Living the Mission: Good News Jail and Prison Ministry

Good News Jail and Prison Ministry seeks to reach inmates of Hampton Roads Regional Jail with the Good News of Jesus Christ. A member of our church regularly serves there and shared these experiences:

One day while spending time with the inmates, a young man asked if he could lose his salvation. I assured him he could not, and he wanted to accept Christ, so we all got on our knees to pray with him. A look of deep peace came over his face as we finished praying and through his tears he said, “Now I know.” In the days remaining before his release from prison, he shared Jesus with inmates in his housing pod.

One day four new inmates came to Bible Study. Three were Christians; the fourth man believed in God and sincerely wanted to accept Jesus as his Savior but could not. The Christian inmates and I prayed with him. After the earthquake, I visited with this man again and he was smiling ear-to-ear. He viewed that event as a reminder of how uncertain our time on earth is and was able to give his life to Christ! At our next meeting, he gave the closing prayer.

It is a blessing to see and be part of how God is transforming the lives of inmates for His kingdom.

Living the Mission: Hispanic Fellowship Missions Partnership

First Baptist Church of Norfolk's Hispanic Fellowship is pressing on with the God-given task of reaching our world! This summer we began a new partnership with Iglesia Bautista Fuente de Vida in Charlottesville, Virginia. That church's pastor, Daniel Bannister, along with several members, came to Hampton Roads during the first week of August. They helped us host Vacation Bible School and a block party at Harvard Apartments in Chesapeake. Soon afterward, a group from our Hispanic Fellowship traveled to Charlottesville for three days to help Fuente de Vida put on a Family Festival. We also distributed 250 bookbags with school supplies to the children of Southwood trailer park. It was touching to see the faces of the children and parents as they received these donations. We are happy to report that ten children received Christ as a fruit of these labors. We are also excited to begin a weekly "house of prayer" discipleship group in Harvard Apartments. We continue giving all the glory to our God!

World Missions Offering

It's the most wonderful time of the year...Live the Mission Celebration!

We celebrated a wonderful weekend of missions mobilization as many of our members shared their hearts for the nations as well as how God is leading them to serve right here at home.

One question that resonated after our celebration was about our World Missions Offering. Many were wondering about the boxes and the pledges that were made in the worship service. Here are just a few FAQ's. (Frequently Asked Questions)

Are we supposed to return the boxes filled with money? No, it is not necessary for you to fill the boxes with money. The goal for the boxes was to decide what your offering will be and place the box under your tree to represent your family's offering to missions.

When do I give my offering that I pledged? It would be wonderful to have that offering by December 25th as a gift to Jesus to spread his good news, but we actually receive the WMO all year around. So those who are living on a tighter budget can still give throughout the year and see how God is going to use those gifts!

How can I give? A gift to the WMO can be given as an addition to the tithe on your envelope or it can be given online.

Where can I find more information about the WMO? Our new Live the Mission magazine has all of the details. You can also check out this link: http://www.firstnorfolk.org/contentpages.aspx?parentnavigationid=12287&navigationId=13705&viewcontentpageguid=4c6ca9bd-a806-4b80-9f72-a58ae7977494.

What if I still have questions about missions giving? Contact our Missions Ministry at First Norfolk. We will be happy to assist you.

Living the Misson: Dominican Republic Mission Journey

This year our students traveled to Los Alcarrizos, Dominican Republic to work with the Lighthouse School - a Christian school with an enrollment around 1,300 students. Many of the Lighthouse School's students are sponsored through international fundraising efforts. Discipleship happens on a daily basis as students attend chapel as well as hear each subject taught through the lens of Scripture.

The team participated in construction efforts on a women's fitness center as well as painting a basketball court. Both facilities are used as locations for interaction with the local community to help bring young people in off the streets and share the gospel with them.

We also had the opportunity to work with some of the local children in a Vacation Bible School setting where the children heard a Bible story, played games, and did a craft relating to the lesson.

Thank you for your prayers for and support of this mission journey. We were blessed and humbled by this week-long opportunity to work alongside our Dominican brothers and sisters in Christ to advance the gospel in their country.

Salvation Army Feeding Unit Opportunity

PUT YOUR PEOPLE WHERE THE MOUTHS ARE

Close to a thousand people each night go to sleep hungry in our community. Yet The Salvation Army Canteen, the Tidewater Area Command's mobile soup truck, sits in a parking lot 5 out of 7 nights because there aren't enough hands to help distribute the meals we have available.

We need your hands & your hearts.

In about an hour we can serve hot nutritionally balanced soup with bread to close to 100 people. If your church, business, or other organization can commit just one night a month for at least six months, six hundred more people go to bed having had a hot nutritious meal.

We have the truck. We have the food. We just need you.

On-site training is available. To find out more about how your organization can get involved contact Shelby Moore at 757.543.8100

October update from Park Place Health and Dental Clinic

Below is an update from the Park Place Health and Dental Clinic in October 2011. Please continue to be in prayer and consider how you might become involved. For volunteer opportunities please email brett777@rocketmail.com.

Dental

Total # of October first time patients = 33
Total # of October patients = 258
Total # of October extractions = 167
Total # of October fillings = 122
Total # of October cleanings = 37
Total # of October broken appts. = 19
Total Retail Services rendered in October by the Clinic = $61,450.00

Ministry

Total # of FBCN Volunteers in October = 17
Total # of ministry prayer opportunities = 5
100% of Clinic Staff are church-attending Christians
Three (3) ministry service project opportunities in October

North Platte Canteen Thank You

Below is a thank-you email we received from a Sailor after some people from the North Platte Canteen ministry at our church met them this past Saturday morning:

Me and over 100 of my newest friends left this morning from the Navy base in Norfolk to go on an IA for a year. We all are very grateful for all those that showed up to see us off so early in the morning. Your gift was very thoughtful and much appreciated.

