rice, beans and cabbage.  The ladies on our team are finishing up the dishes and the rest of the team are preparing to paint ceilings.  Next, the ladies will be going into the classroom to teach a Bible story and to teach a craft with the 35 students there – some from the House and many from the community who pay to attend school here.  It has been so great to see all the kids here!  The youngest five have grown so much and are now talking.  They are full of joy and love and are so well taken care of.  This truly is a house of hope and love.

WELL UPDATE:  We are able to see where they have begun digging the well.  Remember that our church has worked this past year to raise $25,000 to drill a water well which is desparatly needed.  We raised nearly $12,000 and another church from Michigan raised nearly $12,000 so the money is almost in.  They started drilling the well a few weeks ago and then the drill bit broke.  The school is at a very high elevation and they have to drill down 200-some feet.  After 10 feet, they hit a lot of rock and stones.  At about 80 ft, the drill broke.  So, the House is waiting on another company to come from Nairobi to finish the well.  They should be here in the  next two weeks to finish it out.  I can’t convey how much this will help the home.  They are out of water and have to buy 4,000 liters of water a week to keep the house going and take care of the kids.  They have a huge garden and a greenhouse that is struggling because they have not had rain. It is desperately needed.  Please join us and the people here as we pray for rain!!!  It stormed last night where we were staying, however, they did not get a drop here at the home.

GREAT NEWS! Our luggage finally arrived and we have all of it.  We are so thankful because we truly are starting to smell. God has been good and provided for us way beyond our needs.  Jason and Lisa Hovingh are such amazing hosts and we want for nothing.

It has been such an amazing trip thus far.  Everyone is healthy and in great spirits.  The team is a solid team that are ready and willing to follow God’s lead and serve others.