Appalachee Baptist Association A Family of Churches The Vision Where there is no vision, the people will perish ~Proverbs 29:18

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1 Appalachee Baptist Association A Family of Churches The Vision Where there is no vision, the people will perish ~Proverbs 29:18 Vol. 11 No. 11 Dr. J.B. Graham Associational Missionary Loganville First Baptist Opens Loganville Community Village Facility On Sunday afternoon January 11th, following a brief celebration dedicatory prayer, Chet Fowler marked the official opening of the Loganville Community Ministry Village with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. The Village is the realization of a long-term dream of Pastor Ronnie Kendall an integral part of the church s ministry to partner with nearby counties in addressing the physical, emotional, spiritual needs of their residents. Chet Fowler, a staff member of First Baptist a certified counselor will serve as executive director of the ministry. Assisting him will be director, Nancy Burgess who brings 33 years of experience with Walton County Family Children Services to her position. One service under the rubric of A Child s Voice incorporated into the various P. O. Box 1064 Feb. 2,2009 programs of the village is designated to meet the needs of children victimized through sexual, physical abuse or neglect. The village has a one stop facility for physical examinations by trained medical professionals non-threatening interviews by trained counselors. This is truly a partnership in ministry. The facility is built on the property of the First Baptist Church. Some of the funding for the building came from a generous grant from Georgia Baptist s Health Foundation. Certified counselors children s advocacy personnel are from county other church backgrounds. First Baptist families are serving in the foster parent program. Tracey Bruner is one of them. She also serves as the Administrative Assistant at LCMV. Jimmy Wilson, Appalachee Association s Vice Moderator Associate Pastor at Loganville First Baptist has been named as the president of this non-profit corporation. For more information, check out their web site at WALKER BAPTIST Holds Senior Adult Revivial Walker Baptist will hold their annual Senior Adult Revival on February 4th 5th at 11:00 a.m. Dr. Frank Cox, Pastor of North Metro Baptist Church, Lawrenceville will be the revival speaker. Uplifting music will be provided by senior adult choirs from Sunrise Baptist Church in Lawrenceville First Baptist Church in Snellville. For lunch reservations call Gerald Malcom, Director of Senior Adult Ministries at no later than February 2.

2 SEARCHING FOR POWER J. B. Graham It was a big day in Harford County Maryl! I joined hundreds of other residents who lined the roadway to see the transfer of the area s first nuclear reactor from Havre de Grace to the Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant. I was impressed with the reactor itself, which could be described as a giant hot water heater with about a three to four inch thick lead shield clad around it. But I was more interested in the apparatus that had been built to transfer the reactor to its final resting place. As I stood there along the roadway admittedly wide eyed with amazement, I commented to a well-dressed lady wearing an expensive fur coat about the platform with several dozen wheels, each wheel having its own electric motor. The electric power was generated by huge diesel engines. She introduced herself as Mrs. Hake pointed out the man walking in front of the monster machine as her husb. On the side of this machine I read the sign: Hake Industries, Inc. Then she invited me to join her her husb. We walked along together to the hum of the diesels the cheers of the crowd. Thinking this was my only chance, I started asking questions about the machine he had designed manufactured. I found out that top speed is 2 ½ miles an hour regardless of the load or the terrain. Then I asked how much horsepower it could develop. Surprisingly he said, I really don t know, we don t have anything with the capacity to measure it. Jim Henry Special Guest Speaker You are invited to join Church-Minister Relations Georgia Baptist Convention for Partners in Ministry Pastor/Deacon/Spouse Retreat April 24 25, 2009 Georgia Baptist Conference Center-Toccoa To register please call For more information call Church-Minister Relations Jesus told his disciples ( us for we are also his disciples) that we shall receive power. Ten days later those early disciples did in fact receive power. That power came after they spent those ten days in prayer. Just like Mr. Hake s machine, there hasn t been anything with the capacity to measure the amount of that power. May I call us all to prayer in search for that Pentecostal power! ATTENTION VBS LEADERS There will be a Literature Preview for VBS with Rick Stevens, manager, LifeWay Book Store at the Associational Ministry Center at 7 pm on February 19 th for pastors VBS leaders. Early orders provide a discount on shipping 15% rebate to the association. On March 21st the associational VBS Team will attend State Training at Lakewood Baptist Church, Gainesville. May 7th at 7pm is the Associational VBS Clinic at the Associational Ministry Center. This training is for all VBS workers. Rev. Steve Moon, Associational SS/VBS OCTOBER 17 24, 2009

