Dina Hair, director of resident services and community relations, and William Fleming, maintenance technician – employees of Martha Franks Retirement Center since its opening in 1985 – received service pins Jan. 25, marking 20 years of employment. With Hair and Fleming is administrator John Medlin, right, who made the presentation.
James Stevens, pastor of Welcome Baptist Church, Laurens, has begun a ministry of service at Martha Franks Retirement Center. Stevens – along with church members Griffin Campbell, Jim Cole, Harold Lancaster and John Stevens – began painting the outside trim of the main complex Jan. 28. The ministry will continue on the last Saturday of each month. To help, contact James Stevens at (864) 981-2941.
Girls in Action and Royal Ambassadors of New Pleasant Baptist Church, Gaffney, presented the church with a World Hunger theme, “Got Milk? Some Don’t.” PET Dairy donated milk cartons for the project, and each family filled their carton with change. The WMU also sponsored a Poor Man’s Supper to help. The emphasis raised $993 for world hunger, and canned goods were accepted for the church’s food pantry.
Chris Sullivan was ordained to the ministry Jan. 15 at Beulah Baptist Church, Fountain Inn. He will serve as associate pastor of youth at Wren Baptist Church, Piedmont. With Sulliivan, center, are Harold Sanders of Wren and Eddy Mattison of Beulah.
Buffalo Baptist Church, Kershaw, recognized five Girls in Action last August for their advancement steps in World Venture activity books. Leaders (back row, l to r) include Edith Joyner, Pansy Seegars and Harriet Estridge. The GAs were Allison Bowers, Abbie Gail Durant, Abbie Vincent, Jill Reynolds and Cynthia Gonzalez.
Wayne Rogers, a retired educator and missions leader at Beaverdam Baptist Church, Williamston, was recognized for his dedication to missions service in Kentucky. Ernest Boggs, director of missions for Upper Cumberland Association in Harlan, Ky., presented to Rogers a Kentucky Colonel award, the highest honor given by the state’s governor. Rogers and his family were joined by mission team members during a Jan. 22 program.
English as a Second Language Training was held Jan. 19-21 at Welcome Baptist Church, Greenville Baptist Association, for leaders from Welcome, and from Siloam, Mt. Airy and Mt. Moriah Baptist churches, Piedmont Association.Welcome Baptist began hosting the ESL classes Feb. 19. Sue Johnson of Florence conducted the training as a representative of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
A team from Waccamaw Baptist Association went to Kathmandu, Nepal, in December to share God’s love and to encourage Christians there. From left: Rob Thompson, Arleta Thompson, Brenda Ryan Hucks, Conner Ryan, Sheila Yates, Vicki Chafee, Lebron Crisp, Craig Frey, Amanda Smith, and Rodney Hord, pastor of Juniper Bay Baptist Church, Conway.
Approximately 200 men attended the first wild game banquet at First Baptist Church, Great Falls, and 52 decisions for Christ were made. More than 70 door prizes were awarded. Pro fisherman Glenn Chappelear, featured speaker, began the banquet with a fishing seminar. The program included trick casting with a beetle spin lure. “All of the hard work paid off when we opened the response cards and realized that 52 men made decisions for Christ,” said Gregory Batchelor.
A team from Welcome Baptist Church, Greenville, left Feb. 3 for a 13-day mission trip to Panama. The team will be joining others from the Greenville Baptist Association in dental and evangelistic ministries. A commissioning service was held Jan. 29. Team members pictured are (l to r) Jimmy and Lynn Martin, G.W. and Carol Allen, and Jim and Barbara Seeger.
On Jan. 15, a group from the Georgetown/Andrews area left for Winter Haven, Fla., for a weeklong mission trip. Eight area churches were involved. The host church, St. John United Methodist Church in Winter Haven, provided shelter and facilities for the 19-member group. Participants included: Screven Baptist Church – Wayne Ellis, Don McCraw, JohnMcCloud, Charles Pope, B.J. Smith, Terry Todd; Low Country Community Church – Meg Sherman and Kaitlin Bideler; First Baptist Church, Andrews – Joe Carolyn Glover; First Baptist Church, Georgetown – Thomas and Janice Smith, Wil Bradham, Brandon Fox, Lisa Ballard; Pleasant Hill Baptist Church – Neville Cribb; Spring Gulley Baptist Church – Randy Zurcher; McClellanville Baptist Church – Ricky West and Michelle West; East Side Free Will Baptist Church – Lewis Pope. Also pictured is a team member cutting a tree that a disabled homeowner had been trying to remove from his yard since 2004.
When Tucapau Baptist Church in Startex learned West Poplarville Baptist Church, Poplarville, Miss., was in need of a van for its ministry, particularly for its senior adult program, the Tucapau congregation voted to donate its 1985 Ford van to the cause. The Mississippi church, along with the town of Poplarville – located approximately 65 miles north of New Orleans – is still reeling from the wrath wrought by Hurricane Katrina. The storm scored a direct hit on the small community, which is situated on the Louisiana-Mississippi border. Five churches – including Tucapau and one church each from Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee – have adopted West Poplarville Baptist under the auspices of the North American Mission Board. Among its many needs is a new roof for the facility, which was ripped off by the hurricane.In accepting the donation on behalf of his church, Barry Lee, interim pastor of West Poplarville, traveled to Startex the weekend of Feb. 3-5 and delivered the sermon for the morning service at Tucapau.