Facebook contact leads to Bahamas church to petition for ?at large? church status
Excitement mounts in rural Florida church as mission team prepares to serve new congregation
May 28, 2013By STAFF
DAY (FBW)?A casual contact by college friends on Facebook led to the beginning of the process of a Freeport, Bahamas, church becoming a Florida Baptist State Convention church at large.?
In June volunteers from Brewer Lake Baptist Church in Day will travel to the Caribbean to bolster the fledgling church.
Several months ago Becky Swain, whose husband, Matt Swain, is pastor of Brewer Lake Baptist, reconnected with Pensacola Christian College friend Nancy Seymour on Facebook.?
Seymour?s husband, Henry, a native of Freeport, had just started New Heights Christian Church.
?This church had no affiliation with a denomination. It was just a Christian leader with a heart to start a church in his hometown,? said Matt Swain.?
As the Swains and Seymours chatted about churches, Seymour began to ask questions of the more experienced Florida pastor.?
?At one point he asked me, ?What is a Southern Baptist church?? and I just sent him a link to the Baptist Faith and Message,? Swain recalled.
Seymour examined the document and concluded that he agreed with all its tenets. Swain put him in contact with Craig Culbreath, lead strategist with the Missional Support Group of the Florida Baptist Convention. The congregation, meeting now in a strip mall, petitioned to become an ?at large? Florida Baptist church.
?We unintentionally started a church!? Swain exclaimed.
The new church will get a healthy dose of Southern Baptist cooperation in June when two dozen volunteers from Brewer Lake Baptist arrive in the port city. The team of Floridians will include two doctors, three nurses, and three student nurses?about 20 percent of those who attend the rural congregation.
Two medical teams will offer healthy child screenings in two locations in Freeport during the morning hours while others work to repair the?
Seymour?s house. In the evenings, volunteers will lead Vacation Bible School. After Brewer Lake Baptist?s VBS June 10-14, all the materials will be shipped to New Heights Christian Church.?
The team from Brewer Lake?Baptist reflect the congregation, its pastor said. The oldest volunteer is 87 and the youngest, three. The 87-year-old lady was at first reluctant, Swain said. Although healthy, she feared what could happen so far from home.
?I told her she would be there with two doctors and three nurses. She?d get quicker care with the team in Freeport than she could at home in Day,? he said.
The Middle Florida Baptist Association church has not sent a team on mission in about 20 years. Back then, men went with Thad Hardin, a member of Salem Baptist Church in Taylor County, to build churches.?
Swain said the excitement level is ?ridiculous? among the congregation, and preparations are in high gear.
On May 19 Middle Florida?Director of Missions Mike Miller will lead in an all-day study of Dennis Nunn?s ?Every Believer a Witness,? and witness teams will be commissioned.
?Our church is so blessed,? Swain said. ?We get to see missions as more than building a building.?
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Source: http://www.gofbw.com/News.asp?id=15084
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