Contents
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In Canada, CBF field personnel Kim and Marc Wyatt are ministering among the immigrants and refugees living in the country’s largest cities.
Ten People to Meet at CBF’s General Assembly
Fostering faith & teaching English in China • Field personnel create community among service workers • Levesque builds relationships, shares gospel in Nanning • CBF field personnel teach, encourage college students • Veteran missions worker finds new challenges teaching English
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Affect: February Missions Education Resource Missional churches • Suburban St. Louis church reaches out to war refugees • Georgia church transforms bank building into community center • Florida church utilizes location to minister among homeless population
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Affect: March Missions Education Resource
Photos courtesy of FBC Fort Myers
Upcoming CBF Events
Partner Spotlight: Center for Congregational Health 2012 CBF General Assembly — Fort Worth, Texas
At the First Baptist activities center in Fort Myers, Fla., homeless individuals have access to toiletries and a hot shower.
FROM THE EDITOR In this issue of the fellowship! magazine, you’ll read about First Baptist Church of Fort Myers, Fla. When
church members decided to reach out beyond the walls of their church, they found a homeless community in need of basic items (shower, clean clothes, food, etc.) and God’s love. After the church’s ministry provided one man, who had recently been laid off, with a suitcase, small food stipend and bus ticket home, John Daugherty, pastor of FBC Fort Myers, drove him to the nearby bus station. Daugherty remembers the man’s parting words, “You guys must save a lot of lives,” he said. Fellowship partner congregations, such as FBC Fort Myers, are saving lives and changing lives in a variety of ways. We want to hear your stories. We want to share your stories with others so that they might be inspired. Maybe your church is like First Baptist Church of Tucker, Ga., a congregation that worked to convert a former bank building into a community center (read more on page 21). Or maybe your ministries are similar to those of Kirkwood Baptist Church in St. Louis, Mo., which started a ministry among refugees living in the city (read more on pages 18-20). These churches are being the presence of Christ in their communities. Each church discerned a need and utilized their resources and gifts to help meet that need. They are missional churches, recognizing and living out their unique role in God’s mission in the world. Take a moment, send an e-mail and share your missional story.
Patricia Heys, managing editor, pheys@thefellowship.info
fellowship!
April/May 2012
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