Stories from the 2012 Christmas Store

Each year we hear amazing God stories from the Christmas Store, and we hope to celebrate these many moments, experiences and stories that you share with us. By posting your comments to the questions below, we will capture these stories for future generations of volunteers, bringing glory to God and "spur[ring] one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24).

Please share your Christmas Store experience with us by responding to the following in the comments:

1. What role did you serve in and why did you sign up?
2. What did God show/teach you through the experience?
3. What is your fondest memory of serving at the Christmas Store this year?
4. What would you say to someone who is thinking of serving in a similar role at next year's Christmas Store?

Pray for the Stickneys

Below is an email and prayer request from Tom Stickney, VRBC-supported missionary and director of African Christian Outreach (ACO).

ACO Partners,

  We are asking that you pray for safety. This time of the year crime rises in Nairobi, carjackings double, home invasions are more frequent, and petty theft is rampant. We take precautions as a family and ministry by adding extra security at night for the compound, know the exact routes we are driving from place to place, watch for following cars, stay in at night, limit travel within the country to needed trips only, etc. However, the past few days Nairobi has had some issues. The public transportation system has gone on strike because of new traffic laws that will take effect December 1st. This leaves 4 million people walking to work or not able to get to work. Riots in the city have shut-off most main roads and violence in the downtown area has begun to spread, making backroads and shortcuts dangerous as well. Unfortunately it is a few that create the havoc, but there is enough of them for violence to spread quickly throughout the country.

Pray for these things:

1. Safety for our Students & Staff as they finish up the semester and begin traveling home.

2. Safety for the Stickneys as they shrink their world to just a few kilometers around school, home and shopping.

3. Tom flew to the US November 30th. Pray for safety for Kerry and kids as he is away.

 

4. Pray for God's ANGELS to surround the ACO Compound, kids' & Kerry's school, and our staff homes as they finish up over the next two weeks.

5. A resolution between lawmakers and public transport operators to end the strike and get Kenya back to the relaxed country it usually is.

6. Pray for those who do not have and decide to resort to taking from others at this time of year.

Thank You, we will try and keep you updated.

 

Tom Stickney

Executive Director

African Christian Outreach

stickneytk@mac.com

More Sandy Relief--Volunteers and Donations Needed

Texas Baptist Disaster Recovery

Marla Bearden, Disaster Recovery Specialist

Gerald Davis, Disaster Recovery & Development Specialist

Chris Liebrum, Disaster Recovery Director

Baptist General Convention of Texas

Disaster Recovery & Development begins weeks, months and even years after the initial response, working through our local churches, associations and Long Term Recovery Teams.  We provide a holistic approach to community development, working with disaster survivors throughout the long term restoration process.

 

Hurricane Sandy Recovery Teams will be needed!

 Go to www.texasbaptists.org/disaster

Click on the GIVE button to provide funds to assist as teams will be needed. Click on the CONNECT button to provide your contact information to join our TEXAS BAPTISTS VOLUNTEER CORPS as we serve those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

 

We will contact you when we need teams to assist.

PRAYER REQUEST!

Pray for Hurricane Sandy victims and workers today, 11/7. The cold front has moved in and snow is dropping in the region.

Tim Buehner

Baptist Convention of New England

 Hurricane Sandy  Distribution Items Needed Now

The Church at the Gateway in Staten Island, New York is collecting items and serving as a distribution center.  Please start collecting these items.  We are working on drop off places through out the state.  If your church would like to serve as a drop off place please let me know.

 Needs List for Hurricane Sandy Recovery 

 NO CLOTHES OR SHOES WILL BE ACCEPTED! 

Gallon zip lock bags
Contractor bags
Bleach, other industrial cleaners
Toilet Paper, Paper Towels
Sponges, Buckets
Shovels
Dust masks
Work gloves
Crow bars
Plastic Shelving units (like the ones for garages)
Bubble wrap
Packing tape
Empty boxes
Hand sanitizer
Towels, Washclothes, Blankets, Sheets, Air mattresses
School Supplies
MREs (such as Heater Ex Meals)
*Gift cards for clothes, food, diapers, etc.  (Wal-Mart,Target, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.)
*Cash Donations - can be given through www.texasbaptists.org/give and click on Disaster Response
 NO CLOTHES OR SHOES WILL BE ACCEPTED!

You can mail gift cards directly to the church at: 

The Church at the Gateway
200 Boscombe Ave.
Staten Island, NY 10309.

Coordinator of Distribution Center: Jenny Wilen, 718-966-4500

A gracious man from the Houston area had volunteered to rent a large U-Haul truck and take these items to Staten Island.  We have a drop off place in Houston but are looking for a place in the DFW Metroplex.  If you are interested in being a drop off/collection place let me know.  

 The Church at the Gateway is a Southern Baptist Church. 

  HURRICANE ISAAC DISASTER RECOVERY  

OPPORTUNITIES IN LOUISIANA

We have been in contact with Billy Puckett of the New Orleans Baptist Association.  They are now coordinating Baptist efforts.  