3 Bethlehem Mobile Home Park Ministry Has Christmas Party Amid squeals of laughter excitement several children from the Bethlehem Mobile Home Park gathered in the chapel on Christmas Eve. April Lee Jay who have faithfully ministered there through the dual sponsorship of our association Bethlehem First Baptist Church planned activities including face painting, art crafts assisting children in making favors for their parents for Christmas. Tim Cash, Atlanta Braves Chaplain brought his family who assisted in the festivities. Following the crafts time the children ate pizza Christmas punch. Then they took a break for supervised play outside. The day concluded with a bible story time. Also assisting the Jays were members of the Maddox Family, of Bethlehem FBC, Dr. Mrs. Graham. It was great to have the ministry back in operation following the replacement of the heat air system. Please pray for this ministry that they can reach into the lives of the adults in the park. Church Planter/Pastor Network There is an exciting new opportunity for church planters pastors which will meet monthly. The first meeting will be in Conyers on Thursday Morning February 5. Casey Graham from Re-Think Money will be sharing concerning the challenges of finances stewardship in the local church. The schedule will look like this: 7:308:00am gather for prayer; 9:00am guest speaker Q&A; 9:20 11:00am break for lunch. Call Russ Butcher at for more information. GRACE BAPTIST OFFERS WINTER BIBLE STUDY Grace Baptist Church in Monroe is offering a Winter Ladies Bible Study, beginning Thursday, January 15th ending on Thursday, March 19th. The Bible Study is being taught by Mrs. Gerry Sisk meets from 10:00-11:30 a.m. in the sanctuary. Gerry is continuing to teach through Genesis, focusing on the Life of Joseph What To Do When All Your Dreams are Shattered. Childcare is available by pre-registration only for children ages 4 younger. You may visit the website at for more information. Did you know? Faith Baptist Church, Monroe started a new ministry for parents or other care-givers of disabled children. This program, called Stone Soup, provides a brief break from continuous care through church volunteers. Disaster Relief Training will be held at Easter Heights Baptist Church, Statesboro, GA on February 6-7. Rev. Eric Buffington, Associational Moderator Pastor of Bishop Baptist Church serves on a medical ethics forum of the Children s Health Care of Emory University Hospital System. Team Up Mentoring Inc. is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to provide opportunities for hope for youth placed at risk by poverty, broken families, struggling neighborhoods. They provide mentoring, tutoring nurture toward spiritual, emotional wholeness which leads to practical success as adults. Several members of Faith Baptist, Monroe serve on the board of directors. Rev. Jerry Gray, Pastor Woodlake Baptist Church reports that the church completed an off-ramp from highway 138 to the entrance of their new church property. Rev. Ken Jennings, Associational Men s Ministry Director (Brotherhood) held a meeting of church Men s Ministry Directors on January 13th. The Mars Hill Disaster Relief team prepared supper. Rev. Glen McCall, specialist in Men s Ministries from Georgia Baptist Convention was the guest speaker.

4 Pray for our churches The Apostle Paul put it simply In I Thessalonians 5:25, Brethren, Pray for us. ~First Baptist Church Statham Pastor Gordon Thornton ~First Baptist Church Winder Pastor John Talley ~Freeman Creek Baptist Pastor Kenneth Jennings ~Grace Baptist Church Pastor Brad Waters ~Harmony Baptist Church Pastor Brantly Callaway ~Mars Hill Baptist Church Pastor Charles Jones February nd-Minister s Meeting-10:30 a.m. 6th-7th-Disaster Relief Phase I Training 9th-15th-Focus on WMU-National WMU 19th-21st-Women on a Mission Retreat-Camp Pinnacle (Ga. WMU) 19th-VBS Literature Preview-Associational Office 7:00 p.m. 23rd-24th-Evangelism Conference-Blackshear PlaceGainesville, Ga. 28th-Preschool World Tour-9:30-11:00 a.m.-calvary Baptist Continuing Education-7:00-9:00 p.m. every Tuesday March st-8th Week of Prayer for North American MissionsAnnie Armstrong Easter Offering 2nd-Minister s Meeting-10:30 a.m. 5th-6th-National Sunday School Conference-Woodstock FBC 13th-14th-Disaster Relief Training-Phase 1-New Town Baptist Church, Calhoun, Ga. 21st-Regional VBS Training 24th-Associational Council Meeting-11:00 a.m 27th-Associational Executive Committee Meeting-7:00 p.m. Continuing Education-7:00-9:00 p.m. every Tuesday The Vision is published monthly except for July & August. The Vision s purpose is to inform encourage share the story of the Appalachee Baptist Association of churches. Please share your church s noteworthy activities news items. Information should be received by the 21st of each month. You can send information by at administration@appalachee.org or mail to Appalachee Baptist Association, P.O. Box 1064,. The Vision is mailed free by request. If you wish to receive it, simply contact us give us your name, church mailing address. The Vision P. O. Box 1064 Non-Profit U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. #19

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