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Our Churches showing Love, Kindness in this time of crises

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Published by office, 2020-06-02 12:29:20

June 2020 Newsletter

Our Churches showing Love, Kindness in this time of crises

Estrella Baptist Association JUNE 2020 OFFICE 623-936-4481
More than an Association . . . . A Partnership 7901 W OSBORN ROAD

Our Churches PHOENIX, AZ 85033
showing Love,
Kindness in this time R.E.A.C.H.
of crises
Relationships
THE UNEXPECTED Encourage

His brothers sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt. They lied to their father that he Assist
was dead. The unexpected happened when there was a great famine in the Church
land. The brothers found themselves in need of food and supplies. They went
to Egypt to buy food and the person they are dealing with is Joseph. They did Planting
not recognize him but later Joseph reveals himself.
Harvest
The brothers were afraid that Joseph might harm them. “And he said, “I am
your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now, do not be grieved or
angry with yourselves, because you sold me here for God sent me before you to
preserve life” Genesis 48:4b-5 (NASB).

Joseph never expected the day he woke up that his brothers would turn against
him. But years later God reveals to him the reason.

We did not expect on the day of March 13 that Covid-19 crises would drastically
change our lives. But let us not be grieved or angry with ourselves and God.

The unexpected comes without warning: But the key question? How will we
respond? I am grateful that our pastors, staff, leaders, and members have
responded with boldness and confidence in the Lord.

The unexpected brings us together: I am amazed to see and read stories where
you have expressed Jesus’ love and kindness. I have discovered that you have
thought less about yourselves but you have focused on your neighbors, friends,
and families.

The unexpected makes us stronger: This enemy will not defeat us. I am con-
vinced that our faith and trust in the Lord will be greater.

Leslie and I continue to lift you up in our prayers.

Gary

First Baptist Church, Garden Lakes

Deacon Ben Hicks has been words. Think they even
going around to members to brought some toilet paper just
make sure they were ok and if in case it was needed!
they needed anything. If they
did he would go get it for
them. Sharing the love with
the chuch family and making
sure they still feel connect-
ed. The deacon team also
went and visited with the wid-
ows taking them gift bags with
gift cards to order food to be
delivered, snacks and cross-

First Southern Baptist Church, Wickenburg

During this time while our doors have been closed we have been
able to minister in a few different ways.

We passed out board games and family snacks to unchurched
families that have participated in VBS previously, encouraging
them during this time.

We handed out 200 bags that we hung on door including bibles,
tracts, words of encouragement, a note from our new pastor
and information about our church.

We have prepared and delivered
meals to those who are quarantined
in their homes.

We have helped with cleaning the
yard of seniors that are unable to
care for their yard.

2

Redemption Road

During this time of crisis, the leadership has been trying to find a way to reach out to
Waddell and let them know we are here for them. Pastor Andrew was outside with
some of our neighbors as a Kona Ice truck was in the neighborhood selling slushies.

Pastor Andrew decided to buy slushies for
everyone there and had a great idea. He de-
cided to buy slushes for our subdivision and
for the Cortessa subdivision just to the north
of us. We scheduled the truck and hoped we
would be able to get the word out. Andrew
and Missy posted on Facebook and local
groups that the truck would be coming Sun-
day from 11-1. The truck came to our house
promptly at 11am. We paid for the slushies,
gave the worker church business cards to
pass out, posted again on Facebook that the
truck was here, and waited to see what would happen. The response was tremen-
dous!! People were outside with their children laughing and having a good time wait-
ing for the truck to come by! Andrew and Missy struggled to keep Facebook updat-
ed with the truck’s location. The worker stayed until 1:30, started to run low on sup-
plies, and finally had to leave because he had prior scheduled stops he could not
abandon. Plus, he wasn’t able to finish the route we had paid for because there
were so many people. Later that week, we had another truck come to finish the
route so everyone had a chance to get their free slushie. The Kona Ice owner has
been getting calls from people wanting to get in touch with us to thank us for bright-
ening their day! We even had people giving
the worker donations for the church! We
have had so much new traffic to Redemption
Road’s Facebook page and website that we
can only laugh and fall on our knees in hum-
ble gratitude to our Lord for allowing us to
bless our community. We have said from the
beginning that it was not going to be the four
of us who would build this church; it was going to be God. What an incredible,
amazing job He is doing! Our neighborhood is still talking about our gift today!

3

First Southern Baptist Church, Buckeye

FSB Church in Buckeye had the money for school. There were 8
incredible privilege of helping a males and 7 females, 18-24
group of 15 students from Ecua- years old. Unfortunately, this
group of students were unable
dor who were stranded in our to fly home because of airport
area during the pandemic. Our closures. They only brought with
women’s ministry coordinator them what could fit in a suitcase.
was in touch with All Faith Minis- They were using the money they
tries asking what their needs had earned for basic necessities.
were during this season and how These students were staying in
our church could be a blessing to two apartment units in our gen-
our community. The director of eral area.
All Faith asked if we’d be able to Our church truly stepped up in a
assist these students who came huge way providing ground beef,
chicken, sandwich fixings, pasta,

sauce, beans, rice, toiletries,
dairy products, vegetables, fruit,
snacks, encouragement cards,
notebooks, and so much more!
We were able to provide them
with enough food to get them
through the additional month
they were stuck here. We were
so blessed to be a part of their
journey.

from Ecuador to work and earn

4

5

Estrella Baptist Association South Peoria Baptist Church

We discovered South Peoria Baptist has an active minis-
that those try to our senior adults combining actually
doing the two ministries:
calling were
1. The Encore Ministry which plans and
being blessed sponsors activities for senior adults, both
as much or at the church and outings in the area, and
more than
those people 2. The Caring Hearts Ministry which ministers to
the needs of our shut-ins. those in the hospital,
being called.Estrella Baptist Association and similar situations.

Primary Business Address Our team meets monthly to plan activities and to
Your Address Line 2 pray for and review the needs of our people. The
Your Address Line 3 team visits, calls and sends cards to dozens of
Your Address Line 4 people. If a need arises, our team makes sure that
Phone: 555-555-5555 need is met.
Fax: 555-555-5555
E-mail: [email protected] During this time of the virus, we expanded the min-
istry to include those who are not on the Caring
YOUR LOGO HERE Hearts list but who do not have family nearby to
check up on them and see if there is a need due to
being more tied to the home. We identified about
50 such people and enlisted over a dozen volun-

teers (mostly from the Caring Hearts
Team) who are calling and checking on
these regularly. Initially contacts were
being made daily, but we discovered
that was more than adequate to ad-
dress their needs. We discovered that
those doing the calling were being
blessed as much or more than the peo-
ple being called. When a specific need
was identified (pick up some groceries
or whatever), either a team member would handle
it themselves or identify someone in the church
that could help.


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