 

In the Plaquemine Parish area contact:

Lynn Rodrigue: (225) 335-1269

lrodrigue@juno.com

Port Sulphur Baptist Church

27080 Highway 23, Port Sulphur, LA 70083 

Housing and feeding of incoming teams, and a list of assessed work requests.  The church can comfortably house 30 workers at one time. The teams have access to a kitchen if they need. The work in Port Sulphur is primarily roof tarping and mudout from water that came in from above rather than flooding.

In the LaPlace area, St. Charlies Parish

Michael Heath: (504) 799-8199

mheathrun@yahoo.com

First Baptist Church Norco

626 Fifth St., Norco, LA 70079

FBC Norco is providing housing for around 25 workers. Norco is about 5 miles outside of the work area (Laplace). Incoming teams will need to provide their own food and cooks. The church kitchen is available to the incoming teams. Michael has a list of assessed work requests that he can provide the incoming teams. The work in Laplace is primarily mudout due to flood damage.

Texas Baptists Disaster Recovery is planning a group trip January 2 - 6, 2013.  If you would be interested in joining this trip go to www.texasbaptists.org/disaster , click on the CONNECT box and complete the information sheet. More information will be available soon.

If you have any questions please contact:

Marla Bearden or Gerald Davis
Texas Baptists Disaster Recovery & Development

Marla 214-537-7358

Gerald 214-924-6401

email: marla.bearden@texasbaptists.org or gerald.davis@texasbaptists.org

Neighborhood in La Place, LA

Updated Opportunities to respond to Superstorm Sandy

Here are the latest updates from our partners regarding opportunities to respond to Superstorm Sandy.

Texas Baptist Men
Volunteers from Texas Baptist Men are focusing on feeding in New York, New Jersey and West Virginia. See the latest updates at www.texasbaptistmen.org. Click here to donate.

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

Millions ontinue to struggle in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Basic necessities like food, water, and shelter are in short supply in many places. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and its partners have been monitoring the developing situation. Although this is not the time for short-term teams to venture into some of these hardest hit areas, there are opportunities for individuals and churches to provide tangible assistance.

 In metro New York, one of our partner congregations, Metro Baptist Church, has already been the hands and feet of Christ during this ordeal. Daily, they have been opening their doors and giving whatever they had to there community in need. A bowl of soup, a simple bag of toiletries, or even a quick place to charge a dying cell phone are some of the simple ways that they have been the presence of Christ in New York City.

Below you will find three simple collection projects that would be a GREAT benefit to hurting people in New York. Please prayerfully consider participating.

Toiletries Project: Travel sizes or shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, lotions, tissues, and Chapstick

Snacks Project: Breakfast bars, granola bars, packs of crackers, raisins, juice boxes (Metro has been offering “snack bags” to people who come to the center. These are quart sized Ziploc bags that are filled with portable snacks.)

In working with both of the above projects, quart-sized Ziploc bags are needed.

Clothing: Heavy coats (all sizes-especially larger sizes, for layering purposes), gloves, socks, hats, scarves, sweaters, and men’s pants. (Please keep in mind that these should be either gently used or new items.)

All items can be collected and shipped directly to Metro Baptist Church. Please do not send these donations to CBF National.

Metro Baptist Church
c/o Tiffany Henkel
410 West 40^th Street
New York, NY 10018
Thank you in advance for your assistance!


World Vision

Areas of Focus will be:
New York: Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Westchesterm Yonkers
New Jersey: Atlantic City, Hoboken, Newark (as needed)
West Virginia: Philippi and surrounding communities, Eden, Kentucky

Key Headlines, as of Nov 2nd:
- Distribution of Disaster Response Items started 11/1/2012 in WV; some unscheduled distributions were done by assessment teams.  More distributions this week see below.
- Disaster Response Shipment from N. Texas has arrived in NY 11/2.
- $368,000+  raised for relief efforts to date
- Three of our field sites are responding from within the impact zone.
- Our flagship site in the Bronx NY was heavily damaged from flooding, causing significant loss of relief supplies.
- We have established and opened up a second distribution point in the Bronx.
- We have multi-state assessments taking place and have eleven focus communities.
- We have over 600 partners that we will connect with and mobilize.
- Product relief has begun flowing in those communities.  
- Relief has included food, water, sanitation, and shelter.
- NYC has one of the highest poverty rates in the US where 30 percent of youth under 18 live under the poverty line.
- Over 30 calls to DCS, Church and Staff offering Volunteers groups and individuals to assist.  Staff is mobilizing to engage volunteer connection asap.

Response to Hurricane Sandy

VRBC partners with many individuals and organizations who are on the front lines of response in a disaster like Hurricane Sandy. In the initial days following, donations are incredibly helpful as they provide immediate relief. In the coming weeks, there will likely be more opportunities for personal involvement, after they have had a chance to mobilize and equip their field personnel to receive teams. Please see below for giving opportunities to assist our partners responding to Hurricane Sandy.


Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
The Fellowship's model for response ministry is to be a long-term presence, helping communities recover and rebuild. You can help those affected by the storm by giving online or mail your check to CBF with “Disaster Response” in the memo line. Stay up-to-date on other ways you can assist through CBF’s Disaster Response Mission Community.

World Vision
World Vision is responding with kits of relief supplies (flood clean-up, hygiene, and family food kits) pre-positioned at its warehouse in the Bronx, which also suffered flooding. Up to a third of the stock in the warehouse has been destroyed, though much of the supply pre-positioned for emergency relief operations remains intact. Additional relief supplies are en route to New York from World Vision’s national domestic disaster headquarters in North Texas. Our offices in Washington, D.C., and West Virginia remain closed. You can stay up to date with what World Vision is doing here. If you are interested in contributing to World Vision's disaster relief in these areas, we have three opportunities:

• GIVE to World Vision's US Disaster Response Fund
• PRAY for the victims, first responders, communities, and WV staff impacted by this disaster. (Email Amy Wilkins for the WV prayer guide.)
• VOLUNTEER to assemble hygiene kits

Texas Baptist Men
Due to the widespread damage caused by hurricane Sandy, Texas Baptist Men have been asked by Coy Webb, the Kentucky Baptist Men Disaster Relief Director to be ready to provide volunteers to work with Kentucky Baptist Men feeding units in Orange County, New York. The Kentucky feeding units are en route now to Orange County, New York to set up feeding operations to support American Red Cross in feeding the population affected by the storm. Find updates here. Click here to make a donation to support TBM's disaster relief ministry. Click here to get information on volunteer trainings.

Eikon New York
While not yet an official VRBC-supported missionary, Steven Dilla is a friend of VRBC children's pastor Amy Goble. Steven and his wife Emily are planting a church in lower Manhattan and have the relationships in place to begin serving those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Their area was hit hard and is without electricity until Friday or Saturday, no drinkable water, and many are running out of food and water supplies. They are mobilizing now to help get food and water to those in the Lower East Side, a low-income area that was one of the hardest hit by the storm. Their new church, Eikon New York, is gathering friends to deliver food and water to an apartment building with many single moms, elderly and a few wheelchair bound (who are stuck on their floor without elevator service) where all are without power and about half have run out of water and have limited food. Visit Steven's blog for details on the project and the latest updates on their relief efforts. They need to raise about $2,000 for this project. Click here to donate to their efforts, and be sure to mention 'Sandy' in the notes section.

WMU of Texas Home Build

VRBC members Deirdre Lanoue and Carolyn Porterfield traveled to the Rio Grande Valley two weeks ago  with the Women's Missionary Union (WMU) of Texas. In partnership with Buckner, they spent the week building a home for a family in Peñitas, a colonia outside of McAllen where Buckner operates a Community Transformation Center.


WMU of Texas 2012 Home Build Participants
VRBC members Deirdre Lanoue & Carolyn Porterfield at right

Over five days the group built a new home from the ground up for new homeowners Maria and Osvaldo Salazar and their children.



Day One, adding the trusses



Deirdre Lanoue, front left, helps shingle the roof

The family participated right alongside the WMU team. Even the neighbors got involved by bringing a fruit basket to bless the team working in 100+degree heat.

Osvaldo helps with the framing

One of the Salazar's children gets to help build his own house!

One woman on the trip said, "This week wasn't so much about building a house. It was about life transformation -- a family, a team, a community." And lives truly were transformed. On Thursday Osvaldo, the young father, came to know Christ. And on Friday, his wife Maria did the same. As Deirdre put it, "Now this family has a foundation for life, not just a house."

Maria prays to accept Christ

This family now has a home in Peñitas and a home in glory!



VRBC member Carolyn Porterfield, who serves as the Multicultural Consultant for the WMU of Texas, had the privilege of handing over the keys to the new homeowners. We praise God for ministry partners like WMU and Buckner who make these opportunities possible. Please pray for the Salazar family as they settle in to their new home and their new faith.

Carolyn Porterfield welcomes the Salazars to their new home.

Please pray for our new brother and sister in Christ!



For more pictures and information about the trip or about the ministry of WMU, please click to visit their Facebook page or their website.

This is our final post in our partial fast to focus our attention and prayers on behalf of the world's poor. We hope you will join us tomorrow for our Global Missions Fair, with a heart prepared to learn how God would have you engage and serve among the poor around the world. Hopefully these posts have helped you to form a habit of praying for the poor. I would love to hear about your experience with family meals of rice and beans and how God has moved your heart this week. Please post in the comments anything you don't mind sharing. And now, back to our prayers.

Luke 14:13-14
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

• Pray that God would give you opportunities to engage the poor relationally. Ask God to help you love them the way God loves them: unconditionally, as precious children.
• Ask God to move you beyond a general love for the poor and into true friendships with those God has called you to serve. May God move you beyond compassion into brotherhood.
• As you befriend those who are poor, may you be blessed beyond measure. Although they cannot repay you financially, they often have so much to teach us about generosity, loyalty and authenticity. Ask God to provide and preserve deep friendships that cross economic and demographic divides.