Sylva 1st Wednesday Evening Programs Begins August 22

Your family is invited to come and take part in our Sylva 1st Wednesday evening programs.  There is something for everyone!  Our Wednesday night programs will resume on August 22.  Supper will be provided (youth and children eat for FREE!) at 5:30 PM followed at 6:00 PM by Mission Friends for Pre-K and Kindergarten and our SHINE ministry for grades 1-6.  7th – 12th Graders will participate in Youth Group and programs designed for their age level.

Fun Times together! 

SHINE, for grades 1-6, includes children’s choir, drama class and a liturgical dance class. The “SHINE” ministry is designed to help children learn to actively participate in worship through these disciplines. These groups assist in leading worship on Sunday morning from time to time as a part of their spiritual development. This is a time packed full of fellowship and working together to learn how we praise God through different elements of worship, with the focus on music, drama, creative movement and art. 

Mission Friends is a time for our Pre-K and kindergarteners to learn about how Christians are spreading God’s word around the globe and in our own country.  They will learn to pray for these missionaries and find ways that they can help with some of those ministries.  It is an opportunity for them to learn and take part in supporting mission efforts around the world. 

Learning with friends

After supper, Youth in grades 7-12 will participate in Youth Group which includes Bible Study, creative worship, game nights, discipleship, and chances to participate in ministry to others.  All this is designed to build community and provide spiritual growth for those in their teen years.  This time is informal, and questions are encouraged.  The teen years are a time of searching and becoming the adults they will be.  A safe place to ask questions about faith and spiritual growth is essential as they grow in their own walks with Christ.  

Wrapping presents for a Christmas project

And, of course, there is also an Adult Bible Study which meets in the Mission and Fellowship Center immediately following our prayer time at 6:00 PM. Our Bible Study provides parents and other adults a chance to go deeper into scripture, searching out the truths that shape our faith.  There is truly something for everyone in the family! 

We invite you to make this time a priority for your family as we grow together as a community of faith! 

Mission Education for Children & Youth Begins on August 22 at 4:30 PM!

Mission education for our school aged children and youth begins at 4:30. R.A.s (Royal Ambassadors) is for boys in grades 1-6 and G.A.s (Girls in Action) is for girls grades 1-6. Like our Mission friends, they will be learning how to pray for and support missionaries at home and abroad.  These groups also engage in activities that allow them to participate in missions through local projects and collecting money and supplies for missionaries in other places.   

At the same 4:30 time slot, the youth participate in their own mission education experince.  Through Acteens or Youth on Mission, youth grades 7-12 learn about our mission endeavors, and how to pray for our missionaries. They will also actively participate in mission projects both local and around our state. 

Training Witnesses of God's Love

"We were recently asked to train 100+ Ukrainian Christian school teachers. When asked about the most important problem in their classrooms, the common answers were discipline and authority. The Ukrainian educational system still uses the old Soviet system. It does not value students, practices shaming and expects authority. During the training I explained that authority delivers short-term results, but influence goes farther. We used Jesus' example with the Samaritan woman to show Jesus' focus on building relationships that lead to transformation. At the end of our teaching, unexpectedly, we were thanked with a standing ovation and an outpouring of gifts. We are thankful that through CBF we are able to fulfill our call to teach and train others to be witnesses of God's acceptance, redeeming love and abundant life."

-  Gennady and Mina Podgaisky, CBF field personnel in Kiev, Ukraine

Seeing the Bible With Fresh Eyes

"In Cambodia, widows, orphans, immigrants and the poor still need protection. The spirit world is an everyday preoccupation, with temples in every neighborhood and frequent offerings to stone idols. Daily bread is not a given. These are major concerns of the Bible, but in the US, we usually gloss over these passages or spend a lot of time contextualizing them to make sense to us. In Cambodia, though, many of these passages apply directly to the lives of Cambodians with little explanation needed. By reading the Bible in Khmer alongside Cambodians, I see significant themes that are hard to notice in an American context. New words, interesting translation choices, different grammar, and having to read more slowly help me see things I've never noticed before. You may not be able to learn a new language just for reading the Bible, but I encourage you to think about how you can find ways to see the Bible with fresh eyes."