Thank you from all of us....

International Thanksgiving Banquet Invitation

If you would like to be a table host at this event, please contact Kurnia Foe at kurniafoe@gmail.com.

Thanksgiving Banquet Invite

Living the Mission: West Virginia Mission Journey

For five years Young at Heart has traveled to Old Fields Baptist Church to do Vacation Bible School (VBS) and block parties in the community. You are never too old to go on a mission trip!

Upon our arrival in West Virginia, we prayer walked and passed out door hangers inviting the children to VBS. Throughout the week, we held VBS each morning at a trailer park in a cornfield and each afternoon in an apartment complex. The Lord sent new children every day to both sites!

We also assisted the church in preparing 100+ food boxes for distribution in the community. We concluded our week with a block party that included face painting, duck pond, prizes, bubbles, ballooning, ball toss games, an inflatable, hot dogs, chips and soda. God gave us a large turnout for this event.

Thanks to your prayers, God blessed us with safe travel, good health, and nice weather all week. Your contributions enabled us to provide each child with a Bible, as well as some parents who attended VBS with their children. Thank you to our church family for enabling us to step outside our comfort zone to serve the Lord!

"The Tide" Light Rail Update

Doors continue to open as The Tide rolls into our front door through the new light rail service in Norfolk! Since the grand opening of The Tide, the news has reported an overwhelming response that has prompted discussions of extending the service to Virginia Beach's Town Center. As our church continues to prayerfully seek to intersect with the people of Hampton Roads, God is opening exciting doors of ministry and partnership with ministries along The Tide. I would like to share just a few ways that we are intersecting with these stops along the route of the light rail service:

Norfolk State University- A new partnership is developing with a campus ministry at NSU that will allow us to host student gatherings and invite students to participate in the 127 ministries of our church. The students of this great school ride the Tide for free in order to access shopping, food, etc. We are praying that they will consider going in the opposite direction to First Norfolk as they seek the Living Water of Jesus!

City Hall- The city hall stop is within blocks of our partners serving at Mosaic Church. We are praying that God will continue to connect us with strategic ways to serve with this church and reach the people who frequent downtown Norfolk, the artistic community, the homeless, and many others that Mosaic continues to reach.

YMCA- Another strategic partnership just contacted our church this morning with an opportunity to connect with families through regular athletic and spiritual activities at the YMCA. Much more information will be attached below, but this is a great way to connect people with First Norfolk through a Life Transformation Group or preaching point in the community. Many opportunities exist such as child care, sports, and bible study leadership. What an exciting opportunity to live the mission and connect the Tide with our church!

There are many other things in the works as our church is seeing these doors open for the gospel for such a time as this. The question that we always face is...what does God want me to do? Please contact our missions ministry if there is any way that we can answer your questions and/or put to rest any fears.

In Christ,
Craig

Additional information about the work at the YMCA:

Dear Friends of UDM’s Norfolk East Church Plant,

The Lord blessed us with an opportunity to invite you to help with our church plant in Norfolk East. YMCA leaders are graciously opening to us their Norfolk Blocker facility on Saturday evenings from 6:30-9:00 P.M. for our family outreach. We plan to provide classes to train children, teens, and adults in basketball, other sports, the arts, and especially in God’s Word. We will require participation from the parents or mentors of the program’s participants, so we may include more and make the most of this opportunity. As we did with our summer camps this year, UDM invites our related churches to bring leaders and young people to join in this outreach with us.

We ask our partnering churches for additional volunteers who can commit to serve on Saturday evenings for at least three months at a time. We need Bible teachers, sports coaches, music and praise dance leaders, and nursery workers. The Y has offered the use of their entire facility, so we may organize a variety of activities for the families. We plan to offer two Bible class for adults, including a foundational class for new Christians who are just starting Bible study.

The new light rail stops at the Y, which gives several churches, neighborhoods and NSU students a special transportation option. The Tide runs on Saturdays every 15 minutes until 9:30 P.M., and every 30 minutes after then.

Our orientation and training for this ministry are scheduled at the Blocker Y for the first three Saturday evenings in December—Dec. 3, 10, and 17. Our planned start-up date is January 7. Please pray about mobilizing with us and let me know if you and your family can come to the December orientations for training and fellowship.

I’ve been calling the outreach, Saturday Night Life.

Thanks,

Mike Fariss

GroupServe newsletter [November/December 2011]

Living the Mission: International Student Ministry

Approximately 1500 international students from 100+ countries study at Old Dominion University. 88% of them will never be invited into an American home.

Global Student Friendship, a student organization at ODU, partners with local churches to host events that provide opportunities to form relationships with international students whereby the love of Christ may be shared. This is the first chance for some of these students to hear the gospel, as many of them come from countries where they have limited access to the Christian faith.

Members of our church have participated in these events, hosted a cookout for international students, and provided temporary housing for students during Hurricane Irene. Upcoming opportunities to interact with international students include a Thanksgiving Banquet on November 19th and an End-of-Semester party in December. Opportunities also exist for families to host international students in their home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For more information about how you can become involved with the international student community at ODU, contact the missions office or Kurnia Foe at kurniafoe@gmail.com.