Outreach

This is an outreach opportunity to make connections with the children and families in your community. By hosting a Club, you will be able to engage in gospel centered conversations, stories and activities while building relationships.

Trip Recap: Liberty Heights Neighborhood Backyard Bible Club (May 31-June 2)

We had a wonderful 3-day experience with beautiful weather at our 2nd annual backyard bible club in our neighborhood. Through music, crafts, bible stories, and games, we ended up being able to serve 30 kids coming from almost 20 different families! We had many curious kids who were eager to ask questions and learn more about their Savior.

Our theme, Destination Dig, describes our week perfectly as we dug deep to see more of who Jesus is and the way God keeps his promises!

All of our kids who participated ages 3-11 memorized the scripture for the week: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah‬ ‭29:13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

For those of you who prayed, donated snacks, and came along side our small team, THANK YOU!! It was a beautiful week, and we are praying seeds were planted and the relationships formed in our neighborhood from this week will continue to grow!

This team will join the “Building Dreams” program with Family Life Missions where we partner with a family, a local church, and the community, to restore or build a new home for a family. 

Honduras Trip Recap

The 2023 FBCRC Honduras Team came to Honduras on June 1, ready to learn and grow in God's truth. One of our devotionals on the trip was based on Micah 6:6-8. Instead of performance-type activities, even “good activities,” the final verse points to an attitude more than action: 

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? — Micah 6:8, ESV 

We were challenged to go about this trip not as a merit badge but to “Do Justice,” “Love Kindness,” and “Walk Humbly with God,” seeking Christ’s attitude throughout the week.

Do Justice

Our partners with Family Life Missions in Catacamas, Honduras have ministered to a lady and her family for a few years now. Her name is Marleny. Without legal identity in the eyes of the Honduran government, Marleny has already lost custody of two of her children. The building that she was living in didn’t have a door, so she slept with a machete to protect herself and her three children still in her custody.

We were able to help build a house for Marleny where she will be better able to safely raise her children. This labor involved helping build a septic tank, pouring concrete floors, painting, and cleaning. We got well-acquainted with cemento, palas (shovels), carretas (wheelbarrows), and a lot of sudor (sweat)! The heat index on the first day of work was over 100 degrees, and it felt like it.

We also learned so much from the Honduran construction crew who instructed and guided us to learn some new skills. It was such a blessing to hear of their love for Jesus and see His kingdom in action. Team member Wyndee Clara commented, "It was a blessing to see the excitement on Marleny's face as she saw her new home come together. It was also beautiful to be a part of new friendships being formed with the team and the workers."

Love Kindness

The community that we served was a failed, subsidized housing area in the town of Culmí. The area is riddled with poverty and without any access to education. We took part in a Medical Brigade, where a member of our team shared a message of Christ’s love for the community, and then another member of our team served alongside the staff from FLM. They supplied basic health and hygiene items and a nourishing lunch.  

We also had the opportunity to connect with the children at the Por Los Ninos Christian Bilingual school every school morning through a devotional prepared by different members of our team. We even had a bilingual team member use her talents and gifts to present training to the teachers at the school.

Walk Humbly with God

We enjoyed many days of fellowship with each other and our neighbors in Honduras. One of our teammates, Josh Tenpenny who participated in the team both last year and this year, summed it up so well. He said, "Again enjoying making relationships…Last year, I felt God telling me to be content and find peace. This year, I felt God telling me not fear…The take aways from the trips, just make my soul joyful." We caught a glimpse of the kingdom mission we're invited into and an eternal kingdom family we're part of. When it was time to go, we didn´t say "Adios" (good-bye), but "Hasta La Vista," (Til we see each other again).

In partnership with Street-reach, a ministry that focuses on proclaiming the gospel and helping the community of Memphis, our group will be running Backyard Bible Clubs and doing other community projects to proclaim the hope of the gospel.

Trip Recap: Street Reach (Memphis)

We had such an INCREDIBLE time this year as 47 Fellowship students and leaders went to Memphis, TN in partnership with Street Reach Ministries. We ran two different Bible Club sites, Whittier and Rosamond, as we were able to reach around 30 kids at each location and 60 kids in total!

We taught the kids that “The Lord is My Shepherd” as we went through Psalm 23 learning each day that “My Shepherd calms me, loves me, is with me, and gives to me”. We showed the kids this through our Bible Stories, but also our other Bible Club stations, crafts, games, and songs. We had kids introduced to Jesus, believe in Jesus, and even see kids tell their other friends about Jesus!

Our team was also able to have afternoon projects in the community, such as praying for people at laundry mats and paying for their laundry, bible clubs in other parts of Memphis, and cleaning up some streets and Street Reach’s facility.

It was an incredible week with incredible stories where Jesus reached not only the kids of Memphis, but also our team! THANK YOU to everyone who attended the trip and for those who supported through prayer and finances! We are looking forward to our trip next year!

VBS exists to minister to the children in the church as well as create an opportunity to reach the local community for the Gospel. It gives children a memorable experience encountering Jesus and learning more about Him

Trip Recap: FBC Vacation Bible School

This year's VBS theme was "Following Jesus Changes Everything." Over the course of the week, kids learned that Jesus is Holy, Jesus is Trustworthy, Jesus is Forgiving, Jesus is Worth Following, and Jesus is For Everyone. Each day we started the day with an opening rally where everyone sang, watched a skit, played a game, participated in a missions offering, and watched a short video. After that, kids rotated through key areas including Music, Missions, Bible, Rec, Crafts, and Snack.

