At Jacksonboro Baptist Church, Colleton Baptist Association, everyone is enlisted in missions, from the oldest to the youngest.
Having formerly been home missionaries, pastor F. Robert Craig Jr. and his wife, Dr. M. June Craig, challenged the church to give more to missions. The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering has consistently risen for the last 10 years, until this year’s goal of $3,000. Last year’s offering total led Colleton Association in giving. All missions offerings – foreign, state, and associational – have seen similar growth.
Three years ago, a walk-a-thon, steak supper, and silent auction raised $14,000, all earmarked for missions. The pastor and three other members were sent to Romania to minister. The next summer, 19 people were sent to Brevard, N.C., to work with children – using sports, crafts, music and puppets to win children to Christ.
This year, the church sent nine boxes of clothes, blankets, and winter coats to Romania, as well as Christmas gifts for 138 gypsy children. Some Sunday school classes sent funds to Romanian pastors, and more funds are being planned to help provide schooling for the gypsy children. Bibles were purchased and distributed to children who had never held a Bible in their hands.
Sunday school classes have sponsored a child in Haiti, collected eyeglasses for the needy, held fund raisers for a heart transplant patient, pop tabs for a child needing surgery, and many other projects.
The church also has provided baskets of food for needy families, collected and delivered by the youth group.
The youth also purchased and delivered clothes and Christmas gifts for several families who had been recommended by the Department of Social Services. At Christmas, the youth led the church to collect 40 shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse.
The Women On Mission purchased backpacks for needy children, bought and made baby blankets for a hospital, purchased outfits for newborns, made bears for the police and the hospital to give to children, made cookies for prisoners, made laprobes and hosted birthday parties for the nursing home. The group also led the church to assemble kits for the migrant workers and prisoners, collect food for the Veterans Home, and make items for the Seaman’s Ministry.
Dr. Craig said, “Missions is becoming a way of life, where the watchword for members is, ‘What is our next project?'”