Author: tester

March Madness

It’s “March Madness” at my house with three sports-crazy fans.  This month, everything is about basketball.  This year, Robert and a few of his sport fanatic friends are having a competition to see who can predict the most winners.  There are 5 men’s and 5 women’s tournaments to crown 10 champions, a total of 606 games!  Elizabeth is the official bracket-master.  She will calculate how many points each person earns from their predictions.  No money is won, but the winner will have bragging rights for the next year.  Just getting it set up required numerous phone calls, texts and e-mails, and no games had even started yet.

When the games finally start, meal times, bedtimes and other daily events are scheduled around them.  Every afternoon and evening at least one TV and often a computer are tuned in to these basketball games.  Often multiple games are going being viewed on the various networks.  Periodically, one of my kids will phone the other with a two word message giving a network and the order “Now”.  This means that something exciting is happening in one of the games that you need to see immediately.  The TV remote gets a work-out in a attempt to see every point in every game. 

This single-minded focus made me wonder, What if we put our focus on the church with that intensity?  Last week, I met some people who come close to doing just that.  At a meeting of the Raleigh Baptist Association’s Church Relations and Credentials committee, six churches presented the story of their church.  Some were fairly new, while others had a long history.  All of them were asking to join the RBA for support and guidance.  The pastors and lay leaders were passionate and enthusiastic about their churches.  They wanted to convey to the committee the goals and missions of their respective churches. Enthusiasm, love and determination were evident as they talked and answered questions.  A life-long member of a church was moved to tears as he told about the church his father had helped to build as well as his determination to keep it open and help it grow.  Another man told us about the church he had started as a memorial to his late wife, and a Brazilian pastor was passionate about providing a church for the many Portuguese speakers in the Triangle area.  Church leaders from three very different cultures teamed up to talk about a church for internationals, refugees and immigrants to worship as a community.  Each presenting church had dreams and goals for reaching their target populations and spreading the gospel. 

What about us at Crabtree Valley Baptist Church?  Are we as enthusiastic and committed to our church?  Are we willing to pray, and use our times, talents and money to help support and grow our church?  I see evidence that many of you are.  Let’s take some ideas from “March Madness” and make our church the focus of our love and enthusiasm. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit the Welcome House

From the outside, it looks like a very ordinary brick ranch house from the 1950’s and 60’s.  Crabtree Valley Baptist Church bought it in 1997 and used it for the youth program for a number of years. There is nothing that identifies it as anything special.  But since 2017, this house has been a safe and caring place to start a new life for over 400 people from around the world. Three main goals guide this ministry, Provide Welcome, Extend Kindness and Provide Guest Housing.   The Welcome House North Raleigh, as it is known, serves as a model that churches and other organizations have copied to provide temporary housing for refugees and other families in need.  Since many of you have probably never been inside I want to share about this important ministry to refugees.

When you walk in the front door, it is furnished like a typical house but you might notice a large wall hanging above the fire place in the living room. The words say “Welcome” in about 50 different languages. Typically two or 3 family groups live in the house at the same time.  Sometimes they share a common language, but often they are from different areas in the world and have to communicate nonverbally. Each family is assigned a bedroom and has a refrigerator to store food supplies but share the common areas.

When a family arrives, there is a meal with familiar food ready for the new guests. Sometimes ethnic community groups or volunteers prepare it, and sometimes it is purchased from a restaurant.   The family is led to their room shown the shared areas such as the kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms.  Families with young children appreciate the play area set up in the living room as well as the playhouse and jungle gym in the back yard, which was provided by a young man for his Eagle Scout project. 

Guests in the Welcome House usually stay for up to 1-3 weeks until permanent housing can be arranged.  During that time, a case worker from a refugee agency or local sponsor works with the family to get necessary documents like Social Security cards, starts the process to enroll children in school, and helps them set up a local bank account.  Trained and vetted volunteers come twice a week to teach English skills and help get them used to a new culture.  Other volunteers come to visit and socialize, teach them how to travel by public bus, take them to grocery stores, or for fun visits to parks or museums.  Volunteers or church groups deliver food and basic supplies.  When permanent housing is arranged, other volunteers or agencies help furnish an apartment for the family.  Often relationships between the volunteers and guests continue after they leave the Welcome House.  Many caring people work together to provide welcome to our guests.  I am so proud that Crabtree Valley Baptist Church is a part of this ministry.

More information and ways to volunteer can be found at this website: https://welcomehouseraleigh.org/