- David and Lauren Bass, CBF field personnel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

The Gift of God’s Word to Our Neighbor

"A local partner congregation here in Texas recently invested over $700 in bi-lingual Bibles written specifically for young children. After their recent book fair, we presented about 40 of the 90 Bibles to Kindergarten children. This particular Bible can be read by parents to their children, whether they speak primarily English or Spanish at home. There are also really wonderful pictures inside to help the children understand stories from the Bible. The rest of the Bibles will be used this summer during Vacation Bible School. What a great gift! I am always thankful for wonderful partners who help bring God's Word to the people of southern Texas!"

- Diann Berry, CBF field personnel, Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Passport Offering

Kelly and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to the Passport offering this year. Your contributions will help fund some very important ministries!  Kelly and I divided the bottles between the youth and the children.  The youth ended up donating $379.00 to the Passport offering.  The total collected at Passport Choices in Greensboro was $1,327.00.  There were 11 churches contributing and 28.5% of that offering came from FBC Sylva! The children donated $408.00 in Montreat. The total collected in Montreat was a little over $1,600.00 and roughly 25% of that came from FBC Sylva. There is also a little more (roughly $100) that was in the bottles as checks written to the church.  These will be sent on to Passport as an additional offering.  Thank you all so much for your willingness to help with these mission offerings.  Your generosity will go far in ministering to those in need.
- Carol Cloer

Loving the Neighbors Who Are Different Than Us

"Several years ago we were invited to take part in an interreligious debate. Afterwards I talked with the Muslim Imam -- Hamza. Since then we have gotten to know him well. We ask each other hard questions and try to better understand each other's faith. Recently we talked about the violence practiced in the name of Islam. I was struck by his remark -- 'Understand that we also fear the extremists. Please tell your American friends that.' 

Ignorance encourages fear and prejudice, so we must better understand Muslims and learn to live together in peace. Pray for the moderate voices of Islam in a world of extremes. Pray that the Lord will help us to see the world as God does and to love our neighbors and our enemies."

- David Brown, CBF field personnel in Paris, France

Watering Malawi Project

Remember the water bottles the GAs and RAs distributed after worship service a couple of weeks ago?  Remember that you were asked to pray for the people of Malawi as you drank your water?  Remember that we you were asked to bring your bottle back to church filled with change (or bills) to help the people of this African country to obtain clean, safe drinking water?

Sunday, June 24th is the day we are asking for you to return your bottles.  Over 100 water bottles were handed out on June 2nd and less than 12 have been returned to the church office.  Please bring your contribution to this project to church this Sunday.  Our children and youth attending Passport will take the money collected and it will be added to the other contributions from across the state, helping to make a real difference in the lives of the people of Malawi. 

Thank you for any help you can give!

Thank God for this place

"The war started at night, and we had to run, leaving our parents. We haven't seen them since and still don't know where they are. It was horrifying, but we had no choice. In South Sudan killing is normal. People kill each other like slaughtering hens. When we made it to Kampala we ended up on the street with nowhere to sleep. One day, through CBF and Refuge and Hope, we were able to find affordable housing and get off the streets. Thank God for this place, where we can forget the nightmare we went through."

- Jacob and Esau, about the work of Jade and Shelah Acker, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel, Kampala, Uganda

WATERING MALAWI WATER BOTTLE PROJECT

Every 15 seconds, a child dies around the world because the water they drink makes them sick. 

This statement is the reason that GAs and RAs distributed water bottles as the congregation exited the sanctuary.  On the bottles was a label with the following instructions:

        1)Drink this water.  Pray for those who don't have safe water.
        2)Cut off top of bottle or cut a slit and fill bottle with change (or bills).
        3)Return to church office by June 24th.

The money collected will be our children's and youth's contribution to the Passport project "Watering Malawi".

During their week at Passport Camp, the children and youth who are attending from our church will learn more about this mission opportunity and other ways to reach out with God's love.

If you would like to learn more about the project and about the Passport connection, go to wateringmalawi.org/about. 

Our WMU is supporting this project.  Thank you to Sandra and Leo James for obtaining the water bottles, Tia Ashley for printing the labels,the GAs for labeling the bottles, the RAs and GAs and their leaders for distributing the bottles, and Emma Burnes for making the announcement on Sunday. 

Hope to see a lot of water bottles with money inside returned to the church office by JUne 24th!