This week at First Explorers After School we made crafts, we played games, and we learned new things. On Tuesday, we made our own bookmarks. On Wednesday, we had RAs, GAs, and Mission Friends for the first time this semester. On Thursday, Generation Kids came and shared a lesson with us and played several games. On Friday, the kids painted part two of their pumpkin paintings. Additionally on Friday, the kids also made a 9/11 American flag hand print using paint and paper to remember what happened on September 11. Overall, it was a fun and educational week at First Explorers After School!
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of spaghetti.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive.
Thank you!
Mission Moment 9.16.26
Shelah Acker
Field Personnel in Kampala, Uganda
Psalm 67 had a profound impact on me during my days at seminary. It changed my perspective about God’s blessings and intense desire for the praise of the nations. We are blessed for the purpose of shining God’s light to the nations. We are never blessed in isolation. We are blessed to bless others, so the nations will see God’s glory and give praise to Him. In Uganda, we have the privilege of serving many nations in people who have come to Uganda as refugees. As God blesses us, our prayer is that this blessing will be a light to the peoples with whom we serve, so they may know God and give Him glory and praise.
Psalm 67:1-7
“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us
so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.”
Pray. Give. Go.
First Explorers After-School Recap 9.9.26
This week at First Explorers After School, we had an action-packed week filled with games and activities. On Monday, we created fall leaves by tracing our hand on construction paper and cutting them out and drawing on them. You can see all the hand fall leaves on the bulletin board outside of the choir room in the hallway. In addition to our craft, we also played a fun team game called “Clear the Yard” that was really fun and chaotic! On Tuesday, Ms. Courtney came and had music class with us. On Wednesday, Ms. Gaye and Ms. Mattie led us in chapel. On Thursday, we had a STEM activity where we had several teams compete to see who could make the best boat out of only popsicle sticks and tape. Afterwards, the real test was to see if any of the boats could actually float, and fortunately all of the teams’ boats survived. Finally on Friday, we began our fall painting class where each week we have the kids paint a little layer on a canvas board until they finish. We are currently working on painting a pumpkin in the fall. Stay tuned for more updates on the paintings. Overall, it was a very fun week at After School!
Mission Moment 9.9.26
Kathy Fraley
Layperson, Faith Baptist Church, Georgetown, Kentucky
“I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:16-19
Having just returned from a mission trip to Armenia; I continually think about the people I met each day I was there. Two other women traveled with me to minister to women through sharing our testimonies and teaching spiritual gifts. We also shared groceries with families who had lost loved ones in the Armenian/Azeri conflict that broke out in 2020.
At each of the women’s conferences held in two separate Baptist churches, several women expressed their gratefulness for our teaching about spiritual gifts. The families who received the food also expressed their gratitude. One woman told us she had lost hope when her husband was killed in the conflict. With our visit, she was encouraged to trust God and learn more about the Gospel.
I knew nothing about Armenia or its people. As I prepared for the trip, I learned that Armenia considers itself to be a Christian nation, with the Apostolic Church closely tied to Armenian identity and is de facto the state church. Even so, many people do not attend the Apostolic Church or any church. I have often thought of Paul’s blessing to the Ephesians as I have reflected about the people in Armenia. I pray that “Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. That they may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses all knowledge.”
Being so thankful for safe travels and learning about a new culture filled with hospitable and kind people, I, of course, was ready to share my Armenian experience with my family.
What did you eat? How did the women at each conference respond? Was your hotel safe and comfortable? Did you see any of the sites of the country? As I excitedly answered my family’s questions, I again thought of Paul’s blessing. My earnest desire for each one of my family is that God “may strengthen you with power through God’s spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. That you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
Blessing for Grasping God’s Love
May you this day
grasp how wide,
and long,
and high,
and deep,
God’s love is for you.
May you listen to others
in love,
and speak
in love,
so they will know
how beloved they are.
Thank you, God
for your
bounteous,
unending
love.
Amen.
Pray. Give. Go.
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of spaghetti.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive.
Thank you!
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of spaghetti.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive.
Thank you!
First Explorers After-School Recap 9.2.26
This week at After School was a time for team competitions and being creative. On Monday, we had a team competition to see who could create the biggest and coolest-looking tower out of used trophy parts. On Tuesday, Ms. Courtney played a music game with us. On Wednesday, Ms. Gaye led us all in chapel. We also each wrote a prayer out on paper so we could remember to say it at home. On Thursday, we had another team competition where we had to create the best looking and functional building out of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. And finally on Friday, Mr. Andrew led the kids in a pumpkin-making craft using construction paper and glue sticks. Overall, it was another fantastic week at First Explorers After School!
Mission Moment 9.2.26
Janée Angel
Field Personnel in Antwerp, Belgium
Our daily engagement is with the Middle Eastern world inside the Belgian context. Our streets are filled with headscarves and the smells of fresh flat bread and spices. We see and feel the unrest throughout the region we serve and how that affects the city we live in. Our purposeful response to all that we see, hear and feel is prayer. Prayer changes things. It was wisely said that “prayer does not lead us to the greater work; prayer IS the greater work. Prayer is precious to the Father. In fact, it is one of the two things that scripture says that He collects—our prayers and our tears.
I love to pray the prayers that agree with the heart of God. So I pray scripture every day. Prayer is also a way to bless the people and bless the land. When we want God’s best for those around us, we are loving our neighbor with agape love. We are blessing them with the desire God has for each life.
Daniel was a man of prayer. In Daniel 9:17-19, it says, “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
Blessing
Because of the mercy of God, be blessed by His presence among us.
Be blessed by his heart for each people and each land.
Be blessed because we are His.
Be blessed because He hears and listens.
Be blessed with His favor because we bear His name.
We are blessed because in turbulent times, we can wait on God; the only One who can offer peace and calm
to the storms around us.
When our eyes cannot see the outcome that we desire, we are blessed because we can trust in the One who is working things out and will make all things new.
Pray. . .Give. . .Go.
Mission Moment 8.26.26
Suzie
Field Personnel in Southeast Asia
As I walk alongside the Asia Team field personnel and the beautiful ministries and people they are called to serve, my desire is for God to be glorified and for those of us who serve to remember that all our efforts cannot compare with God’s glory. It is He who has called us and He who is at work in and through us. And it is He who we desire to be made known among the nations.
A Blessing for Our Labors of Community
Adapted from Every Moment Holy, Volume 1 by Douglas Kaine McKelvey
Bless our small lives, Oh Lord. Our vision is so limited.
Our courage is so frail. Our hours are so fleeting.
Bless us with your grace and guidance for the journey ahead.
Our Asia team is called together into a work that we cannot yet know the fullness of.
Bless us, Oh Lord, help us to remember, to trust Your voice, the One who has called us.
And so we offer to you, Oh God, these things:
Our dreams, our plans, our vision, our strategies.
Shape them, Oh Lord, as YOU will—our moments, gifts and calling.
Bless them, Oh Lord, toward bright, eternal ends.
Richly bless the work before us, Father.
Let us listen for Your voice. Unite Your people and multiply our meager offerings, Oh Lord, that all may resound to your glory. We want our love and our labors to echo your labors, Oh Lord.
Oh Spirit of God, bless our feeble hearts.
Oh Spirit of God, bless our busy hands.
Oh Spirit of God, bless your kingdom among us.
Amen.
Pray. Give. Go.