In our Missions rotation this year, the kids learned the basics, focusing on what it means to be a missionary. The kids learned from students who had returned the previous week from serving at Street Reach Ministry in Memphis, and they were able to ask these students practical, real-life questions about their experience with being a missionary. Kids were taught that we are all called to be missionaries every day, and they were encouraged to bring money to help Street Reach to purchase a bounce house. By week's end, we had raised over $1,900.00 – enough to purchase a commercial bounce house! Seeing the kids joyfully pour out their coins and dump out dollar bills day after day was a highlight of the week, and everyone celebrated on Friday night with ice cream sundaes at our Celebration Night.

It was impactful to see kids play games with friends and make new connections, which can be hard to do on a Sunday morning in an hour. It was also fun to see volunteers become more connected with the church body in new and meaningful ways as they joined forces to share the Gospel. Additionally, we enjoyed seeing lots of new lots of new faces, as one fourth of the kids in attendance were visitors! God was at work in orchestrating many of the details of the week, and volunteers were keenly aware of the Spirit moving.

We pray that the Lord will receive all glory and honor for every good thing that happened at VBS. We pray that children will make a decision for Christ or experience growth in their walk with Him. We pray for God to water the seeds that He planted in hearts, and we praise Him for the opportunity to be used for His purposes. It was an incredible week.

We will partner with a Slovenian church and youth group to share the good news of Jesus in a country with fewer than 1% Christians. We will help run a gospel-centered English Camp.

Trip Recap: Josiah Venture (Slovenia) Trip

The mission trip to Slovenia was incredible, God showed up in a big way! Our team partnered with a local church in Koper to run an English camp. The camp met two major needs for Slovenes: (1) learning English in an immersive environment and (2) by exposing Slovenes to their need for Jesus and a gospel centered community.

The local missionaries were amazed at how God broke down barriers at camp. Praise God! I’ll share a few praises with you:

• 20 kids from last year's camp returned this year and it made a huge difference…from day one the students were connected and engaged in camp!
• Numerous spiritual conversations happened and many students were open to the good news of Jesus and interested in follow up conversations...5 asked for bibles and their parents approved!
• The parents were super supportive of the camp and the Christ-centered focus...one parent made the comment that he had never seen kids in Slovenia so happy and alive; and then said whatever you are doing at this camp, Slovenia needs more of this!
• Most of the campers were interested in attending the church’s youth group and 53 of the 60 campers joined us for a post-camp hangout day!
• Caeden and Tadej played their guitar and sang worship music in the streets of Ljubljana and at one point over 75 people listened to Jesus being worshipped in a spiritually dead city!

It was such a joy to join in the movement of God. He is at work building his church and seeking to save the lost. I believe generations of Slovenes will be transformed by their exposure to Jesus at this camp.

As Slovenia comes to to your mind please continue to pray according to these words of Jesus:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38

We’re partnering with Young Life Scotland to reach students who have grown up in a post-Christian culture. This is a great opportunity to relationally show and share the love of Christ with the next generation! 

Trip Recap: Young Life (Scotland) Trip

One of the most intriguing features of Scotland is the obvious evidence of historical Christianity—numerous steeples from spectacular cathedrals rise above the cityscapes—coupled with the spiritual vacancy so prevalent throughout the culture.

Young Life is positioned beautifully to reach just that kind of culture. Throughout the year, local leaders are engaging teenagers, inviting them to relationally rich environments where they can form new friendships, have some fun, and hear about the person of Jesus, some for the first time.

Camp is an annual high point where all the contact work with kids comes together. It is also the time when we intersect with those local leaders to provide an epic experience built around the love of Christ.

Throughout the week we had daily sports and crafts, music, dancing, skits and stories from the life of Jesus. All of it intended to introduce the campers to the Savior. Outside of camp, our team partnered with the Scotland team to pray and prep for the many details required to make the week a positive and meaningful experience for all who attended. It was in all of that activity where we saw the beauty of unity that the Holy Spirit gives to his people when they lock arms in the mission, even from distant regions of the world.

Each day, after camp wrapped up, we debriefed as a team and answered the question, “Where did you see God today.” The answers were faith building and joy filled. We were encouraged by the self-less service of those on our team. We were blessed by the generous hospitality of our host families. And we were inspired by the movement of campers toward Jesus. After that time of sharing, we would pray the names of the campers to the One who knows each camper by name…Cara, Daniel, Rachel, Adam, Bella, Chris…52 in all this year!

Looking back, God not only worked through each member of our team, he also worked in each of us. We learned to trust him with circumstances outside of our control. We learned to take relational initiative, even when it feels awkward. We experienced the sufficiency of Christ at moments we felt depleted. And we felt the truth that together is better.

God is doing a good work in Scotland, and in us as we partner with him and his people in a part of the world where the gospel has been neglected. We can’t wait to return and take another step in ministry with our Scottish brothers and sisters in Christ.

This trip is with the ‘Across Nations’ ministry to the Navajo nation. Much of the time will be spent on work projects in the community, in places such as the Hilltop Christian school that ministers to students on the reservation or a local church. We also plan to experience things like worship in the Navajo language and visit places like the Navajo Nation Zoo or the tribal headquarters.

Survivors of disasters experience a range of emotions amidst their losses. HopeForce volunteers go into disaster zones and provide immense physical help, compassion, encouragement, and prayer support through their "Ministry of Presence."