Missions and Outreach
For more information on the Unreached Peoples please go to: http://www.unreachedoftheday.org/index.php
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of 
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age." – Matthew 28:18-20
The Great Commission sets the parameters of our service to Him. It's a call for every member of God's family. And it is GREAT. We will have other life tasks, but our primary work is to fulfill the Great Commission – in our home, in our personal life, in our neighborhood, in our workplace, in our community ... and beyond. We have been entrusted to share the Good News of Christ! This is a privilege each of us shares, as well as a responsibility we must take personally.
We have many ministries which enable us to address all three strands of the Great Commission... evangelism (having a passion for the lost), discipleship (spiritual multiplication), and reaching out to the poor. We recognize that the church, having come to Christ, is to now go do the work of Christ. God only asks that we make ourselves available to Him.
Our
Church On Mission Sally Gorden and Linda Soucier
Mission Committee
Greg, a worker in Niger, and his Christian friend Harouna
were witnessing in a shop when Hamadu came in to buy soap. His witchdoctor had
told him that he would be healed of his illness if he mixed the soap with water
and drank it.
The two men convinced Hamadu not to buy the soap and
prayed for healing in Jesus’ name.
A few months later Hamadu invited Greg and Harouna to
his home and told them how he’d been healed after their prayer.
He had worked as a security guard at a Christian
church for 10 years, but Hamadu said no one ever told him about Jesus. He
wanted to hear about his Healer. When they told him about Jesus, he believed
immediately.
Christians gave Hamadu a copy of the Gospel of John,
but a visual impairment prevented him from being able to read it. A few weeks
later an American eye doctor on a mission trip fitted Hamadu with glasses.
Greg gave him a large-print Bible in the Hausa
language and Hamadu was finally able to read God’s Word. Gifts to the Lottie
Moon Christmas Offering paid for Greg to live in Niger where he was able to
help lead Hamadu to Christ and disciple him before his death last year. Those
gifts also helped him purchase the $15 Bible.
Because of
your giving, people like Hamadu can read the Word of God and believe.
Care Net Ministries
Donations for Care Net Ministries are being accepted and can be left on the table in the foyer. Care Net is always in need of diapers and formula as well as clothes for newborns.
Thanksgiving Baskets
Each
year we give Thanksgiving Baskets to needy families . This year the Church voted to make 2
baskets. There will be an assortment of
items you can bring to make up the baskets on the table in the main foyer of
the church. Please join us as we work
together to make this a Happy Thanksgiving for a family in need.
Missions Chairmen: Sally Gorden and Linda Soucier
We were asked at our last Church Council meeting to give a synopsis of what we as a Church do for Missions. This is not an easy task as we have such a variety of projects that we house under “Missions”. When trying to come up with a list we decided to list the outreaches in chronological order.
Coat and
Blanket DriveWinter Mission emphasis – 5th Sunday in January
Spring Festival
Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (for North American Missionaries)
North American Mission Study
Food Drive for the Tolland Food Bank (twice a year - May and October)
World Hunger Offering
School Clothes and Supplies (for those in need who come to our church)
Beulah Peoples Offering for New England Missionaries
Shoebox Drive for Samaritan’s Purse
Thanksgiving Baskets for 2 families in Tolland
Christmas Baskets and gifts for 2 families in Tolland
Hat and Mitten gifts for Tri-Town Shelter
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (for International Missionaries)
As you can see, this is a pretty full plate. However, we do more. There are special drives for needs that arise, such as the collection to build Haitian housing that would sleep 10 people and provide them with clean water. The collection of health and hygiene supplies sent to Haiti. Then the school supplies that we collected during Vacation Bible School that were also sent to Haiti. Both of these collections were carried to Haiti by members of the Baptist Convention of New England to insure that they reached the people who were in such need.
This year we are planning to expand by going on Mission trips. Please keep your eyes open for more information to follow as we prepare to go to Vermont and beyond.
GROW Outreach:
G R O W stands for “God Rewards Our Work”. It is a plan to reach the world for Christ one soul at a time. We meet the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm in the fellowship hall.
One night each month, a group of us get together, for one hour, to write notes, pray, visit others, and make phone calls. This is our OUTREACH ministry. Each month the choice is yours as to the direction that your witnessing will take, whether you will write notes, or pray, etc.
It is a small group that meets, at the present time, but there is always room to “GROW”. Please join us! If you are interested in participating or have questions, please speak with Pat Grundman, Lynn Nissen or Pastor Jeff.
Samaritans Purse/Operation Christmas Child:
Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children all over the world who are in desparate situations. For more information on this Ministry please go to Operation Christmas Child/Samaritans Purse website, or please contact Theda Moore, our Missions Committee Chairperson, at (860) 871-0592.
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering:
Born into privilege on a Virginia plantation, Charlotte Digges Moon was a smart, forceful woman who could have achieved most any goal. But God’s call focused Lottie’s life on sharing Christ’s love with China’s lost masses. For 37 years she endured hardship and danger in a land oppressed by famine, disease and war. In the end, she loved the Chinese people more than life itself, giving her own food to starving neighbors – eventually dying of starvation herself.
Why is Southern Baptists’ international missions offering named for this early missionary? Throughout her career, Lottie wrote numerous letters home urging Southern Baptists to greater missions involvement and support. One of those letters, excerpted below, triggered Southern Baptists’ first offering for international missions in 1888 – enough to send three more missionaries to China.
“How many there are … who imagine that because Jesus paid it all, they need pay nothing, forgetting that the prime object of their salvation was that they should follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing back a lost world to God.”
--Lottie Moon, Tengchow, China, Sept. 15, 1887.
Each year Southern Baptists participate and contribute to the Lottie Moon christmas Offering. This is part of the International Missions Board.
Did you know?
1. Lottie Moon makes up 53 percent of the International Mission Board's total income.
2. 6,438 people groups are unreached for Jesus Christ; total population 3.7 billion
3. Many are responding to the Gospel; more than 400,000 baptisms overseas
4. More than 5,000 IMB missionaries’ ministries
depend on Lottie Moon
5. 100 percent of the offering supports missionaries overseas
6. Sacrificial giving enables the church to actively participate in missions
To learn more about the life of Lottie Moon, please go to the
IMB website.
Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO):
The reason we give to AAEO:
To help our missionary force reach for Christ an estimated 244 million lost people in the United States and Canada; that's three of four people. 100% of the donations go to support our missionaries.
Each year, we honor the life and work of Annie Walker Armstrong (1850-1938) when we give to the annual offering for home missions named after her. As a tireless servant of God and a contagious advocate and supporter of mission efforts throughout the world, Annie Armstrong led women to unite in mission endeavors that ultimately led to the formation of Woman’s Missionary Union, for which she served as the first corresponding secretary.
What do AAEO-supported missionaries do?
- Start new churches
- Engage in student evangelism on college campuses
- Serve the physical and spiritual needs of people through inner-city Baptist centers
- Serve in local Baptist associations as associational missionary or other mission staff
- Provide training and ministry in apologetics (interfaith witness) evangelism
- Minister in resort settings such as campgrounds and ski areas
Please pray for the missionaries!